A WOMAN RIDES THE BEAST
by Dave Hunt
Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great
whore that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the
earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the
earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
-Revelation 17:1,2
You (Pope Plus 1X] have stooped to unite in political fornication
with the civil government of any and all despotic countries; you
have prostituted the cross, the symbol of sacrifice and salvation
into the symbol of tyranny and ruin.
Those who call themselves the Vicars of God on earth have become
the Vicars of the genius of evil.
Giuseppi Mazzini Italian patriot, 1863
UNHOLY ALLIANCES
A city built on seven hills is accused of committing
fornication with the kings of the earth! We have noted that the
term "fornication" is used often in the Bible in a spiritual
sense signifying unfaithfulness to God. Ezekiel 16 is devoted
entirely to denouncing Jerusalem for her unfaithfulness to God,
likening her to a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh
strangers instead of her husband" (verse 32). Jerusalem had
violated her spiritual relationship to God through idolatry and
alliances with pagan nations. That meaning is clear from many
passages in Scripture.
Jerusalem, however, can't be this woman because, as we have
seen, she isn't built upon seven hills and doesn't meet any of
the other criteria. Obviously, then, the city which this woman
represents must claim a faithful relationship to God similar to
Jerusalem's. In fact, Rome claims to have replaced Jerusalem in
God's affection. And she has violated that relationship by
entering into unholy alliances with godless earthly kings. Rome
alone meets this and the many other criteria that John sets
forth.
History is replete with the record of unholy alliances
between the Vatican and secular governments. Much of the evidence
remains today in Rome's churches and monuments. For example, the
Vatican museum is filled with priceless ancient paintings,
sculptures, tapestries, gold, and jewels once worn or treasured
by despotic rulers. Most were given to popes by kings, queens,
emperors, or governments in token of papal partnerships with
these worldly figures - relationships which the Bible condemns
and which would be unthinkable for the true bride of Christ.
The Witness of History
Driven from Rome by a popular uprising against this
oppressive reign, Pope Leo III fled to the Frankish court of
Charlemagne to enlist his help in recovering those territories
over which the popes reigned. That blood-thirsty warrior's armies
recaptured Rome and, in the name of Christ, restored Leo to the
papal throne. While Charlemagne knelt at Mass in St.Peter's on
Christmas day of A.D.800, the pope placed a crown on his head and
proclaimed him emperor of the West. The title was eventually
recognized by both the eastern emperor in Constantinople and the
Caliph of Baghdad. As Maurice Keen reminds us, "The restoration
of the worldwide dominion of Rome was the dream not only of
medieval popes and emperors but also of many of their subjects
and servants." This dream will be fully achieved at last under
Antichrist.
The pope's move was a shrewd one. Charlemagne's power had
threatened to overshadow the authority of the papacy. After his
coronation by the pope in St.Peter's, however, Charlemagne, in
solid partnership with the papacy, "worked for some forty years
to create a Christian commonwealth such as St.Augustine had
earlier outlined." The emperor's brutal military campaigns in
northern Europe were accompanied by the forcible conversions of
the heathen. Charlemagne was the popes' secular arm that
Christianized the pagans with the sword and thereby enlarged the
Roman Catholic domain as the Spanish conquistadors would later do
in America.
Charlemagne's father, Pepin, as we have previously noted, on
the basis of a fraudulent document, "The Donation of
Constantine," had subdued and turned over to the popes the huge
territories thereafter known as the papal states and ruled by the
papacy. Charlemagne, too, was deceived by this fraud. Based upon
the "Donation," he formally drew up a charter which acknowledged
the papacy as both spiritual and temporal ruler over "all the
regions of Italy and the West." Thereafter Charlemagne acted as
the popes' protector and partner, much as Constantine had at the
very beginning of the developing coalition between Church and
state. Such an arrangement, totally contrary to the teachings of
Christ, is only one example of the spiritual fornication which
this woman would be involved in, exactly as John foresaw it in
his vision.
