I doubt if many today in any church organization do much study on
"church history." I doubt very many who are members in the Roman
Catholic Church study much of their history as a church
organization. And I doubt even more, that the priests and bishops
of that religion are giving studies to their congregations on the
history of the RC church.
For the record then, I reproduce selected chapters in the book
"A Woman Rides the Beast" by Dave Hunt (no immediate relation to
me) - Keith Hunt (December 2007).
A WOMAN RIDES THE BEAST
The woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth
over the kings of the earth....
Here is the mind which hath wisdom: The seven heads are seven
mountains [or hills] on which the woman sitteth.
-Revelation 17:18,9
A City on Seven Hills
A woman rides the beast, and that woman is a city built on
seven hills that reigns over the kings of the earth! Was ever in
all of history such a statement made? John immediately equates
the readers' acceptance of this revelation with "wisdom." We dare
not pass over such a disclosure casually. It merits our careful
and prayerful attention.
Here is no mystical or allegorical language but an
unambiguous statement in plain words: "The woman... is that great
city." There is no justification for seeking some other hidden
meaning. Yet books have been written and sermons preached
insisting that "Mystery Babylon" is the United States. That is
clearly not the case, for the United States is a country, not a
city. One might justifiably refer to the United States as Sodom,
considering the honor now given to homosexuals, but it is
definitely not the Babylon that John sees in this vision. The
woman is a city.
Furthermore, she is a city built on seven hills. That
specification eliminates ancient Babylon. Only one city has for
more than 2000 years been known as the city on seven hills. That
city is Rome. The Catholic Encyclopedia states: "It is within the
city of Rome, called the city of seven hills, that the entire
area of Vatican State proper is now confined."
There are, of course, other cities, such as Rio de Janeiro,
that were also built on seven hills. Therefore, John provides at
least seven more characteristics to limit the identification to
Rome alone. We will examine each one in detail in subsequent
chapters. However, as a preview of where we are going, we will
list them now and discuss each one briefly. As we shall see,
there is only one city on the earth which, in both historical and
contemporary perspectives, passes every test John gives,
including its identification as Mystery Babylon. That city is
Rome, and more specifically, Vatican City.
Even Catholic apologist Karl Keating admits that Rome has
long been known as Babylon. Keating claims that Peter's statement
"The church here in Babylon... sends you her greeting" (from I
Peter 5:13) proves that Peter was writing from Rome. He explains
further:
"Babylon is a code word for Rome. It is used that way six times
in the last book of the Bible [four of the six are in chapters 17
and 18 and in extrabiblical works such as Sibylling Oracles
(5,159f.), the Apocalypse of Baruch (ii, D, and 4 Esdras (3:1).
Eusebius Pamphilius, writing about 303, noted that "it is said
that Peter's first epistle... was composed at Rome itself; and
that he himself indicates this, referring to the city
figuratively as Babylon."
(No, Peter did not write from Rome, but indeed from Babylon, the
ancient city; yet it is also true "Babylon" in Revelation is
symbolic of the city that would reign over nations and peoples -
Rome - Keith Hunt)
As for "Mystery," that name imprinted on the woman's
forehead is the perfect designation for Vatican City. Mystery is
at the very heart of Roman Catholicism, from the words "Mysterium
fide" pronounced at the alleged transformation of the bread and
wine into the literal body and blood of Christ to the enigmatic
apparitions of Mary around the world. Every sacrament, from
baptism to extreme unction, manifests the mysterious power which
the faithful must believe the priests wield, but for which there
is no visible evidence. Rome's new Catechism explains that
liturgy "aims to initiate souls into the mystery of Christ (It is
'mystagogy')" and that all of the Church's liturgy is "mystery."
Who Is the Whore?
The first thing we are told about the woman is that she is a
"whore" (Revelation 17:1), that earthly kings "have committed
fornication" with her (verse 2), and that "all the inhabitants of
the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication"
(verse 3). Why would a city be called a whore and be accused of
having committed fornication with kings? Such an indictment would
never be made of London or Moscow or Paris - or any other
ordinary city. It wouldn't make sense.
