The Papacy of Rome for the End Time

In This Issue:

The Mother Harlot of Rome and Her Secrets of History

Roman Catholicism and Its Papacy

The present manipulative powers of the papal system are radically changing Roman Catholicism—the oldest apostasy in Christianity. Statistically, Romanism boasts a membership of over one billion people; it has steadily grown, especially since Vatican II met in the early 1960s. This “Mother of Harlots” has surprisingly brought a number of public changes, while many other changes have been made behind the scenes and away from public scrutiny. Roman Catholicism is mysteriously rising with subtle influence, beyond the media’s imagery of it, as it plies through the waters of human history to bring about a final world religion. Its powerful influence in the contemporary ecumenical movement (since the mid-1960s) has catapulted this apostate religion into the leadership of the Inter-faith movement which is fast producing changes in the global religious environment and in their own religious presuppositions.

My father, Dr. O. Talmadge Spence, warned back in the early 1990s that Rome would make a number of changes to gain its religious goal of global conquest. Since my father’s death in July of 2000, we have witnessed three popes who have brought about a subtle agenda of which only Vatican insiders are aware. The hierarchy of Rome has never been transparent with the world and especially with its own people.

To understand what is really taking place in Romanism today we must take a historical journey behind the public face of Roman Catholicism. There has been a long procession of manipulations and transitions to bring about Satan’s End-time hope of conquering the world of mankind to his glory.

The Present Pope

There have been many enigmas surrounding Pope Francis, both before he became pope and certainly since he was appointed to the papacy. Surprisingly, he is the first Jesuit pope. Already his decisions, his manner of living, and his shocking public comments have drawn both commendation and criticism. He has candidly expressed a different perspective of the papacy than that of his predecessors, for he has not been the pope of luxury and pomp.

On the evening of March 13, 2013, a short time after the College of Cardinals elected him the 265th successor to Peter and leader of Roman Catholics, Jorge Mario Bergoglio (his real name) surprised Church leaders and the media by rejecting the papal limousine provided for his use; instead he rode back to his hotel by bus. It seems that since then he has permanently parked the armored Mercedes SUV (the normal mode of transportation of his predecessors) and has chosen to ride in a Ford Focus instead. Such gestures have continued since he took his papal name from “Saint Francis of Assisi,” one of the churchmen in history identified with the downtrodden. He urged his admirers from his native Argentina to donate money to the poor instead of spending it on a trip to pay their tributes in Rome. He chose to reside in the Vatican’s modest guesthouse rather than the comparatively lavish Apostolic Palace. He has even been observed carrying his own bags. In more recent months, another gesture to raise the eyebrows of the traditionalists of Rome was his act of washing the feet of two women in juvenile detention, one of whom was a Muslim. This action contradicted the tradition that restricts the ritual to men, and mostly to priests in the Vatican entourage. Such expressions of outward “modesty” and “humility” are obvious contrasts from those of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who became accustomed to a very different style of Vatican leadership.

The so-called Progressive Catholics have responded enthusiastically to the changes in Francis’ leadership. In recent months his opinionated remarks have entered the realm of “gay priests.” His less condemnatory statement, “Who am I to judge?” has been much less offensive than that of John Paul and Benedict. Though his words are more candid and less condemnatory, we are told that a new pope has comparatively little freedom to remake the ideological system of the Roman Curia. Since the cardinals and archbishops who head the various congregations, tribunals, councils, commissions, academies (that make up the Curia) typically resign upon the death of a pontiff, a new pope can choose the replacements of such men only from the list of cardinals and archbishops. It must be remembered that these men were appointed to the ranks of cardinals and archbishops by the pope’s predecessors. This has been true with Francis’ coming into the papacy following John Paul II’s and Benedict XVI’s solid 34-year run of forceful theological and doctrinal conservatism. Pope Francis has inherited a church staffed at the highest levels with men who would oppose any dramatic change in course. Nevertheless, the world waits to see what this new pope will do with his privileged papal powers.

