The Pope’s Plea for Power
In a speech to cardinals and others on December 20, the Pope repeatedly used the words, in Latin: “Awaken, Lord, Thy power, and come”. The prayer was probably used, he said, at the decline of the Roman Empire, “which until that time had protected peaceful coexistence among peoples”. He then postulated that today there is, similarly, a collapse of moral consensus, “without which juridical and political structures cannot function”, and told his cardinals to pray that God would give them faith to move mountains – “that is,” he said, “to order justly the affairs of the world”.
Here we see the Papacy’s pursuit of her undying ambition to have global dominion. We believe that Richard Bennett, the converted Roman Catholic priest, is correct in his analysis that “Catholic social doctrine, a tool of the Papacy, has been, and is being, carefully honed and directed toward gaining both spiritual and temporal control over all nations” (www.bereanbeacon.org/articles/The_Popes_Plans_on_Organizing.pdf).
While God may permit the Papacy, which is essentially worldly and totalitarian, to continue for a time and even become stronger, He will indeed awake, but in answer to the prayers of His true Church as she cries to Him, “Stir up Thy strength, and come and save us” (Ps 80:2), and as she pleads, “Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered” (Ps 68:1). NMR
New Papal Perspective on the Abuse Scandal
It was to be expected that, the Pope, in his traditional end-of-year address to his cardinals, would mention the ongoing child-abuse scandal involving Roman Catholic priests, if only to try to mitigate the damage done to the vast religio-political institution he leads. In fact, almost a third of his speech was devoted to the scandal, which he portrayed in an unexpected way. Having expressed his dismay at the “abuse of minors committed by priests”, he said, “We are well aware of the particular gravity of this sin committed by priests and of our corresponding responsibility. But neither can we remain silent regarding the context of these times in which these events have come to light.”
He proceeded to condemn “a market in child pornography that seems in some way to be considered more and more normal by society”. He seems to have been diverting attention from the gravity of priestly sin and shifting some of the blame onto society by implying that the priests were infected by what was “considered more and more normal in society”. Being no more than religious worldlings, priests possibly were infected in this way, but they profess to be above the filth of the world.
Still speaking about a market of immorality, the Pope went on to make the following amazing statement, “The Book of Revelation includes among the great sins of Babylon – the symbol of the world’s great irreligious cities – the fact that it trades with bodies and souls and treats them as commodities”. How extraordinary, when this reference to Revelation 18 in fact describes Romish Babylon! It reminds us of the last pope describing the abuse scandal as “the mystery of iniquity”, the very description of papal Rome given in Scripture (2 Th 2:7). Rome is being condemned out of her own mouth.
May many Roman Catholics, deceived by the pseudo-piety of that spiritual Babylon, hear the call of the gospel to the saving of their souls. May they comply with the call, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues”. NMR
The Act of Settlement in the House of Lords
On January 10 there was a brief discussion in the House of Lords about the Act of Settlement (by which Roman Catholics, and those married to Roman Catholics, are excluded from the British throne). No one present was prepared to defend the Act. The discussion did not rise much higher than calling the Act “discriminatory” and “anachronistic”. The Act of Settlement is not anachronistic, and its so-called “discrimination” is against those who have chosen to believe doctrines which are false and absurd, and who have subjected their consciences to the ruler of a foreign country (the Pope). We are thankful to God that the Protestantism of Britain is a hard knot for our ungodly rulers to untie. DWBS