Fornication and adultery are used in the Bible in both the
physical and the spiritual sense. Of Jerusalem God said, "How is
the faithful city become a harlot!" (Isaiah 1:21). Israel, whom
God had set apart from all other peoples to be holy for His
purposes, had entered into unholy, adulterous alliances with the
idol-worshiping nations about her. She had "committed adultery
with stones and with stocks [idols]" (Jeremiah 3:9); "and with
their idols have they committed adultery" (Ezekiel 23:37). The
entire chapter of Ezekiel 16 explains Israel's spiritual adultery
in detail, both with heathen nations and with their false gods,
as do many other passages.
There is no way that a city could engage in literal, fleshly
fornication. Thus we can only conclude that John, like the
prophets in the Old Testament, is using the term in its spiritual
sense. The city, therefore, must claim a spiritual relationship
with God. Otherwise such an allegation would be meaningless.
Though it is built on seven hills, there would be no reason
to accuse Rio de Janeiro of spiritual fornication. It makes no
claim of having a special relationship with God. And though
Jerusalem has that relationship, it cannot be the woman riding on
the beast, for it is not built on seven hills. Nor does it meet
the other criteria by which this woman is to be identified.
Against only one other city in history could a charge of
fornication be leveled. That city is Rome, and more specifically
Vatican City. She claims to have been the worldwide headquarters
of Christianity since its beginning and maintains that claim to
this day. Her pope enthroned in Rome claims to be the exclusive
representative of God, the vicar of Christ. Rome is the
headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, and in that too she is
unique.
Numerous churches, of course, are headquartered in cities,
but only one city is the headquarters of a church. The Mormon
Church, for example, is headquartered in Salt Lake City, but
there is much more to Salt Lake City than the Mormon Church. Not
so with Vatican City. It is the heartbeat of the Roman Catholic
Church and nothing else. She is a spiritual entity that could
very well be accused of spiritual fornication if she did not
remain true to Christ.
In Bed with the Rulers
Not only does Rome's pope call himself the vicar of Christ,
but the Church he heads claims to be the one true Church and the
bride of Christ. Christ's bride, whose hope is to join her
Bridegroom in heaven, is to have no earthly ambitions. Yet the
Vatican is obsessed with earthly enterprise, as history proves;
and in furtherance of these goals it has been, exactly as John
foresaw in his vision, engaged in adulterous relationships with
the kings of the earth. That fact is acknowledged even by
Catholic historians.
Christ said to His disciples, "If ye were of the world, the
world would love his own; but becauseye are not of the world, but
I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth
you" (John 15:19). The Catholic Church, however, is very much of
this world. Her popes have built an unrivaled worldwide empire of
property, wealth, and influence. Nor is empire-building an
abandoned feature of the past. We have already seen that Vatican
11 clearly states that the Roman Catholic Church today still
ceaselessly seeks to bring under its control all mankind and all
their goods.
Popes have long claimed dominion over the world and its
peoples. Rope Gregory XI's papal bull of 1372 (In Coena Domini)
claimed papal dominion over the entire Christian world, secular
and religious, and excommunicated all who failed to obey the
popes and to pay them taxes. In Coena was confirmed by subsequent
popes and in 1568 Pope Pius V swore that it was to remain an
eternal law.
Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) claimed that all undiscovered
lands belonged to the Roman Pontiff, for him to dispose of as he
pleased in the name of Christ as His vicar. King John 11 of
Portugal was convinced that in his Bull Romanus Pontifex the pope
had granted all that Columbus discovered exclusively to him and
his country. Ferdinand and Isabel of Spain, however, thought the
pope had given the same lands to them. In May 1493 the
Spanish-born Alexander VI issued three bulls to settle the
dispute.
In the name of Christ, who had no place on this earth that
He called his own, this incredibly evil Borgia pope, claiming to
own the world, drew a north-south line down the global map of
that day, giving everything on the east to Portugal and on the
west to Spain. Thus by papal grant, "out of the plenitude of
apostolic power," Africa went to Portugal and the Americas to
Spain. When Portugal "succeeded in reaching India and Malaya,
they secured the confirmation of these discoveries from the
Papacy...." There was a condition, of course: "to the intent to
bring the inhabitants ... to profess the Catholic Faith." It was
largely Central and South America which, as a consequence of this
unholy alliance between church and state, had Roman Catholicism
forced upon them by the sword and remain Catholic to this day.