Eventually the Church and the state became so closely allied
that there was scarcely any distinction between them. Emperors
convened and presided over the great councils of the Church and
looked upon the popes and the rest of the Church hierarchy as
their partners in governing the masses. Such unholy papal
alliances, soon to become commonplace, would have been anathema
to the early church; they made a mockery of Christ's rejection
and crucifixion by the world. Consider another excerpt from the
shamelessly flattering speech by Eusebius (a different portion of
which we previously quoted) in praise of Constantine. He
attributes to the pagan emperor the very spiritual qualities and
ecclesiastical authority and functions now claimed by the popes:
"Our Emperor, His [Christ's] friend, acting as interpreter to the
Word of God, aims at recalling the whole human race to the
knowledge of God; proclaiming clearly in the ears of all, and
declaring with powerful voice the laws of truth and godliness to
all who dwell on the earth ... invested as he is with a semblance
of heavenly sovereignty, he ... frames his earthly government
according to the pattern of that Divine original ... the monarchy
of God."
There can be no doubt as to the amazing accuracy of John's
vision of a city that claims to belong to Christ yet prostitutes
herself to the kings of the earth. To have pagan rulers enforcing
"Christianity" by military might upon an ever-widening papal
empire was a blasphemous travesty of the truth that Christ
proclaimed. It was such a gross misrepresentation of the gospel
and such a confusing identification of the state with the Church
that eventually Christ was considered the true ruler of
Byzantium! Coins depicted Him wearing the Imperial crown
and icons represented Him clothed in the vestments of the
emperor. The emperor's own throne sat next to another one, empty
except for a copy of the Gospels, indicating that Christ was the
coemperor of Byzantium. Such was the spirit of the times that
prevailed in the West as well.
Eventually, as we have already noted, Pope Innocent III
abolished the Roman Senate and placed the administration of Rome
directly under his control with a single senator as his deputy.
In 1266 Clement IV gave this function to Charles of Anjou,
who founded the University of Rome. The papacy continued to be at
the heart of almost every political intrigue; and its armies were
allied with the forces of many a king in the continual wars that
plagued Europe.
In the New World the Church was the partner of the Spanish
conquistadors and of the Portuguese in Africa. Recently Native
American activists called on Pope John Paul II to formally revoke
a papal bull, "Inter Cetera," issued in 1493, which declared that
"barbarous nations discovered and yet to be discovered should be
subjugated to the Catholic faith in order to propagate the
Christian empire." Examples of "fornication with the kings of the
earth" from ancient history could be multiplied, but we need to
move on to modern times.
The 1929 Concordat with Mussolini
We have already referred to the fact that in 1870 the
independence of Italy was declared and what remained of the Papal
States was absorbed by the new united nation. We have also noted
that the Italian people voted overwhelmingly against the pope's
rule and for the new independence. The temporal powers of the
popes were ended, including their prestige and alliances with
earthly regimes. The popes' civil authority was limited to the
Vatican, where they remained in self-imposed exile for nearly 60
years until, in 1929, Mussolini and Pope Pius XI signed the
Lateran Treaty.
This Concordat made Roman Catholicism once again, by
national law, "the sole religion" of Italy. Neither Peter nor
Paul, and surely not Christ, would ever have entered into such an
arrangement with any government, let alone with a Fascist
dictatorship. The Vatican, which claimed to be the true and
only Church, the bride of the Christ who said His kingdom was not
of this world, was acknowledged once again as a sovereign state
with the status of a secular nation able to send and receive
political ambassadors.
For having seized the papal territories in 1870, Italy paid
to the Holy See 750 million lire in cash and I billion lire in
state bonds. Some of these funds would be used to start the
Vatican Bank, now infamous for its corruption. Some would end up
in rather strange investments for Holy Mother Church, such as "an
Italian firearms factory and a Canadian pharmaceutical company
that manufactured contraceptives."
