The False Prophet has already come and gone. The False Prophet was Hitler! He has prepared the way of the Anti-Christ!
Thanks Dolours, we all must be careful here. It is very important for all of us to realize that none of us really know what is going on exactly. We have been given enough information so that we can see the signs of the times, but not so much that we have a crystal clear picture of what is happening. We have been alerted so that we can be vigilant. I am sure we will all be very surprised at what the coming years have in store. I bet it won't look like what we imagine it to be. We are running around in a spiritual mine field. Let's be careful of where we tread.
Not even close! Hitler was an evil man, a very evil man, but he in no way took on the appearance of the False Prophet who will lead faithful souls into grave error. He hated Christians and Jews and put millions to death. Tough to do this and draw people to Christ. The False Prophet will mislead many into believing the Antichrist to be the Messiah. This will come when things are at their worst, after the Warning.
While this is true, he surely can be a precursor to the False Prophet by giving ambiguity to the faithful who want to believe the errors of the world. The False Prophet will deceive many into thinking they are following truth and working with the Antichrist who will show wonders and counterfeit miracles that will convince many.
Yes, he can be a precursor. Martin Luther was a clearer example of that, presenting people with more pleasing alternatives to the hard teachings of the Church. It appears that some members of the hierarchy are more Lutheran than Catholic. It's even possible that Pope Francis holds the same beliefs and if he does we can thank God, past Popes and Church Councils that his office restricts him from imposing Lutheranism on the Church. I don't know where people are getting this notion that being Pope makes a man's every word and deed perfect or gives him the authority to invent Doctrine or to pass off such inventions as doctrinal developments. That kind of talk undermines the papacy more than any criticism or questioning of the Pope. It is extremely dangerous for both the papacy and the universal Church. According to prophecy, there will be two churches - the real Catholic Church and one headed by the False Prophet. I suppose that means there will be two men claiming to be Pope. We don't have that now. There is one Catholic Church and one Pope. I had reservations about Francis being the valid Pope because of the St. Gallen manipulations. Those reservations were put to rest by a priest (I think it was in a Sensus Fidelium sermon) who explained that once all the Bishops accepted his election then he is the valid Pope. Thus far, not even the four Cardinals of dubia fame have questioned that he is the valid Pope. So, Pope Francis is entitled to our obedience, love and respect by virtue of his being St. Peter's successor. That doesn't extend to pretending that all's well when clearly it's far from well. That God will make it end well is no excuse for pretence. Even less is it an excuse for making outlandish claims that the Pope has been gifted with some extraordinary spirituality to gloss over his belittling Catholics who are simply trying to live the faith as it has always been taught or accusing people of sinning against the Holy Spirit for merely asking valid questions about his ambiguous teaching.
We don't know or pope Francis is a saint. But we do know that he's our pope, and that we've to show respect to any successor of Peter! It's not to us to judge him! Let's pray for Peter and love Peter.
I believe It is spiritual madness to entertain the idea that this pope may be the false prophet. In denying Christ, St. Peter gave in to the spirit of the antichrist, for a short time, but he did. Other popes have also entertained that spirit, and they have repented. If this pope is saying things that seem to embrace that same spirit, there should be no scandal, he is not the first and may not be the last. He is human and as such susceptible to give in to the spirit of this contemporary society (which is that of the anti Christ), just like we are in our own daily lives. If this pope is taking the church into error, God will guide him through means that we can't necessarily foresee. For your discernment on this matter of the anti Christ and our times here are two articles by Cardinal Biffi who pope Benedict selected to preach Lenten retreat in 2007. His lecture and preface to Soloviev Anthology (in the second link) is a must read to understand the current situation in the world. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/p...on-antichrist-as-a-pacifist-ecologist-and-ecu http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/soloviev/biffi.html
Reading what you have linked, I'm more frightened than reassured. I reckon that the Antichrist as described by Soloviev and his church as summarised by the Cardinal, would have been a good fit for the recent Bioextinction Workshop organised and hosted in the Vatican by the Pontifical Academies of Science and Social Sciences: The Antichrist will be a "convinced spiritualist," Soloviev says, an admirable philanthropist, a committed, active pacifist, a practicing vegetarian, a determined defender of animal rights. He will not be hostile "in principle" to Christ. Indeed, he will appreciate Christ's teaching. But he will reject the teaching that Christ is unique, and will deny that Christ is risen and alive today. One sees here described a Christianity of "values," of "openings," of "dialogue," a Christianity where it seems there is little room left for the person of the Son of God crucified for us and risen, little room for the actual event of salvation. A scenario, I think, that should cause us to reflect... A scenario in which the faith militant is reduced to humanitarian and generically cultural action, the Gospel message is located in an irenic encounter with all philosophies and all religions and the Church of God is transformed into an organization for social work. Are we sure Soloviev did not foresee what has actually come to pass? Are we sure it is not precisely this that is the most perilous threat today facing the "holy nation" redeemed by the blood of Christ - the Church? It is a disturbing question and one we must not avoid.