Just as we have a president in the United States who has aggressively set himself to bring about a new America by destroying the old, so Romanism may now have a pope who will radically alter the public face of the Romanist course of its past. In Washington, D.C., we have seen the pompous power of executive orders and privileges overriding laws in order to aggressively dismantle America (as we once knew it) with the goal of bringing our country into conformity to a greater purpose—transcending nationalism and coming into a New World Order. Likewise, Pope Francis may be the key man in a satanic plan to do the same in the realm of his religion for what he believes to be the greater purpose. Perhaps the question is how he will do this?

Change Under Pope Francis

Many practical perspectives have already changed at the Vatican since this new pope has arrived. In more recent months religious gossip within the Vatican hierarchy suggests that the ban on married priests may eventually be abolished; it is technically viewed as a matter of discipline rather than of “faith.” Francis does not view this or many other aspects of present Romanism as dogma or “a doctrine of the Church.” It is evident when one carefully analyzes the words of this pope that he speaks more than any other pope in a subtle language of universal reform for the Church. With his unique manner, he may dismantle the present concept of Romanism in order to bring about a greater universal purpose for the Church’s existence. Before his reign is over, we may witness a first step toward abolishing required celibacy of priests. This may commence by his setting up a pontifical commission to study the celibacy rule, its impact on the lives and work of the clergy, and above all, its role in the alarming decline in priestly ordinations throughout the Western world.

In the United States alone, the population of priests has decreased from 59,000 in 1975 to around 39,000 as of 2014, with many of that number nearing or past retirement age. Possibly such a commission would also attempt to build on the fact that the Church permits married Anglican clergy to become priests when they convert to Catholicism, a practice that has already produced many married priests in countries around the world. Most importantly, it could identify historical grounds for reform.

Though we have heard so much in our lifetime concerning the clerical celibacy of Roman Catholic priests, we must remember that it was not uniformly enforced in the Western Church until more than a thousand years after Christ’s coming. And even then, celibacy never took root in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Also, what neither the pope nor the commission would say in public is that permitting priests to marry would make the priesthood a less attractive hiding place for sexually-perverted men who often end up molesting children.

Though a good number of priests and parishioners hope for such changes, one of the legacies of the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s is a widespread consensus in Church hierarchy that a proposed break with tradition cannot even be entertained unless it can be framed to support a deeper continuity of the Church itself. This idea was first laid out by John Henry Newman in 1845; the concept is known as “development of doctrine,” and it holds that any shift must reaffirm the underlying changelessness of the Church. Appropriated by conservatives within the Church amid the upheavals of the late 1960s and early 1970s, it has served as an effective restraint against innovation and reform. The Vatican sees, as we are even observing in Fundamentalism, that justifiable reforms and changes merely inspire even bolder ones to arise. I believe that history will bear this to be true in any religion.

On the horizon may be other reforms such as eliminating the ban on the use of artificial birth control, which basically the Western-world Roman Catholics refuse to accept. There may be changes to the Church’s teaching about homosexual acts, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church notoriously defines as “intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to natural law.” Other changes may include welcoming women into the priesthood.

With all of these potential changes on the horizon, Francis often feeds the fire of these controversies with his public words to the media. But even so, there is a lot of secret baggage accompanying Pope Francis. For example, when he was chosen as pope, critics attacked him on his alleged accommodation of the military junta that ran Argentina during the “Dirty War” that stretched from 1976 to 1983. But his most serious that he turned over two priests to Navy torturers has never been substantiated.

What is clear is that he refused to speak out publicly against the Argentinean regime, even as he reportedly worked behind the scenes to help people flee the dictatorship. Thus, the portrait that emerges of this pope is that of a man whose mix of virtues and vices somewhat resembles Pope Pius XII, who discreetly saved thousands of Jews during World War II but officially declared the Vatican neutral in the battle against the evils of the Nazis. Unlike his predecessors, Francis holds an apparently sincere belief in dialogue, bridge-building, conciliation, and the acceptance of differences. It seems important to him to appear happy and delightful, tolerant, and more of a man for the world. He has made unusually respectful, open-minded statements about the members and beliefs of other “Christian” churches, as well as about Jews, Muslims, and even atheists.

