On April 2, 2005, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, John Paul II, died at the age of eighty-four. This 266^th pope not only was beloved by his parishioners around the world but also has been highly praised by the atheistic-dominated world media. Prayer vigils have been unending in his behalf along with the Mass being universally given to help this Pontiff make it over to the next world.

This writer extends a natural sympathy to all those who mourn any departed loved one. Such human sympathy must include those affected by this death, for there is the experience of sadness and grief that is a part of human life within those who viewed John Paul II as their leader and shepherd. But amidst these days of weeping, lighting of candles, prayers for the dead, and ceaseless adoration, we must not allow our thoughts to be clouded from the truth, or have second opinions over who this man was and what he represented. The Scriptures and history cannot be set aside in the moments surrounding the dying and death of an aged man no matter what "form" of godliness he portrayed to the world. What do history and the Scriptures declare the Roman Catholic pope to be?

The Rise of Romanism in History

The New York Catechism of Roman Catholicism states clearly its position concerning the office of the pope:

The Pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth. By divine right the pope has supreme and full power in faith and morals over each and every pastor and his flock. He is the true Vicar of Christ, the head of the entire Church, the father and teacher of all Christians. He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and judge of councils, the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter of the world, supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all, being judged by no one, God himself on earth. (Loraine Boettner, Roman Catholicism, p. 127).

How did this belief come about in history?

From the beginning of the Church, although each local congregation was autonomous, there was fellowship between them. In their travels the Apostles in the early church checked the veracity of these churches, including spiritual movements that appeared (Acts 8). Yet gradually changes took place in church government. Bishops (who were pastors in the first generation church) rose higher than local pastors and became leaders over districts of churches geographically.

In the first several centuries of early Christianity, various Romanish trappings became established. Around a.d. 100 presbyters began to be called priests. Around a.d. 200 Cyprian instituted a sacerdotal mass. Around a.d. 300 the sign of the Cross and prayers for the dead appeared.

By the fourth century, five major centers of Christianity had appeared: Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria (Egypt). The bishops of these city churches became known as patriarchs. Eventually two of these five cities became dominant: Rome and Constantinople. By this time church worship had gradually become ritualistic and sacerdotal; the spiritual approach was denied.

Another influence for changes taking place was the overthrow of the Roman Empire by the Goths, the Vandals, and the Huns. Their paganism and philosophy were assimilated into public Christianity and became part of the warp and woof of Rome's gospel. This is why one can find similar aspects (i.e. celibate priests, holy buildings, holy days, consecrated water, images, candles, incense, high ritualism) in Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other religions. It was this Christianizing of paganism that gave rise to the worship of Mary. Such worship of "Madonna and child" goes back deep into paganism with the worship of Isis and her child Horus, often pictured sitting on her lap. Like Mary, Isis was called "the Great Virgin," and "the mother of God."

From the fifth century, Romanism became more and more entrenched in its unscriptural direction. In a.d. 431 Mary was increasingly exalted in worship being addressed as the Mother of God. In a.d. 526 extreme unction appears; a.d. 593, the systematization of the doctrine of Purgatory appears. By around a.d. 600 prayers are offered to Mary for deceased saints. By a.d. 786 veneration for the Cross, images, and relics began.

The further maturation of Roman Catholicism is marked by the establishment of the College of Cardinals in a.d. 786. In 1545 Church tradition is made co-equal with the Scriptures. The next year, the Apocryphal books are canonized by Rome. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries further heresies are firmly established: Immaculate conception of Mary (1854), infallibility of the pope (1870), the Assumption of Mary (1950), and Mary viewed as the Mother of the Church (1965).

Popes and Power

The rise of the power of the Roman Catholic Church is reflected in the enlarging authority assumed by or granted to its pope. Some of the key bishops of Rome must be acknowledged:

1. Damascus (366-384) was the earliest to call himself Pope and one of the first to draw from Matthew 16:18 to bolster his claim.

2. Leo I (440-461) proclaimed himself "Lord" over all the church. Those who resisted his authority were viewed as appointed for hell.

3. Gregory I (590-604) was one of the first of the bishops to use the phrase ex cathedra, meaning to speak "out of the chair [of Peter]."

4. Theodore I (642-649) was one of the first to call himself "Sovereign Pontiff"; he believed he was sovereign over all and the Pontiff (i.e. "the bridge") between God and man.

5. Gregory III (731-741) inaugurated the kissing of the Pope's toe and the carrying of the Pope in a stately chair.

6. Stephen II (752-757) declared himself to be the King-Pope.

7. John XV (985-996) took on the power of canonizing saints.

8. John XIX (1024-1032) was one of the earliest to grant indulgences in return for money.

9. Gregory VII (1073-1-85) brought the papacy to its height of power declaring himself to be absolute over all kings and rulers.