North America (with the exception of Quebec and Louisiana)
was spared the dominance of Roman Catholicism because it was
settled largely by Protestants.
Nor have the descendants of Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas
forgotten that Roman Catholic priests, backed by the secular
sword, gave their ancestors the choice of conversion (which often
meant slavery) or death. They made such an out cry when John Paul
II in a recent visit to Latin America proposed elevating Junipero
Serra (a major eighteenth-century enforcer of Catholicism among
the Indians) to sainthood that the pope was forced to hold the
ceremony in secret.
Christ said, "My kingdom is not of this world; otherwise my
servants would fight." The popes, however, have fought with
armies and navies in the name of Christ to build a huge kingdom
which is very much of this world. And to amass their earthly
empire they have repeatedly engaged in spiritual fornication with
emperors, kings, and princes. Claiming to be the bride of Christ,
the Roman Catholic Church has been in bed with godless rulers
down through history, and these adulterous relationships continue
to this day. This spiritual fornication will be documented in
detail later.
Rome Equals Vatican
Some may object that it is Rome, and not that small part of
it known as Vatican City, which is built on seven hills, and that
the Vatican can hardly be called a "great city." Though both
objections are true, the words "Vatican" and "Rome" are
universally used interchangeably, Just as one would refer to
Washington and mean the government that runs the United States,
so one refers to Rome and means the hierarchy that rules the
Roman Catholic Church.
Take for example a placard carried by a demonstrator outside
the November 15-18, 1993, meeting in Washington D.C, of the
National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Protesting any deviation
from the pope's wishes, it read: "ROME'S WAY OR THE HIGHWAY."
Obviously by "Rome" it meant the Vatican. Such is the common
usage. So closely are Catholicism and Rome linked that the
Catholic Church is known as the Roman Catholic Church, or simply
the Roman Church.
Moreover, for more than a thousand years the Roman Catholic
Church exercised both religious and civil control over the entire
city of Rome and its surroundings. Pope Innocent III (1198-1216)
abolished the secular Roman Senate and placed the administration
of Rome directly under his command. The Roman Senate that had
governed the city under the Caesars had been known as the Curia
Romana (Roman Curia). That name, according to the Pocket Catholic
Dictionary, is now the designation of "the whole ensemble of
administrative and judicial offices through which the Pope
directs the operations of the Catholic Church."
The popes' authority even extended to large territories
outside Rome acquired in the eighth century. At that time, with
the help of a deliberately fraudulent document manufactured for
the popes known as The Donation of Constantine, Pope Stephen III
convinced Pepin, king of the Franks and father of Charlemagne,
that territories recently taken by the Lombards from the
Byzantines actually had been given to the papacy by the Emperor
Constantine. Pepin routed the Lombards and handed to the pope the
keys to some 20 cities (Ravenna, Ancona, Bologna, Ferrara, Iesi,
Gubbio, etc.) and the huge chunk of land joining them along the
Adriatic coast.
Dated 30 March 315, "The Donation" declared that Constantine
had given these lands, along with Rome and the Lateran Palace, to
the popes in perpetuity. In 1440 this document was proven to be a
forgery by Lorenzo Valla, a papal aide, and is so recognized by
historians today. Yet allegedly infallible popes continued for
centuries to assert that The Donation was genuine and on that
basis to justify their pomp, power, and possessions. That fraud
is still perpetuated by an inscription in the baptistry of Rome's
St.John Lateran, which has never been corrected.
Thus the Papal States were literally stolen by the popes
from their rightful owners. The papacy controlled and taxed these
territories and derived great wealth from them until 1848. At
that time the pope, along with the rulers of most of the other
divided territories of Italy, was forced to grant his rebellious
subjects a constitution. In September 1860, over his raging
protests, Pius IX lost all of the papal states to the new,
finally united Kingdom of Italy, which left him, at the time of
the First Vatican Council in 1870, still in control of Rome and
its surroundings.
The point is that, exactly as John foresaw in his vision, a
spiritual entity that claimed a special relationship with Christ
and with God became identified with a city that was built on
seven hills. That "woman" committed spiritual fornication with
earthly rulers and eventually reigned over them. The Roman
Catholic Church has been continuously identified with that city.