More and more, we are going to be hearing papal rhetoric from this pope. He truly is a politician, and politicians are given to idealistic language when speaking to the people and to the media (conversely, sowing disillusionment to everyone). Amidst such disillusionment, there will be charges of hypocrisy, dishonesty, and cynicism erupting when the politicians’ exalted words (governmental or religious) fail to match the deeds which they have spoken about. This has been so almost daily concerning the present administration in Washington.

We must realize that the Roman Church has a rhetorical reality all its own where subtle changes are more and more being allowed. Over many decades Romanism has had an overwhelming obsession with sodomy, an obsession that has become an integral part of the infrastructure of the Vatican. Even strong suspicions have fallen upon Pope Benedict XVI in his hurried resignation. Pope Francis’ words and open hands on the subject of homosexuality have diverted the attention of the papacy away from sexual decadence to the plight of the poor. This positive spin has caused a number of disillusioned people to return to the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Francis is also concerned for the many Romanists who are of the anti-Democratic party in American politics. But we must remember that a new pope appoints the bishops, archbishops, and cardinals who will govern the Church of the future in America and in turn will elect the next pope. In many ways we may see the wheels of powerful, future change set in motion by Pope Francis.

The Malachy Papers and Their Prophecies

This topic brings us to another dilemma that has risen in Romanism since the appointment of Pope Francis. Among the many prophetic writings within the secret archives of the Vatican, one particular work is simply designated as the Malachy Papers.

Perhaps a brief survey of these famous Malachy Papers would give some understanding of how changes have come in Roman Catholicism and where the Church is heading. These prophetical manuscripts were written by the Irish Archbishop of Armagh named Malachy (1094–1193). He was the first native-born Irish saint to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1190, he prophesied of his own death. In 1139, he was called by Pope Innocent II to Rome where he supposedly received visions concerning the future popes of Rome (112 which followed); this list of popes concludes with the “Second Coming of Jesus Christ.” From this vision he wrote 112 short Latin phrases describing some aspect of the men who would arise as popes.

This manuscript was placed in the papal secret archives and not discovered until 1556 (or as late as 1590) by a Vatican librarian. It was published in 1595 by the Benedictine monk and historian Arnold de Wyon in his book called The Tree of Life. He was assisted by a prominent scholar of the times to make sure it was authentic. Though Malachy recorded a list of future popes (in coded form), it must be acknowledged he did not say whether these men were good or evil or whether they were true popes of the Romanist Church or “anti-popes” to Rome. Malachy’s writings identified each pope with one or more characteristics, such as his family coat of arms, his birthplace, or cities in which he would live during his life. He also prophesied of some of the events that would take place with a few of the claimants to the papacy.

No one truly knows if these writings exist as Malachy gave them, since they were done in 1139 and not discovered until 1556, and then published in 1595. The span of centuries between writing and discovery could have permitted editing by others.

(A simple postscript here concerning redactors of ancient manuscripts: this also could be true with the famous Codex Vaticanus which is reputed to be one of the oldest manuscripts of a nearly completed Bible. It was supposedly produced in the late fourth century, but its whereabouts was uncertain for nearly a thousand years until it was identified in the Vatican Library in the fifteenth century. Ironically, there has been no question as to the authenticity of the Codex Vaticanus which later resurfaced by Tischendorf in the 1800s, and oh, the many modern Bible versions that have come from it.)