10. Innocent III (1198-1216) openly declared himself to be the "Vicar" of Christ or the substitute of Christ on earth.

11. Boniface VII (1294-1303) declared boldly, "Listen to the Vicar of Christ, who is placed over kings and kingdoms. He is the keeper of the keys, the judge of the living and the dead, and sits on the throne of justice, with power to extirpate all iniquity. He is the head of the Church, which is one and stainless, and not a many-headed monster, and has full divine authority to pluck out and tear down, to build up and plant. Let not the king imagine that he has no superior, is not subject to the highest authority."

Vatican II

Between 1962 and 1965 a Vatican Council was convened by Pope John XXIII and (after his death in 1963) was completed by Pope Paul VI. Some 2,400 bishops were present. Although some changes to the Roman Catholic Church came because of this council (i.e. the Mass to be now given in the vernacular of the people, greater liberties with the spirit of ecumenicity to the non-catholic world, allowing the eating of meat on Friday), the dogmas and doctrines of the Church were reaffirmed. This would include a declaration concerning the Pope as witnessed in the following statement:

The Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, namely, and as pastor of the entire church, has full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.

Papal Titles

The titles for the Pope have ever swelled throughout church history. Some of them include the following:

1. His Holiness

2. Holy Father

3. Vicar of Christ

4. Sovereign

5. Supreme Pontiff

6. Keeper of the Keys

7. Head of the Church

8. Prince of the Apostles

9. Head of the Bishops

10. Supreme Pastor

11. Universal Ruler of the Truth

12. Infallible Ruler

13. Father of all Christians

14. Supreme Teacher of the Universal Church

15. Father of Princes and Kings

16. Ruler of the Round Earth

17. Viceroy of Jesus Christ

18. Substitute for the Son of God

19. Successor of the Prince of the Apostles

20. Sovereign of the State of the Vatican

21. Primate of Italy

22. Pontifex Maximus

23. Mediator between God and man

24. The Sovereign over the souls of purgatory

Matthew 16:16-19 and Peter

One of the passages upon which the papacy is based is the declaration of Christ to Peter in Matthew 16. Peter responded to the question of the Lord, "But whom say ye that I am?" with the proclamation, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." This sentence structure is a Hebraic Parallelism in which the first statement is true because of the second statement. Thus it carries the meaning "Thou art the Christ because Thou art the Son of the living God." To Peter's answer, Jesus responded:

Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church: and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it [emphasis added].

Although the Latin Vulgate makes no distinction between Peter and "this rock," the Greek is very clear in its distinction. The word Peter is the masculine term for "a stone, or little rock, or a small detachment of a massive ledge." "This rock" is the ledge itself, or a cliff of rock like that upon which the wise man built his house (Matt. 7:14). Christ Himself is the rock. This rock is the credo that Peter gave of Christ. Peter acknowledges that this rock, Christ, becomes the rock upon which the church is built.

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:19).

Only Christ has the "keys of death and of Hell" (Revelation 1:18; 3:7); and Peter is not Christ, nor is he the substitute of Christ. In Matthew 16:19 Peter held the keys precisely as every biblical preacher and teacher does today. This binding and loosing authority is given to all the disciples (Matthew 18:18). This authority was first demonstrated when Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and later when he opened the Gospel to the Gentiles in Acts 10.

It is interesting to note that Peter was openly rebuked by Paul for his hypocrisy among the brethren (Galatians 2:11-14). If Peter was the first pope, and popes cannot be questioned by anyone, then from this line of reasoning Paul would be in a greater position than Peter to be made the foundation of the Church. It is also interesting to note that Peter was married (Luke 4:38; I Corinthians 9:5) although popes and priests are not allowed to marry.

The Death of Another Pope

The death of John Paul II has required a conclave to be called into session (conclave meaning "with a key"). There is a designated place appointed for the meeting of the 117 cardinals who will make the choice for the next pope. This building will be locked and sealed with wax seals. The place of the Sistine Chapel along with annex rooms for resting and eating will be part of the conclave. This practice began after the election of Gregory X in 1271; it took two years and nine months for his election. Weary over the labored time, the local authority eventually locked up the cardinals and would not allow them to leave until a final decision was made. Gregory X in 1274 realized that such a conclave needed to be established, and at the Second Council of Lyons he declared this provision.

When a pope dies, the cardinals who are present at his death have ten days to call for their brethren. If after three days of the conclave's convening no decision is made, for the next five days the cardinals are to be brought only noon and evening meals. If after those five days a decision still has not been made, only bread, wine, and water are brought. For many centuries this has been the ritual to speed up the process or press for a decision.