As "The most definitive Catholic encyclopedia since Vatican 11"
declares:
".. hence, one understands the central place of Rome in the life
of the Church today and the significance of the title, Roman
Catholic Church, the Church that is universal, yet focused upon
the ministry of the Bishop of Rome. Since the founding of the
Church there by St.Peter, Rome has been the center of all
Christendom."
Wealth from III-Gotten Gain
The incredible wealth of this woman caught John's attention
next. She was dressed "in purple and scarlet color, and decked
with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in
her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication"
(Revelation 17:4). The colors of purple and scarlet once again
identify the woman with both pagan and Christian Rome. These were
the colors of the Roman caesars with which the soldiers mockingly
robed Christ as "King" (see Matthew 27:28 and John 19:2,5), which
the Vatican took to itself. The woman's colors are literally
still the colors oŁ the Catholic clergy! The same Catholic
Encyclopedia quoted above states:
"Cappa Magna
A cloak with a long train and a hooded shoulder cape
...[it]was purple wool for bishops; for cardinals, it was scarlet
watered silk (for Advent, Lent, Good Friday, and the conclave,
purple wool); and rose watered silk for Gaudete and Lactate
Sundays; and for the pope, it was red velvet for Christmas
Matins, red serge at other times.
Cassock (also Soutane)
The close-fitting, ankle-length robe worn by the Catholic
clergy as their official garb.. .. The color for bishops and
other prelates is purple, for cardinals scarlet..."
The "golden cup [chalice] in her hand" again identifies the
woman with the Roman Catholic Church. Broderick's edition of The
Catholic Encyclopedia declares of the chalice: "[It is] the most
important of the sacred vessels.... [It] may be of gold or
silver, and if the latter, then the inside must be surfaced with
gold." The Roman Catholic Church possesses many thousands of
solid gold chalices kept in its churches around the world. Even
the bloodstained cross of Christ has been turned to gold and
studded with gems in reflection of Rome's great wealth. The
Catholic Encyclopedia says: "The pectoral cross [suspended by a
chain around the neck and worn over the breast by abbots,
bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and the pope] should be made of
gold and... decorated with gems..."
Rome has practiced evil to gather her wealth, for the
"golden cup" is filled with "abominations and filthiness." Much
of the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church was acquired through
the confiscation of the property of the pitiful victims of the
Inquisitions. Even the dead were exhumed to face trial and
property was taken from their heirs by the Church. One
historian writes:
"The punishments of the Inquisition did not cease when the victim
was burned to ashes, or immured for life in the Inquisition
dungeons. His relatives were reduced to beggary by the law that
all his possessions were forfeited. The system offered unlimited
opportunities for loot....
This source of gain largely accounts for the revolting practice
of what has been called "corpse-trials." That the practice of
confiscating the property of condemned heretics was productive of
many acts of extortion, rapacity and corruption will be doubted
by no one who has any knowledge either of human nature or of the
historical documents.... no man was safe whose wealth might
arouse cupidity, or whose independence might provoke revenge."
Most of Rome's wealth has been acquired through the sale of
salvation. Untold billions of dollars have been paid to her by
those who thought they were purchasing heaven on the installment
plan for themselves or loved ones. The practice continues to this
day - blatantly where Catholicism is in control, less obviously
here in the United States. No greater deception or abomination
could be perpetrated. When Cardinal Cajetan, sixteenth-century
Dominican scholar, complained about the sale of dispensations and
indulgences, the Church hierarchy was indignant and accused him
of wanting "to turn Rome into an uninhabited desert, to reduce
the Papacy to impotence, to deprive the pope ... of the pecuniary
resources indispensable for the discharge of his office."
In addition to such perversions of the gospel which have led
hundreds of millions astray, there are the further abominations
of corrupt banking practices, laundering of drug money, trading
in counterfeit securities, and dealings with the Mafia (fully
documented in police and court records), which the Vatican and
her representatives around the world have long employed. Nino Lo
Bello, former Business Week correspondent in Rome and Rome bureau
chief for New York Journal of Commerce, writes that the Vatican
is so closely allied with the Mafia in Italy that "many people...
believe that Sicily ... is nothing more than a Vatican holding."