There is no doubt that the Roman Catholic Church put
Mussolini in power. In order to obtain the Lateran Treaty, the
pope required Catholics to withdraw from participation in
politics (many had been socialists actively opposing Mussolini
and his Fascist party) and gave the Church's backing to II Duce.
The pope made public statements so strongly in support of
Mussolini-e.g., "Mussolini is the man sent by Providence" - that
Catholics had no choice but to support the aspiring Fascist
dictator. Without that help Mussolini would not have been voted
in and history might have been much different.
Quid Pro Quo
On his part, after the Concordat was signed, Mussolini
declared: "We recognize the preeminent place the Catholic Church
holds in the religious life of the Italian people - which is
perfectly natural in a Catholic country such as ours, and under a
regime such as the Fascist." All the cardinals in Rome, in an
address to the pope, hailed Mussolini as "that eminent statesman
[who rules Italy] by a decree of the Divine Providence." Looking
back, one wonders how men who claimed to be the emissaries of the
Holy Spirit could have been so wrong. There was, however, a
selfish reason for their folly.
It was a "quid pro quo" that promised much for both parties.
Mussolini needed the Church to establish his hold on Italy, and
on its part the Church was willing to support him in exchange for
restoration of at least some of its former prestige and power.
With the solid backing of the Church, Mussolini was established
as dictator. And with the Treaty, the Roman pontiff once again
achieved the status of right-hand man to the emperor, a position
which the popes had earlier enjoyed, beginning with Constantine
and continuing with his successors. "Fornication with kings,"
after a brief interruption, had begun again.
The Church remained, throughout World War 11, the loyal
partner of an oppressive dictatorship which had been only too
happy to give the pope what he wanted: the suppression of basic
human rights. With Catholicism now the state religion, religious
education was made compulsory in the schools, teachers and
textbooks had to be approved by the Church, religious marriage
became compulsory, and divorce was forbidden. Criticism of
Catholicism either oral or in print was made a penal offense.
As Avro Manhattan puts it in "The Vatican and World Politics,"
"Thus the Church became the religious weapon of the Fascist
State, while the Fascist State became the secular arm of the
Church."
No such arrangement with any secular government could be
entered into by any other church (Baptist? Methodist? Lutheran?)
even if it so desired. Only Vatican City is capable of spiritual
fornication, and surely its concordats with Mussolini, later with
Hitler and with a variety of other governments, are exactly that.
There is simply no mistaking this woman's identity.
On June 3, 1985, the Vatican and Italy signed a new
concordat that ended "a number of privileges the Catholic Church
had in Italy, including its status as the statechurch ... the new
treaty guarantees religious freedom for non-Catholics and ends
Rome's status as a 'sacred city' [but] still recognizes the
'particular significance' of Rome to Roman Catholicism."
The 1933 Concordat with Hitler
One of the key figures in negotiating the 1929 Concordat
with Mussolini was Solicitor Francesco Pacelli, brother of
Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII. The
latter, as the Vatican's Secretary of State, would play a key
role in negotiating the lucrative (for the Church) 1933 Concordat
with Hitler. One of the benefits of the Concordat was the
hundreds of millions of dollars that would flow to the Roman
Catholic Church through the Kirchensteuer (church tax) throughout
the entire war. In return, Pius X11 would never excommunicate
Hitler from the Catholic Church nor would he raise his voice to
protest the slaughter of 6 million Jews.
Leading Catholic prelates and theologians were ecstatic at
the signing of the 1933 Concordat. Catholic theologian Michael
Schmaus wrote in praise of the authoritarianism of the Nazi
regime and compared it to that of the Church:
"The strong emphasis on authority in the new government is
something essentially familiar to Catholics. It is the
counterpart, on the natural level, to the Church's authority in
the supernatural sphere. Nowhere is the value and meaning of
authority so conspicuous as in our holy Catholic Church."
Of course that was true. The papacy had for centuries worked
in close partnership with autocratic kings and emperors in the
suppression of basic human rights.
