Six years ago I wrote an article on my old Blog questioning if Pope Francis would turn out to be the False Prophet or the Antichrist. That article has had over 70,000 page views. It still gets hundreds of views most months so many are obviously interested in the topic. The Pope’s recent call for nations to submit to global government along with his other Marxist and pro Islamic positions even has many Catholics believing that this Pope is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Six years ago much of the interest in this Pope was due to the St. Malachy prophecy and Tom Horn’s book “Petrus Romanus”.  I wrote about those conjectures in that link. I thought and still think that Pope Frances is too old to turn out to be either the False Prophet or the Antichrist. He is now 82. Pope Francis is probably just setting the stage for his replacement. I believe Revelation teaches that the Beast and False Prophet arise after a clash of civilizations occurs that threatens the whole world. The Antichrist will be a counterfeit Christ figure fulfilling end time expectations of major world religions.

The False Prophet that promotes this world leader will be believed because he will be given the power to perform Satanic signs and wonders. I have little doubt that the Holy See would play a significant role in that deception. After all, every day Catholic priests claim to call down Jesus and transform Him into a wafer. Over one-billion Catholics have no problem believing that their priests have these magical powers. Same as they believe a priest’s blessing makes plain tap water holy. They think their priests can even advance souls in the abode of the dead. Native pagan religions integrate so well with Catholicism because shamans and priests have much in common.

Catholics also believe and follow the directions of any supernatural apparition claiming to be Mary. I believe the Mary apparition will be key in the last days deception. The messages of the past attributed to this Queen of Heaven apparition gives a different gospel. Paul warned about this deception in Gal 1 : 6-9 – “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed”. This demonic counterfeit of Mary gives a false gospel of earned grace and obedience to its message.

Catholics are ripe for satanic deception as are all religious people because Satan is the author of world religions. The Creator uniquely revealed Himself to Abraham, Issac and Jacob (Israel) in preparation for the Messiah that He would send to redeem mankind from their sins. Nevertheless, even the descendants of Israel soon became blinded by Satan. True to form, religious leaders took over Israel, created doctrines of men, killed the prophets of God and crucified the Kinsman Redeemer sent to save mankind.

God came in the form of a man to save mankind from their sins. Those that believe in God’s Kinsman Redeemer will be saved. Mankind will never get to God through religion because human religion is a Satanic deception that leads to self-righteousness. Religious people still dead in their sins think they are righteous enough to merit salvation. God alone is righteous. We must trust in Him for salvation.

True Christianity is not a religion or a religious institution. True Christians are those that trust in the Redeemer that came according to the scriptures. Jesus proved He was sent by God by rising from the dead. This risen savior promises eternal life to all who place their trust in Him.

Early Christianity soon became infiltrated by Satanic tares and they made Christianity into an institution. Satan conspires to make sure his scum rises to the top of such institutions. These Satanic tares added doctrines and practices contrary to the word of God. Jesus warned about these wolves in sheep’s clothing. Paul also warned that wolves would come soon after his departure (Acts 20:29).

The wolves in sheep’s clothing created a religious clergy to lord over the sheep. They added doctrines and practices contrary to the gospel delivered by Paul. They then called the religious institution that they created the Universal (Catholic) Church. The wolves even introduced Babylonian paganism into the Church. Some believers became aware of the institution’s departure from the true faith and came out of her. Unfortunately, some of these soon built their own religious institutions that in turn became corrupted.

The leaders of these Christian institutions often fail to understand the gospel, therefore they do not teach the gospel of saving grace through faith in Jesus to their members. They always make salvation something to be earned. Invariably, the path to salvation also includes obedience to the dictates of their institutions and its overlords.

The plain truth is that the only way to become a Christian is to trust in the Savior that the scriptures proclaim. Those that trust in Him are gifted with a spiritual birth into the body of Christ. People do not become Christians by identifying with or by obedience to religious institutions. Those not born of the Holy Spirit are not Christians.

Those identifying as Roman Catholics are members of the biggest religious institution on earth. It is also the oldest institution identifying as Christianity. This institution often made up their doctrines and practices as they went along. Islam might grow bigger, but Islam is more than just a single religious institution. Islam itself may have originated from a Gnostic branch of institutional Christianity.

Pope Francis is now trying to get Islam and other world religious to unite with Rome in a common world religion. That seems unlikely to happen as things stand now, but a clash of civilizations could soon change perspectives. After the four horsemen of the Apocalypse ride, people will be looking for peace and safety in all the wrong places. They will believe and follow any entity delivering them a message that they want to hear. Jesus warned that this would occur in the last days (Mt 24:24). Since they did not want to believe the true gospel of salvation, God will allow false prophets and a strong delusion.

Pope Francis says Muslims worship the same God. He is correct. They both worship Satan. Islam says God has no son, and the Vatican denies that salvation comes from only trusting in God’s Son. They both make obedience to their religious institutions the path to salvation. Those trusting in these religions to save them are not in Christ. Without Christ, they cannot know God to worship Him.

People in these religious institutions that are not known by the Son of God do not know the Father either. The Father can only be known through the Son. The Son is the visible image of God. The gospel (good news) is that salvation comes by trusting in Jesus. All the religious stuff that institutions add to the gospel are stumbling blocks.

This Pope is antichrist because he distorts the gospel of Christ. However, he is not likely to be the Antichrist. He also is a false prophet because his wayward institution gives him the mantle of a prophet. However, Pope Francis is not likely to be the False Prophet. According to Revelation 13 the False Prophet probably will be an ethnic Jew or come from the land of Israel. He may now be among the Catholic Cardinals. The second Beast rises out of the land (Israel). The first Beast Antichrist is from the sea (Gentile nations). I think he will reform the Holy Roman Empire. The Catholics have prophecies about a great western monarch with great powers defeating the enemies of the Roman Church. They say he will then bring great peace and prosperity on earth.

The Pope has been saying that nations should submit to a new type of global rule in order to solve climate change and other such hoaxes which in reality advance globalism and totalitarianism. I do not think the Pope believes the corrupted UN in NY can govern the world. I think he has in mind a eurocentric world government (perhaps with an ethnic Jewish Pope telling all nations and religions to worship this counterfeit Christ). The first five seals of Revelation gives us some of the details about the rise of the Antichrist.

I think Bible prophecy teacher Bill Salus has the best handle on the Vatican’s role in end time prophecy. Many other teachers have rightly believed that signs and wonders would involve Marian apparitions and that the Pope would play some role in this end time deception. However, Salus has uniquely searched the Old Testament scriptures to come up with an original plausible theory about what takes place. He may not be correct on every point, but his theories are well thought-out. Salus does not think the confirmation by the Antichrist with Israel for seven years is a peace deal with the Arabs. He thinks it will be a deal with the Vatican. It has been no secret that the Vatican wants to administrate the religious sites in Jerusalem.The Temple mount is likely to be put under Vatican authority in exchange for allowing Israel to rebuild the Temple. That could be part of what the confirmation of the covenant is about.

Both Salus and I believe that the four horsemen will start riding before Daniel’s final seven-years. We also believe the Rapture will happen before they ride. I think things on earth will change very rapidly as these earth shaking events occur. People will be looking for someone with all the answers. They will be opened to someone with magic supernatural powers.

The stage is being set. Pope Francis is calling for world government and a world religion. The Vatican worships a false God as does Islam. They worship Satan/Lucifer. Pagan symbolism is apparent in the Sun and Saturn symbology of Roman Catholicism just as it is apparent in the Moon and Saturn symbology of Islam. The Pope’s call for world religion and for global governance are just two more signs that Jesus is coming soon for His Church.