The Roman Catholic Church is by far the wealthiest
institution on earth. Yes, one hears from Rome periodic pleas for
money - persuasive appeals claiming that the Vatican cannot
maintain itself on its limited budget and needs monetary
assistance. Such pleas are unconscionable ploys. The value of
innumerable sculptures by such masters as Michelangelo, paintings
by the world's greatest artists, and countless other art
treasures and ancient documents which Rome possesses (not only at
the Vatican but in cathedrals around the world) is beyond
calculation. At the World Synod of Bishops in Rome, England's
Cardinal Heenan proposed that the Church sell some of these
superfluous treasures and give the proceeds to the poor. His
suggestion was not well-received.
Christ and His disciples lived in poverty. He told His
followers not to lay up treasure on this earth but in heaven. The
Roman Catholic Church has disobeyed that command and has
accumulated a plethora of riches without equal, of which "the
Roman Pontiff is the supreme administrator and steward ......
There is no church, no city which is a spiritual entity, no
religious institution past or present which even comes close to
possessing the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church. A recent
newspaper article described only a fraction of that treasure at
one location:
"The fabulous treasure of Lourdes [France], whose existence was
kept secret by the Catholic Church for 120 years, has been
unveiled.... Rumours have been circulating for decades about a
priceless collection of gold chalices, diamond-studded crucifixes
[a far cry from the bloodstained cross on which Christ died],
silver and precious stones donated by grateful pilgrims.
After an indiscreet remark by their press spokesman this week,
church authorities agreed to reveal part of the collection...
[some] floor-to-ceiling cases were opened to reveal 59 solid gold
chalices alongside rings, crucifixes, statues and heavy gold
brooches, many encrusted with precious stones.
Almost hidden by the other treasures is the 'Crown' of Notre,
Dame de Lourdes, made by a Paris goldsmith in 1876 and studded
with diamonds.
Church authorities say they cannot put a value on the collection.
'I have no idea,' says Father Pierre-Marie Charriez, director of
Patrimony and Sanctuaries. 'It is of inestimable value.'...
Across the road is a building housing hundreds of (antique]
ecclesiastical garments, robes, mitres and sashes - many in heavy
gold thread....
'The Church itself is poor,' insists Father Charriez. 'The
Vatican itself is poor.'" [The treasure described here is only
part of that which is kept in one location, the small town of
Lourdes, France!]
The Mother of Harlots and Abominations
The more deeply one probes into the history of the Roman
Catholic Church and its current practices, the more impressed one
becomes with the amazing accuracy of the vision John received
centuries before it would all be lamentable reality. John's
attention is drawn to the inscription boldly emblazoned upon the
woman's forehead: "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF
HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Revelation 17:5). Sadly
enough, the Roman Catholic Church fits the description "mother of
harlots and abominations" as precisely as she fits the others.
Much of the cause can be traced to the unbiblical demand that her
priests be celibates.
The great apostle Paul was a celibate and recommended that
life to others who wanted to devote themselves fully to serving
Christ. He did not, however, make it a condition for church
leadership as the Catholic Church has done, thereby imposing an
unnatural burden upon all clergy that very few could bear. On the
contrary, he wrote that a bishop should be "the husband of one
wife" (1 Timothy 3:2) and set the same requirement for elders
(Titus 1:5,6).
Peter, whom the Catholics erroneously claim was the first
pope, was married. So were at least some of the other apostles.
This fact was not the chance result of their having been married
before Christ called them, but it was accepted as an ongoing
norm. Paul himself argued that he had the right to marry like the
rest: "Have we not power [Greek 'exousia,' the right or privilege
or authority] to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other
apostles and as the brethren [half-brothers, sons of Mary and
Joseph] of the Lord, and as Cephas [Peter]?" (1 Corinthians 9:5).
The Roman Catholic Church, however, has insisted upon
celibacy even though many popes, among them Sergius III (904-11),
John X (914-28), John XII (955-63), Benedict V (964), Innocent
VIII (1484-92), Urban VIII (1623-44), and Innocent X (1644-55),
as well as millions of cardinals, bishops, archbishops, monks,
and priests throughout history, have repeatedly violated such
vows. Not only has celibacy made sinners of the clergy who engage
in fornication, but it makes harlots out of those with whom they
secretly cohabit. Rome is indeed "the mother of harlots"! Her
identification as such is unmistakable. No other city, church, or
institution in the history of the world is her rival in this
particular evil.