Several Popes Mentioned by Malachy

Whether the manuscript is the original or whether changes were made by some person or several, perhaps a few observations could be made concerning the manuscript’s predictions. It is not our purpose to deal with the entire list of 112 popes since the days of Malachy. However, perhaps to choose a few of them would give us some glimpse into Malachy’s predictive perspective. In more recent years as I have perused this list, it has become clearer that evidence of any fulfilled predictions is really based on the subjectivity of the reader. Although Malachy does not give the names of the popes, we will give their names so that the reader will know of whom we are writing. We will cover only a few for the reader to see the concept of Malachy’s writings.

Observations of a Few Popes on the Malachy List

For example, Malachy described Innocent X (1644–1655) as “Joyfulness of the Cross.” What did this phrase have to do with this pope? Well, it is interesting to note that Innocent X was finally elected on the Feast Day of the Exaltation of the Cross after a long and difficult Conclave.

Pope Pious VI (1775–1799) was designated by Malachy as “Apostolic Wanderer.” During his reign he traveled to Germany to confer with Emperor Joseph II. In the last two years of his reign, he was forced by revolutionaries to flee Rome. After a very difficult journey over the Alps, he died in France.

Another of the prophecies describes Pope Pious VII (1800–1823) as a “Greedy Eagle.” This pope’s reign was overshadowed by Napoleon, whose symbol was an eagle. Napoleon’s rule overshadowed Pope Pious VII’s reign. Napoleon and Pious VII were in continual conflict as Napoleon forced Pious VII to submit to his demands. But after Pious VII excommunicated Napoleon, the pope was kidnapped and imprisoned by Napoleon’s officers. Eventually Napoleon forced the pope into an alliance that leaned heavily in Napoleon’s favor.

Pious IX (1846–1878) was described by Malachy as a “Cross from the Cross.” Pious IX was the last pope to govern the Papal States. He ended up imprisoned in the Vatican when the House of Savoy, whose coat of arms is a white cross, reunited Italy and removed Pious IX from the rule of the Papal States.

Malachy spoke of Leo XIII (1878–1903) as “Light in the Sky.” Leo’s coat of arms includes a picture of a comet in the sky. We must remember that bishops of the Roman Catholic Church create their coats of arms. Leo was made bishop on February 19, 1843. This means that he created his coat of arms thirty-five years before he became pope in 1878. He was identified with a light in the sky long before he became pope.

Malachy describes Pope Pious X (1903–1914) as “Fire Burning.” Pious X’s reign saw the Russian-Japanese War, the Mexican Revolution, and the first and second Balkan Wars. It was also at the end of his reign that World War I began and set Europe on “fire” as the war was seen to be.

Malachy describes Benedict XV (1914–1922) as “Religion Laid Waste.” Benedict reigned during World War I and the Revolution in Russia; these events led to millions of Roman Catholics being put to death. Mikhail Gorbachev in his 1996 Memoirs said that the Soviet Communist State laid waste a religion by “a wholesale war on religion” (p. 328).

Pope John XXIII (1958–1963) was described by Malachy as “Pastor and Sailor.” During his reign he regularly wore clothing featuring a large sailboat.

Pope Paul VI (1963–1978) is described by Malachy as “Flower of Flowers.” It is interesting to note that Paul VI had three lilies on his coat of arms.

Pope John Paul I (1978–1978) was described as “From the Half Moon.” John Paul I began his reign on August 26, 1978, when the moon appeared exactly half full. So he began his reign from the half moon. John Paul I also came from the diocese of Belluno, meaning “beautiful moon.” This papacy abruptly ended with his death less than forty days after becoming pope.

Pope John Paul II (1978–2005) is described as “Of the Solar Eclipse.” He was born on May 18, 1920, the day of a solar eclipse. On the day of his funeral, April 8, 2005, there was another solar eclipse. Interestingly, on September 19, 1846, two little children declared that the Virgin Mary appeared to them in LaSalette, France, and told them, “Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of Antichrist. The Church will be in eclipse.” The prediction went on to say that outside of a small remnant, the Church of Roman Catholicism will change from its former days. Something will eclipse the Church and its tradition. There are a number of Roman Catholic theologians of the Tridentine formula who believe that John Paul II was the man that commenced the eclipse of the Roman Church.