Today's Catholics need to face the fact that the
totalitarianism of their Church was a major factor in preparing
German Catholics to embrace the Nazi regime. Catholic professor
of church history Joseph Lortz "never tired of speaking of 'the
fundamental kinship between National Socialism and Catholicism, a
kinship which runs amazingly deep...'"
In the same year, 1933, a well-known prelate from Cologne,
Robert Grosche, wrote in Die Schildgenossen:
"When papal infallibility was defined in the year 1870, the
Church was anticipating on a higher level the historical decision
which has now been made on the political level: a decision for
authority and against discussion, for the pope and against the
sovereignty of the Council, for the Fuehrer and against the
Parliaments."
Drawing upon years of study of secret documents in the
Vatican archives, its curator of some years, August Bernhard
Hasler, noted:
"Both in Italy and in Germany the Curia took the opportunity to
secure from a dictatorial regime what seemed impossible under
parliamentary government, namely, a concordat."
He then quotes German Catholic leader Ludwig Kass:
"The 'authoritarian state' necessarily understood the basic
principles of the 'authoritarian church' better than
others had."
Indeed, they were partners who were made for each other.
Hitler received the following warm note of congratulations from
Cardinal Michael Faulhaber six months after be came to power:
"What the old parliaments and parties failed to achieve in sixty
years your broad statesman's vision has made a reality of world
history in six months. This handclasp with the papacy, the
greatest moral force in the history of the world, signifies a
mighty deed full of immense blessing and an increase in German
prestige East and West, in the sight of the entire world?"
Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist John Toland points out
that the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church were eager to curry
Hitler's favor. After an audience with Pope Pius XI, even though
Hitler had just outlawed the Catholic Party, its leader,
Monsignor Ludwig Kaas (in words obviously intended to impress the
Fuehrer), told the press:
"Hitler knows how to guide the ship. Even before he became
Chancellor I met him frequently and was greatly impressed by his
clear thinking, by his way of facing realities while upholding
his ideals, which are noble."
Toland goes on to explain:
"The Vatican was so appreciative of being recognized as a full
partner that it asked God to bless the Reich. On a more practical
level, it ordered German bishops to swear allegiance to the
National Socialist regime. The new, oath concluded with these
significant words: 'In the performance of my spiritual office and
in my solicitude for the welfare and the interest of the German
Reich, I will endeavor to avoid all detrimental acts which might
endanger it.'"
Drawn into the Maelstrom
When Hitler, over the objections of Mussolini, announced
that Germany was withdrawing from the League of Nations, a
telegram came quickly from Catholic Action pledging its support.
Shrewdly, Hitler made this move subject to a vote of the
people, then put pressure upon them to back him. The Catholic
Church gave him its enthusiastic support and made it clear to
Catholics that they were to vote in favor of Hitler's decision.
Cardinal Faulhaber, with the approval of every bishop in Bavaria,
declared that by voting yes, Catholics would "profess anew their
loyalty to people and fatherland and their agreement with the
farsighted and forceful efforts of the Fuehrer to spare the
German people the terror of war and the horrors of Bolshevism, to
secure public order and create work for the unemployed."
When Hitler moved his troops into Austria, after the usual
promises that he wouldn't, he was astonished at the enthusiasm of
the crowds of Austrians, almost all Catholics, who greeted him.
After addressing a crowd of about 200,000 in the Heldenplatz, he
led a parade past the Winter Palace with Austrian generals
joining on horseback. Later Cardinal Innitzer greeted Hitler
"with the sign of the cross and gave assurance that so long as
the [Roman Catholic] Church retained its liberties Austrian
Catholics would become 'the truest sons of the great Reich into
whose arms they had been brought back on this momentous day.'"
Der Fuehrer shook the Cardinal's hand warmly and "promised
him everything."
On Hitler's fiftieth birthday "Special votive masses were
celebrated in every German [Roman Catholic] church 'to implore
God's blessing upon Fuehrer and people.' The Bishop of Mainz
called upon Catholics in his diocese to pray specifically for
'the Fuehrer and Chancellor, the inspirer, enlarger and protector
of the Reich.'" Nor did the pope fail to send his
congratulations.