History is replete with sayings that mocked the church's
false claim to celibacy and revealed the truth: "The holiest
hermit has his whore" and "Rome has more prostitutes than any
other city because she has the most celibates" are examples. Pius
II declared that Rome was "the only city run by bastards" [sons
of popes and cardinals]. Catholic historian and former Jesuit
Peter de Rosa writes:
"Popes had mistresses of fifteen years of age, were guilty of
incest and sexual perversions of every sort, had innumerable
children, were murdered in the very act of adultery [by jealous
husbands who found them in bed with their wives].... In the
old Catholic phrase, why be holier than the pope?"
As for abominations, even Catholic historians admit that
among the popes were some of the most degenerate and
unconscionable ogres in all of history. Their numerous outrageous
crimes, many of which are almost beyond belief, have been recited
by many historians from preserved documents that reveal the
depths of papal depravity, some of which we will cover
in later chapters. To call any of these men "His Holiness, Vicar
of Christ" makes a mockery of holiness and of Christ. Yet the
name of each one of these unbelievably wicked popes, mass
murderers, fornicators, robbers, warmongers, some guilty of the
massacre of thousands - is emblazoned in honor on the Church's
official list of popes. These abominations that John foresaw not
only occurred in the past but continue to this very day, as we
shall see.
Drunk with the Martyrs' Blood
John next notices that the woman is drunk - and not with an
alcoholic beverage. She is drunk with "the blood of the saints,
and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus..." (Revelation 17:6).
The picture is a horrible one. It is not merely her hands that
are red with this blood, but she is drunk with it! The slaughter
of innocents who, for conscience' sake, would not yield to her
totalitarian demands has so refreshed and exhilarated her that
she reels in ecstasy.
One thinks immediately of the Inquisitions (Roman, Medieval,
and Spanish) which for centuries held Europe in their terrible
grip.
In his History of the Inquisition, Canon Llorente, who was
the Secretary to the Inquisition in Madrid from 1790-92 and had
access to the archives of all the tribunals, estimated that in
Spain alone the number of condemned exceeded 3 million, with
about 300,000 burned at the stake. A Catholic historian
comments upon events leading up to the suppression of the Spanish
Inquisition in 1809:
When Napoleon conquered Spain in 1808, a Polish officer in
his army, Colonel Lemanouski, reported that the Dominicans [in
charge of the Inquisition] blockaded themselves in their
monastery in Madrid. When Lemanouski's troops forced an entry,
the inquisitors denied the existence of any torture chambers.
The soldiers searched the monastery and discovered them under the
floors. The chambers were full of prisoners, all naked, many
insane. The French troops, used to cruelty and blood, could not
stomach the sight. They emptied the torture-chambers, laid
gunpowder to the monastery and blew the place up.
To wring out confessions from these poor creatures, the
Roman Catholic Church devised ingenious tortures so excru-
ciating and barbarous that one is sickened by their recital.
Church historian Bishop William Shaw Kerr writes:
"The most ghastly abomination of all was the system of torture.
The accounts of its cold-blooded operations make one shudder at
the capacity of human beings for cruelty. And it was decreed and
regulated by the popes who claim to represent Christ on earth ...
Careful notes were taken not only of all that was confessed by
the victim, but of his shrieks, cries, lamentations, broken
interjections and appeals for mercy. The most moving things in
the literature of the Inquisition are not the accounts of their
sufferings leftby the victims but the sober memoranda kept by the
officers of the tribunals. We are distressed and horrified just
because there is no intention to shock us."
The remnants of some of the chambers of horror remain in
Europe and may be visited today. They stand as memorials to the
zealous outworking of Roman Catholic dogmas which remain in force
today, and to a Church which claims to be infallible and to this
day justifies such barbarism. They are also memorials to the
astonishing accuracy of John's vision in Revelation 17. In a book
published in Spain in 1909, Emelio Martinez writes:
"To these three million victims [documented by Llorente] should
be added the thousands upon thousands of Jews and Moors deported
from their homeland.... In just one year, 1481, and just in
Seville, the Holy Office [of the Inquisition] burned 2000
persons; the bones and effigies of another 2000 ... and another
16,000 were condemned to varying sentences."