Pope Benedict XVI (2005–2013) was predicted as “the Glory of the Olive.” He took on the name of Benedict, which is the Benedictine name for olive branch or tree. Before the Conclave appointed him as pope, we wrote of the possibility of his coming from the Benedictine order or taking on the papal name Pope Benedict.

The final name on the list of Malachy, after the “Glory of the Olive,” is “Petrus Romanus,” or “Peter the Roman.” This was to be the next pope, and from Malachy’s listing this would be Pope Francis I. In Malachy’s prophecy for this last pope, additional words are given:

In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit Peter the Roman, who will feed the sheep in many tribulations: and when these things are finished, the city of the seven hills [Rome] will be destroyed, and the dreadful Judge will judge His people. The End.

Thus, according to Malachy’s words, this current pope, Francis I, will be the last pope in history to claim the title the bishop of Rome. When one views this prophecy, perhaps it is not, as so many have said, that the last pope will be called “Peter,” but rather the last Peter (pope) will be viewed as “Peter (or Pope) the Roman.” It is interesting to note that Pope Francis I has pressed for himself the title “Bishop of Rome” rather than the title “Pope.” He has disassociated himself with all the titles associated with the title of “Pope” and all other claimant titles—he constantly declares himself to be “the Bishop of Rome.” It is almost as if his authority, from his perspective, is limited only to Rome. When appearing on the balcony after the Conclave, his first words were that the purpose of the Conclave was “to give a bishop to Rome.” He has pressed such a title since then in his reign and identified himself as a “Roman.” He is also the first of the popes to sign his name in the official Vatican Directory in Italian rather than Latin (the official language of the Church). Italian is the language of modern Romans, a language which Francis speaks fluently. This is another gesture to place emphasis upon his role as “bishop” rather than a universal leader. It is also interesting to note, as mentioned previously, that he chose his papal name from the most well-known saint of Italy, Saint Francis of Assisi; the city of Assisi is only two hours from Rome. The middle name of both St. Francis of Assisi and his father happened to be “Peter.”

The prophecy is that Peter the Roman will feed many people during many tribulations. This pope really does not care if people believe in Jesus Christ or in the Roman Catholic Church. But his greater emphasis has been upon feeding the poor throughout the world. On page 129 of his book Pope Francis: Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio: His Life in His Own Words, he stated, “It is a problem with sin. For four years Argentina has been living a sinful existence because it has not taken responsibility for those who have no food or work.” He is strongly promoting that the Church become poor in order to address the increased poverty in the world. Again, the prophecy declares that Rome will come to its end at the end of the last pope’s reign.

There are those within the Roman Catholic Church that believe the end of the world is soon. They believe that Pope Francis is “from the end of the world,” since he comes geographically from the end of the world “down” in South America, Argentina. Francis stated in his first address on the balcony, right after his appointment as pope, that the cardinals went all the way “to the end of the world to gain the Bishop of Rome.” He then stated, “Here we are.”

Conclusion

Roman Catholicism will definitely have a major part to play in the drama of the End Time of the last days. But to what extent will this be? Pope Francis I has come into both the political and religious world unassuming and without the flair and dogmatism of the last two popes. We cannot undermine his ability to radically change the largest segment of public Christianity in order to loosely bind it with other world religions and thus create a one-world religion. Romanism is not content to be the leader of Christianity; it desires to become the leader of all religions of the world. In order to rule all religions, it, too, must submit to changes that will make it more compatible to the rest of the religions while maintaining its “keys of authority.” Postmodernism, the global philosophy of our times, has boldly declared that all religions must do away with their absoluteness of distinctions and come to the universal purpose of religion—to serve the socialistic needs of mankind (that of a social gospel), while secular government rules the conscience and existence of man. The present pope is pressing more and more for the collective social needs of man rather than the individual convictions of man.

Straightway: A Publication of the Foundations Ministries

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