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Home » Publications » Free Presbyterian Magazine » 2020 » November 2020 » Protestant View

Protestant View

A Vatican Earthquake

AWM

A senior Vatican official, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, has been forced to resign from his administrative position and from his rights to vote as a member of the college of cardinals in the election of the next pope. His unexpected removal is linked to a property deal involving the use of Church funds to purchase an apartment block in an exclusive area of London at a cost of £180 million. The Pope challenged Becciu for giving Church money to his brothers and their businesses. Becciu, who denies any wrongdoing, was a close associate of the current Pope and spoke in the past in favour of the more tolerant attitude towards the sin of Sodom which has characterised the present pontificate. It is reported that the Vatican’s own “anti-corruption” investigators have looked into a series of speculative investments using ecclesiastical money, amounting to as much as $725 million.

Rome, as both an ecclesiastical and political system where certain officials have access to extremely large amounts of money, has always been prey to corruption and fraud. That has been witnessed throughout its history – during the Mediaeval period, for example, when the papal office was purchased for vast sums. This was also seen at the time of the Reformation, when the rebuilding of St Peter’s fuelled the sale of indulgences to poor, ignorant souls under the power of the spiritual darkness which reigned wherever Rome held sway. The description of the antichristian pseudo-Church we have in Revelation 18 brings prominently to light the materialistic and covetous nature of the Babylonian harlot. While the resignation of this individual has been described as an “earthquake”, we believe it will do little to end the corruption that lies deep in the Vatican system. We are to pray for the great shaking of the nations which will occur through the outpouring of the Spirit accompanying the preaching of the gospel. The spiritual judgements that will be brought upon the kingdom of Satan at that time will swiftly bring an end not only to papal corruption, but to the papacy itself.

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