In his last will and testament, Pope John Paul ii wrote, “The times in which we live are indescribably difficult and troubled.” We can all agree on that issue. Man is facing his own extermination. Our number-one problem is that of human survival. Never has it been more urgent that we understand what is happening in our world.

Many people believe the Vatican is going to usher in world peace. However, the Vatican has an established record of causing, supporting and guiding many wars as a part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Pope John Paul ii was one of the better popes. He led a church of 1.1 billion people. Never has a pope or church been praised more than in the news surrounding his funeral. The media reported almost nothing negative. That is very uncharacteristic of the media. So just what does it mean?

The Vatican has real power. The European Union, of which the Roman Catholic Church is a significant part, is fast becoming the world’s next superpower. It will be a resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire.

The previous six Holy Roman Empires have waded through more blood than any other church-state combine in the history of man! Those are provable, historical facts.

Most of those empires have been ruled by Germany and the Vatican.

Germany has caused more bloodshed than any other nation in history—both in and out of the Holy Roman Empire.

It is a documented fact that the Vatican helped most of the Nazi leaders escape at the end of World War ii! That fact alone proves it was deeply involved on the wrong side of a world war. There was no mention of that in the media’s reporting surrounding the funeral.

When these two entities have power and unite, shouldn’t we be profoundly concerned? Surely we can see the potential danger!

Even much of the Vatican’s recent history has been nothing short of shocking. Since it professes to represent God, shouldn’t we at least examine the truth and hold it accountable, as we do other institutions and nations—many of which make no claim that they speak for God?

The Funeral

About 2 billion people watched the pope’s funeral on television. Some 4 to 5 million attended his funeral in Rome—or at least made the effort. Some people waited up to 20 hours to view the body. It was the biggest funeral in the history of man!

It was also the biggest media event in history.

Some 200 world leaders attended from 100 countries. The two leading terrorist-sponsoring nations in the world—Iran and Syria—sent their presidents.

Prince Charles postponed his wedding, and Britain changed an election date.

As one cardinal said, “this exceeds everything”! It did indeed. Where is it all leading?

Fox News was criticized for having wall-to-wall coverage of the funeral. One reporter virtually rebuked a critic, stating that the funeral was a big deal whether you were Catholic or not! The media became the major tool in sweeping people along, and yet almost nobody knows where it is leading.

The pope’s funeral was a gigantic turning point in the history of man. The Vatican’s power has never been increased by so much, so fast. It now has the power to guide Europe and the Holy Roman Empire—which is one of its greatest desires.

Today the Germans and the EU are once again focusing the people’s minds on the Holy Roman Empire. European Parliamentarian Otto von Habsburg once said, “The [European] Community is living largely by the heritage of the Holy Roman Empire, though the great majority of the people who live by it don’t know by what heritage they live.”

Notice, “the great majority” don’t know they are even now living by the heritage of the Holy Roman Empire! But that lack of understanding is changing as the empire grows in power.

People need a more specific focus to stir their imaginations. And they are getting just that. Mr. Habsburg, a descendant of the Habsburg dynasty that ruled the Holy Roman Empire for 400 years, talked about a crown in a museum in Vienna, Austria, which symbolizes a great deal to the Germans. He said, “We possess a European symbol which belongs to all nations of Europe equally; this is the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, which embodies the tradition of Charlemagne.” Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in a.d. 800—many call it the First Reich. Historians say he “waded through a sea of blood” to convert people to Catholicism. But that was long ago, and few understand history from 1,200 years ago.

Mr. Habsburg failed to mention that the Holy Roman Empire also embodied the tradition of Mussolini and Hitler, of the sixth Holy Roman Empire. That history, many people still remember.

Europe is once again becoming mesmerized by the crown of Charlemagne—just as Hitler was. After he annexed Austria, he took the crown jewels and brought them to Germany, where he said they would remain forever. Why this acute interest? You and I urgently need to know.

Pope John Paul ii said he wanted “to save Europe and the world from the final catastrophe”—the nuclear annihilation of every human being. But the empire his church has been part of has time and again been used as a tool of great destruction. The end-time resurrection of this power will be the most destructive ever—by far! Bible prophecy makes that clear.

Soon the EU will be reduced from 25 to 10 nations or groups of nations with 10 leaders, guided by the Vatican. (We explain this in our free booklet Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.) A serious crisis will cause the nations of the EU to see that only the Vatican can unite them.