When a vote has been taken and a two-thirds majority has not been reached concerning a candidate, all of the ballots are placed in a stove and burned. The black smoke coming from the smokestack indicates to the public that a decision has not been met. Pope John Paul II established the provision that after twelve days if a decision has not been made, then a simple majority vote of the last count will be accepted. Once a decision has been made the ballots are burned but this time with the addition of a pellet that produces white smoke informing those outside that a man has been nominated for the papacy.

It is interesting to note that out of the 117 cardinals eligible to vote (under the age of 80), the overwhelming vast majority of them were chosen by John Paul II with the hope that they would choose a man who would continue in his concerns and vision after his death.

The Malachy Prophecies

It is interesting to note that 1978 was the year of the three Popes: the death of Paul VI, the election and death of John Paul I, and then the election of John Paul II. Now with the death of John Paul II, the Roman Catholic Church and the world are anticipating what will come next.

The most famous and best-known prophecies about the popes are those attributed to Malachy. In 1139 he went to Rome to give an account of the affairs of his diocese to Pope Innocent II, who promised him two palliums for the metropolitan Sees of Armagh and Cashel. While at Rome, he supposedly received a strange vision of the future wherein was unfolded before him the long list of illustrious pontiffs who were to rule the Roman Catholic Church until the end of time. History tells us that Malachy gave his manuscript to Innocent II to console him in the midst of his tribulations, and that the document remained unnoticed in the Roman Archives until its discovery in 1590. The manuscript was first published by Arnold de Wyon. Since their publication, there has been much discussion as to whether they are genuine predictions of Malachy or later culminations by the Jesuits.

These short prophetical announcements (112 of them) indicate some noticeable trait of all future popes from Celestine II, who was elected in the year 1130, until the end of the world. They are enunciated under mystical titles. Those who have undertaken to interpret and explain these symbolical prophecies have succeeded in discovering some trait, allusion, point, or similitude in their application to the individual popes, such as to their country, their name, their coat of arms or insignia, their birthplace, their talent or learning, the title of their cardinalate, or the dignities which they held.

John Paul II was the 266^th pope and the 110^th pope mentioned by Malachy since his list commenced. Malachy called John Paul II "De labore Solis," or "of the eclipse of the sun," or "from the labour of the sun." Karol Wojtyla, his baptismal name, was born on May 18, 1920, during the solar eclipse. Being born in Poland, he came from behind the former Iron Curtain. Because of his obsessive devotion to the Virgin Mary, this Pope was viewed by certain Catholic historians to be the fruit of the intercession of the Woman clothed with the sun and in labor (Revelation 12).

It is the hope of Romanist leaders that the next pope will not reign as long, perhaps being an older pope. According to Malachy, the 267^th pope is called "Gloria Olivae," or "glory of the olive." Traditionally, the olive branch has been associated with peace, but in both the Old and New Testaments, it also serves as an emblem for the Jews. Putting the two together, some commentators believe that the reign of this pope will be dedicated to peace. However, some believe that Malachy's description may instead refer to St. Benedict's sixth-century prophecy that a member of his order will lead the Church in its fight against evil just before the Apocalypse. The Benedictine Order is known by another name, Olivetans. Those mystic observers in Rome believe if this is true, the next pope will go by the name of Pope Benedict XVI, in imitation of Saint Benedict and Pope Benedict XV. Benedict XV was a pope obsessed with peace: he sought peace and spoke of peace and wrote documents seeking peace.

Yet there is much division today within the Romanist Church between traditionalists, modernists, and Marxists. There is also another "Saint" Benedict, a well-known one called Benedict the Black (il moro santo, the holy Moor). Some believe he may be a black man like Benedict the Moor. As to the term olive there has been speculation that the next pope will come from an olive-growing country: Spain, Italy, South America, or even France.

A little more information is given concerning the last pope that Malachy mentions:

In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful judge will judge the people. The End.

Malachy places this pope as the last one and the end of the church. According to Roman speculations within the Vatican, either the 267^th or 268^th pope has been viewed as the defecting pope: defecting from the church and its doctrines, an antichrist pope. These are merely the speculations by Malachy and those in the Romanist church who follow his predictions.

Conclusion

Sentiment is ever growing for Rome and its Pope. But as it has been believed since the Protestant Reformation (and even before), the system of Rome is the Mystery Babylon of Revelation 17; she also is the whore who will ride the back of the beast. It is estimated that over the centuries she has put to death some sixty-eight million individuals, drinking abundantly and made drunk with the blood of the saints:

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. (Revelation 17:6)

May God help us in these days to see the papal system truly as an antichrist system. Whether we view the prefix "anti" in the Greek interpreted as "in the stead of" (or substitute), or "against," the pope concept falls under both categories. He places himself as the substitute of Christ, and he is against the true Christ.

May God keep our hearts clear and firm upon Scriptures amidst these days of sentimentality for that which is contrary to the Christ of the Scriptures.