The Catholic press throughout Germany almost unanimously
declared that Hitler's narrow escape from the 1939 attempt upon
his life was the miraculous protection of God. Cardinal Faulhaber
instructed that a "Te Deum" be sung in the cathedral of Munich
"to thank Divine Providence in the name of the archdiocese for
the Fuehrer's fortunate escape." Having failed to condemn
Germany's liquidation of Poland, the pope did not neglect to send
his special personal congratulations to Hitler for his miraculous
survival of the assassination attempt.
Even when Hitler's evil had been fully revealed, the Church
continued to support him. When German troops launched their
offensive against the Soviet Union, the pope again "made it clear
that he backed the Nazi fight against Bolshevism, describing it
as "high-minded gallantry in defense of the foundations of
Christian culture." A number of German bishops, predictably,
openly supported the attack. One called it "a European crusade,"
a mission similar to that of the Teutonic knights. The pope
exhorted all Catholics to fight for "a victory that will allow
Europe to breathe freely again and will promise all nations a new
future."
We could go on with page after page of documentation.
However, this should be enough to establish the fact that from
the pope and bishops on down Roman Catholics felt a kinship with
Hitler and backed him even after his ruthless expansionist
ambitions and crimes against humanity were well known. Unholy
alliance? Spiritual fornication? There can be no doubt.
Today's Continuing Alliances
The cover of "Time" magazine of February 24, 1992, carried
the pictures of former President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul
II together with this startling caption: "HOLY ALLIANCE: How
Reagan and the Pope conspired to assist Poland's Solidarity
movement and hasten the demise of Communism." The lead story told
how Reagan had "believed fervently in both the benefits and the
practical applications of Washington's relationship with the
Vatican. One of his earliest goals as President, Reagan says, was
to recognize the Vatican as a state 'and make them an ally.'"
And allies they became in one of the most amazing exploits
in history. It brought down the Berlin Wall, ended the Cold War,
and completely unravelled Soviet Communism. It was a story of
intrigue and cooperation between the CIA and the apparently even
more effective agents of the Vatican. Reagan and John Paul 11,
both survivors of assassination attempts, shared "a unity of
spiritual view and a unity of vision on the Soviet empire: that
right or correctness would ultimately prevail in the divine
plan."
A five-part strategy emerged during the first half of 1982
"that was aimed at bringing about the collapse of the Soviet
economy, fraying the ties that bound the U.S.S.R. to its client
states in the Warsaw Pact and forcing reform inside the Soviet
empire." In the outworking of the plan, former Secretary of State
Alexander Haig acknowledged that "the Vatican's information was
absolutely better and quicker than ours in every respect. [The]
Vatican liaison to the White House, Archbishop Pio Laghi, kept
reminding American officials, 'Listen to the Holy Father. We have
2000 years experience of this.'"
That the pope played a key role, both Reagan and later
Gorbachev frankly admitted. A major newspaper article coming out
three weeks after the "Time" story reported: "'Pope John Paul 11
played a major political role in the collapse of communism in
Eastern Europe,' said Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the
Soviet Union. Gorbachev predicted that the pope will continue to
play 'a great political role' in the current 'very delicate
transition' taking place in Europe.... the events in Eastern
Europe 'might not have been possible without the presence of this
pope, without the great role-including political - which he knew
how to play on the world scene,' said Gorbachev."
At this point we will leave it to the reader to consider the
Vatican's motivation in such heavy political intervention. The
fact remains that such a role on the world scene, with its unholy
alliances, political intrigues, and earthly goals, would be
anathema to Christ's true bride.