I hear it repeated over and over again as a firm principle , 'That we cannot criticise the Pope', rather as though it has been written in large letters of Gold in the sky. In fact this, 'Principal', is false as it is unscriptural. Galatians 2:11 Paul Confronts Cephas 10They only asked us to be mindful of the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. 11When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, because he stood to be condemned. 12For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group.…
1 John 4 Test the Spirits 4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Galatians 1:8 No Other Gospel …7which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be under a divine curse! 9As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you embraced, let him be under a divine curse!…
The idea that we should abandon our consciences and discernment to another single individual is quite extraordinary and is not Catholic Teaching. We are obedient to the Magisterium rather than to a Pope as a single individual. To raise a Pope so high that he is beyond critique is not Catholicsm it is Papal idolatory, placing an individual in the place of God. Looking at examples of Papal behaviour down the centuries for example we have numerous examples of truly horriffic behaviour by many different Popes which were quite abominable and which demand to be condemned in the very fiercest ways possible. A for instance the setting up of a Jewish Ghetto in Rome by Pope Paul VI: http://roma.andreapollett.com/S1/roma-c9.htm Cum nimis absurdum was a papal bull issued by Pope Paul IV dated 14 July 1555. It takes its name from its first words: "Since it is absurd and utterly inconvenient that the Jews, who through their own fault were condemned by God to eternal slavery..." The bull established the Roman Ghetto and required the Jews of Rome, which had existed as a community since before Christian times and numbered about 2,000 at the time, to live in it. The Ghetto was a walled quarter with three gates that were locked at night. Under the bull, Jewish males were required to wear a pointed yellow hat, and Jewish females a yellow kerchief. Jews were required to attend compulsory Catholic sermons on the Jewish shabbat. The bull also subjected Jews to various other restrictions such as a prohibition on property ownership and practising medicine among Christians. Jews were allowed to practice only unskilled jobs, as rag men, secondhand dealers or fish mongers. They could also be pawnbrokers. Paul IV's successor, Pope Pius IV, enforced the creation of other ghettos in most Italian towns, and his successor, Pope Pius V, recommended them to other bordering states. The Papal States ceased to exist on 20 September 1870 when they were incorporated in the Kingdom of Italy, but the requirement that Jews live in the ghetto was only formally abolished by the Italian state in 1882. Note that it was not the Popes who had established Jewish ghettos all over Italy who abolished them in the 1800's but the new Italian Republic. The Vatican would have been happy to keep them.
The Church Fathers believed that the False Prophet will follow in the footsteps of Simon Magus who, by many accounts, was a sorcerer of some sort who performed demonic "miracles." The Antichrist will be Jewish, accepted by the Jews as the Messiah, and will be a great military leader in the mold of Nero and Antiochus. I don't think either the False Prophet or Antichrist are visible today and if they are alive they are hidden in the shadows. There was also an excellent sermon I heard once on what the Church will face when the final Antichrist comes. It will be a time of persecution that rivals the persecutions of Nero and the persecutions during the French Revolution. Thankfully, when you look at the big picture, I think things are relatively peaceful today when compared to the violent persecutions of the past. But, as the saying goes: when they say peace and security, sudden destruction comes upon them...
If I posted this in 2012 no one would have batted an eyelid.A good and worthy conversation. Now it seems tantamount to sedition. Whose fault is that? When genuine prophecy and real insight[Fr Kramer] become too dangerous to discuss,we must be close.Very close.And it wont get better before it gets worse.
We are close, Mac, but I think that we will see a few Popes like Francis before the False Prophet arrives. Given the type of people he is promoting, and considering that only one Cardinal in active ministry had the courage to ask him for clarification of AL, it looks like the next Pope will be as bad if not worse. We only have to look at the Protestant Churches that Pope Francis is emulating to know what's coming down the line. The "reformers" will be active for a while until there are all sorts of little boutique churches calling themselves Catholic but doing their own thing. They will fall away when the novelty wears off and the Church has no moral authority of any value to the secularists. Then we will once again be gifted with a Pope in the style of Peter who will speak the truth to the powerful rather than currying favour with them and putting the Church at their disposal. The Church will likely have lost its properties anyway, with the Vatican having reverted to the Italian State, so the Pope won't even be worth a photo op. The nominal Catholics who will have embraced the doctrine of mercy without repentance will be easily led astray by the False Prophet, with the remnant remaining loyal to the Pope who won't shy away from the hard teachings. I don't believe that God will leave us without a true shepherd in the end times of persecution. The choice between God and evil should be clear enough for whoever is still living as long as they hold fast to the faith handed down to us. God won't desert us in our time of need.
But please know, Jesus never lets you down. Please know that the love and tenderness of Mother Mary never lets you down. And holding on to her mantle and with the power that comes from Jesus love on the cross, let us move forward, always forward, and walk together as brothers and sisters in the Lord forward. Pope Francis Beautiful, isn't it?
Words build bridges into unexpected regions' Adolph Hitler "He who stops being better stops being good." Oliver Cromwell "It takes less courage to criticize the decisions of others than to stand by your own." Attila the Hun "Impossible is a word found only in the dictionary of fools." Napoleon Buonaparte “The real strong have no need to prove it to the phonies.” Charles Manson "Better to live a day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep" Benito Mussolini Some pretty inspiring stuff, isn't it? I especially like the Hitler one. Perhaps he has been misjudged? But, then again who am I to judge? (now who said that?) http://lifehacker.com/10-surprisingly-inspirational-quotes-from-evil-people-1454328362