Peter de Rosa acknowledges that his own Catholic Church "was
responsible for persecuting Jews, for the Inquisition, for
slaughtering heretics by the thousand, for reintroducing torture
into Europe as part of the judicial process."
Yet the Roman Catholic Church has never officially admitted
that these practices were evil, nor has she apologized to the
world or to any of the victims or their descendants. Nor could
Pope John Paul 11 apologize today because "the doctrines
responsible for those terrible things still underpin his
position." Rome has not changed at heart no matter what sweet
words she speaks when it serves her purpose.
More Blood Than the Pagans
Pagan Rome made sport of throwing to the lions, burning and
otherwise killing thousands of Christians and not a few Jews. Yet
"Christian" Rome slaughtered many times that number of both
Christians and Jews. Beside those victims of the Inquisition,
there were Huguenots, Albigenses, Waldenses, and other Christians
who were massacred, tortured, and burned at the stake by the
hundreds of thousands simply because they refused to align
themselves with the Roman Catholic Church and its corruption and
heretical dogmas and practices. Out of conscience they tried to
follow the teachings of Christ and the apostles independent of
Rome, and for that crime they were maligned, hunted, imprisoned,
tortured, and slain.
Why would Rome ever apologize for or even admit this
holocaust?
No one calls her to account today. Protestants have now
forgotten the hundreds of thousands of people burned at the stake
for embracing the simple gospel of Christ and refusing to bow to
papal authority. Amazingly, Protestants are now embracing Rome as
Christian while she insists that the "separated brethren" be
reconciled to her on her unchangeable terms!
Many evangelical leaders are intent upon working with Roman
Catholics to evangelize the world by the year 2000. They don't
want to hear any "negative" reminders of the millions of people
tortured and slain by the Church to which they now pay homage, or
the fact that Rome has a false gospel of sacramental works.
"Christian" Rome slaughtered Jews by the thousands - far more
than pagan Rome ever did. The land of Israel was seen as
belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, not to the Jews. In 1096
Pope Urban II inspired the first crusade to retake Jerusalem from
the Muslims. With the cross on their shields and armor, the
Crusaders massacred Jews across Europe on their way to the Holy
Land. Almost their first act upon taking Jerusalem "for Holy
Mother Church" was to herd all of the Jews into the synagogue and
set it ablaze. These facts of history cannot be swept under the
carpet of ecumenical togetherness as though they never happened.
Nor can the Vatican escape considerable responsibility for
the Nazi Holocaust, which was thoroughly known to Pius XII in
spiteof his complete silence throughout the war on thatmost
important of subjects. The involvement of Catholicism in the
Holocaust will be examined later. Had the pope protested, as
representatives of Jewish organizations and the Allied Powers
begged him to do, he would have condemned his own church. The
facts are inescapable:
"In 1936, Bishop Berning of Osnabruch had talked with the Fuehrer
for over an hour. Hitler assured his lordship there was no
fundamental difference between National Socialism and the
Catholic Church. Had not the church, he argued, looked on Jews as
parasites and shut them in ghettos?
'I am only doing,' he boasted, 'what the church has done for
fifteen hundred years, only more effectively.' Being a Catholic
himself, he told Berning, he 'admired and wanted to promote
Christianity.'" (De Rosa, op.cit., p.5; Lewy, op.cit., p.111)
There is, of course, another reason why the Roman Catholic
Church has neither apologized for nor repented of these crimes.
How could she? The execution of heretics (including Jews) was
decreed by "infallible" popes. The Catholic Church herself claims
to be infallible, and thus her doctrines could not be wrong.
Reigning over the Kings of the Earth
Finally, the angel reveals to John that the woman "is that
great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth"
(Revelation 17:18). Is there such a city? Yes, and again only
one: Vatican City. Popes crowned and deposed kings and emperors,
exacting obedience by threatening them with excommunication. At
the time of the First Vatican Council in 1869, J.H. Ignaz von
Dollinger, Professor of Church History in Munich, warned that
Pope Pius IX would force the Council to make an infallible dogma
out of "that pet theory of the popes - that they could force
kings and magistrates, by excommunication and its consequences,
to carry out their sentences of confiscation, imprisonment, and
death......" He reminded his fellow Roman Catholics of some of
the evil consequences of papal political authority:
When, for instance, [Pope] Martin IV placed King Pedro of Aragon
under excommunication and interdict ...then promised indulgences
for all their sins to those who fought with him and [tyrant]
Charles [I of Naples] against Pedro, and finally declared his
kingdom forfeit... which cost the two kings of France and Aragon
their life, and the French the loss of an army....