The Vatican has long been involved in clandestine activities
and self-serving partnerships with many nations. According to the
"Knights of Columbus" magazine, "the history of diplomatic ties
between the United States and the Holy See goes back nearly 200
years." The article pictured the then American ambassador to the
Vatican, Thomas Melady, and his wife, Margaret, with the pope and
quoted Melady:
"Pope John Paul II is at the high point of respect as a world
leader... our government is cooperating as one government to
another government, the government of the Holy See. It is a great
honor for me to be there, representing our government to the Holy
See, at this significant time in world history."
Apparently Christ, whose kingdom at the beginning was
"not of this world," had changed His mind. He who commissioned
His disciples to call converts out of the world to heavenly
citizenship with His gospel of redemptive grace has apparently
decided to work with the nations of this world to create a
paradise down here. The "Knights of Columbus" article went on to
exult in the fact that -
"Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the Holy See began in
the 18th century when the Papal States (before their absorption
into Italy) agreed to open several Mediterranean ports to U.S.
shipping. In 1797 John B.Sartori, an Italian, was named U.S.
Consul....
In 1847, at the request of President James K.Polk, the U.S.
Senate established a diplomatic post in the Papal States... until
1867 when anti-Catholic elements in the United States succeeded
in getting the diplomatic mission eliminated.
Informal relations resumed in 1939 when President Pranklin D.
Roosevelt appointed Myron C.Taylor as his "personal envoy" to the
Holy See....
In 1981, President Reagan named William A.Wilson, a Catholic, to
the post. Wilson served until 1984, when the Vatican and the
U.S. began full diplomatic relations and Wilson was made the
first U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See."
Consider the following from a recent brochure advertising
"The Catholic Event of the Year":
"Pope Leo XIII compared the proper relation between Church and
State to 'the union of the soul and the body in man.' Imagine a
nation without a soul! As recent events have confirmed with
frightening clarity, America today is such a nation. America was
discovered by a Catholic [Columbus], who claimed her for Christ
the King. If America is to be rediscovered and reclaimed for our
King - if she is to find her missing soul - it is Catholics who
must act, and act now."
Rome has not changed. Her ambitions remain very much of this
world. Of course, it is in Christ's name that she wants to
reestablish her "reign over the kings of the earth." It is for
"the good of mankind and the glory of Christ," as she perceives
it, that "the Catholic Church ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks
for the return of all humanity and all its goods" back under her
control. Vatican II couldn't be clearer on this point.
.................
Dave Hunt gives 17 "references" for this chapter of his book.
NOTE:
Whatever history is taught in schools about the Second World War,
you can bet they will not teach much, if anything, about the
Roman Catholic church endorsing Mussolini and Hitler. Only in
recent years did the Vatican "apologize" to the Jews concerning
events in the Second World War. She has still not apologized to
the Christian world, or secular world, for all the lives she
destroyed during the 1,000 years and more, she reigned over the
Holy Roman Empire of Europe.
She, the Roman Catholic Woman church, will yet ONE MORE TIME,
ride the Beast of Europe. God says the Beast and the Woman will
rise QUICKLY, a SEVENTH and LAST resurrection of the Holy Roman
Empire. It will reign over the Western World for a short time. It
will again try to conquer the Eastern World of Russia and China
etc. It will fail, as it has failed before. When the secular
governments of Europe see that the Woman riding them has failed,
they will turn on her and destroy her. By this time, the Woman
and her army will be in Palestine and Jerusalem. The war between
her and the peoples of the East would result in the total
extinction of human life from this planet. But Jesus, and the
armies of Heaven will come. The West and the East will unite
their armies at Armageddon, north-west of Jerusalem. The "beast"
man (military/political leader) and the false prophet (the then
Pope) will try to fight Christ and His armies.
It will be no contest - Jesus will melt away their flesh (Zech
14) and take rulership over the kingdoms of this world. The
kingdoms of the world will become the Kingdoms of Christ and the
saints.
The Kingdom of God, will reign on earth forever!!
All of the details of end-time prophecy are on this Website in
various studies.
Come Lord Jesus! We continue to pray, "Thy Kingdom Come!"
Keith Hunt
Entered on this Website December 2007
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