Pope Clement IV, in 1265, after selling millions of South
Italians to Charles of Anjou for a yearly tribute of eight
hundred ounces of gold, declared that he would be excommunicated
if the first payment was deferred beyond the appointed term, and
that for the second neglect the whole nation would incur
interdict...."
Though John Paul II lacks the power to enforce such brutal
claims today, his Church still retains the dogmas which authorize
him to do so. And the practical effects of his power are no less
than those of his predecessors, though exercised quietly behind
the scenes. The Vatican is the only city which exchanges
ambassadors with nations, and she does so with every major
country on earth.
Ambassadors come to the Vatican from every major country,
including the United States, not out of mere courtesy but because
the pope is the most powerful ruler on earth today. Even
President Clinton journeyed to Denver in August 1993 to greet the
pope. He addressed him as "Holy Father" and "Your Holiness."
Yes, ambassadors of nations come to Washington D.C, to Paris, or
to London, but only because the national govermnent has its
capital there. Nor does Washington, Paris, London, or any
other city send ambassadors to other countries. Only Vatican City
does so. Unlike any other city on earth, the Vatican is
acknowledged as a sovereign state in its own right, separate and
distinct from the nation of Italy surrounding it. There is no
other city in history of which this has been true, and such is
still the case today.
Only of the Vatican could it be said that a city reigns over
the kings of the earth. The phrase "the worldwide influence of
Washington" means the influence not of that city but of the
United States, which has its capital there. When one speaks,
however, of the influence of the Vatican around the world, that
is exactly what is meant - the city and the worldwide power of
Roman Catholicism and its leader the pope. Vatican City is
absolutely unique.
Forget a Rebuilt Babylon
Some suggest that the Vatican will move to Babylon in Iraq
when
it is rebuilt. But why should it? The Vatican has been fulfilling
John's vision from its location in Rome for the past 15
centuries. Moreover, we have shown the connection to ancient
Babylon which the Vatican has maintained down through history in
the paganized Christianity it has promulgated. As for ancient
Babylon itself, it wasn't even in existence during the past 2300
years to "reign over the kings of the earth." Babylon, lay in
ruins while pagan Rome and later Catholic Rome, the new Babylon,
was indeed reigning over kings.
One eighteenth-century historian counted 95 popes who
claimed to have divine power to depose kings and emperors.
Historian Walter James wrote that pope Innocent 111(1198-1216)
"held all Europe in his net." Gregory IX (1227-41) thundered that
the pope was lord and master of everyone and everything.
Historian R. W. Southern declared: "During the whole medieval
period there was in Rome a single spiritual and temporal
authority [the papacy] exercising powers which in the end
exceeded those that had ever lain within the grasp of a Roman
emperor."
That the popes reigned over kings is an undisputed fact of
history that we will more fully document later. That in so
doing horrible abominations were committed, as John foresaw, is
also indisputable. Pope Nicholas 1 (858-67) declared: "We [popes]
alone have the power to bind and to loose, to absolve Nero and to
condemn him; and Christians cannot, under penalty of
excommunication, execute other judgment than ours, which alone is
infallible." In commanding one king to destroy another, Nicholas
wrote:
"We order you, in the name of religion, to invade his states,
burn his cities, and massacre his people ...."
The qualifying information which John gives us under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit for identifying this woman, who is
a city, is specific, conclusive, and irrefutable. There is no
city upon earth, past or present, which meets all of these
criteria except Catholic Rome and now Vatican City. That
inescapable conclusion will become increasingly clear as we
proceed to uncover the facts.
............
Note:
Dave Hunt has of course under his NOTES at the end of the book,
given the REFERENCES from which he takes all his quotations, for
each chapter of his book. The ammount of references is large
indeed, which just makes his comment that, The Babylon Mystery
Religion Woman Whore, that rides the Beast, of Revelation, is the
Roman Catholic church and the city of Rome, that much more
evident - Keith Hunt
Entered on this Website December 2007
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