America and Britain have been mesmerized by the pope’s funeral. But if we don’t wake up, it is going to usher in our own massive funeral!

The EU is not the friend of America, Britain or the Jewish state in the Middle East. When will we face the truth?

But all these dark events are tied directly to the best news this world has ever heard.

Hitler’s Pope

Let’s look at some specific and recent history that Pope John Paul ii would not discuss and certainly never repented of, as the representative of the church. In fact, he did just the reverse.

Here is what we wrote in the May 2000 issue of the Trumpet, in an article titled “The Next Pope”: “Outside the Vatican, things have never looked better. Over the past two decades, John Paul ii has become the most visible and celebrated pope in Vatican history. … Never has a pope been so well received among Christians, Jews and Muslims alike.

“Inside the Vatican, however, there is a different story. The pope, who turns 80 this month and suffers from Parkinson’s disease, has lost control of the Vatican, according to the London Times.

“Senior Vatican officials told the Times that the pontiff spends much of the day resting and is in bed by 6 p.m. According to these inside sources, the pope’s ailing physical condition has ‘left a power vacuum in the Vatican in which affairs are dominated by Opus Dei, the hardline right-wing faction that has seized control of at least three key Vatican departments: the section responsible for making saints, the congregation that appoints bishops, and the powerful press office’ (March 12). …

“The article accompanied a more in-depth story submitted to the Sunday Times Magazine by author John Cornwell, also on March 12. Cornwell, a Catholic who teaches at Jesus College in Cambridge, England, authored Hitler’s Pope last year, a best-selling book that exposes the Vatican’s complicity with Hitler during the Holocaust.

“Cornwell describes life inside the Vatican today as ‘an unhappy community of seething tensions’ where right-wing conservatives appear to be gaining the upper hand. ‘Many who look forward to better days with the prospect of a younger, more vigorous pope,’ Cornwell writes, ‘fear that ultraconservatives are intriguing to ensure the election of a reactionary pontiff to continue the current policies and to take the church even further to the right.‘ [That fear has absolutely come upon them today.]

“What is happening inside the Vatican is very prophetic. We do not doubt John Paul’s desire for peace in the Middle East. Nor do we necessarily criticize the pope’s apologies for Christianity’s sins throughout the ages (although he should have been more specific).

“But what happens when the next pope is elected? Considering John Paul’s physical breakdown, a new pontiff might be here sooner than you think. And despite the noble intentions of the present pope, history teaches us that the Vatican has also produced its share of bad popes. To say it cannot happen again is to be hopelessly naive—and ignorant of even the most recent history.

“The most recent bad pope was Pius xii, the central figure discussed in Hitler’s Pope. Cornwell was first inspired to write a book about Pius because he was upset by what he considered to be ‘unwarranted’ criticism against the man. That prompted the Vatican to give Cornwell unlimited access to its treasured (and well-protected) archives. But once Cornwell gained access to the archives, he discovered the darker side of Pius. His research led him into what he called a state of ‘moral shock.’ The book accuses Pius of appeasing Hitler, ignoring the Jewish plight and turning a blind eye toward other Nazi atrocities.

“One example Cornwell uses to prove his point is particularly telling. It happened toward the end of the war. Pius had been receiving information about Hitler’s Final Solution throughout 1942. Jewish groups and Allied officials had repeatedly urged him to publicly condemn Nazi savagery. Under increasing pressure, Pius used a December 1942 radio address to refer to the many thousands who ‘sometimes only by reason of their nationality or race are marked down for death or gradual extinction.’ That was his strongest objection to Hitler’s genocidal rampage! Yet he failed to even mention the Führer by name and made no mention of Nazis or Jews. …

“In October 1943, 10 months after Pius’s radio address, 365 of Hitler’s SS troops entered Rome’s old ghetto and started arresting Italian Jews. They rounded up 1,060 and transported them to a building called Collegio Militare—located less than half a mile from the Vatican. According to Cornwell, Pope Pius was one of the first to be made aware of the Jewish arrests. (German trucks carrying the prisoners even drove by St. Peter’s Square so drivers could see the famous church.) The Jews were kept at the holding center for two days—right under the pope’s nose—before boarding cattle cars to Auschwitz where 80 percent of them were gassed within a week (the rest became slave laborers).

“During the Jews’ two-night confinement down the street from the Vatican, Pope Pius xii did nothing. The most powerful religious man in the world, commanding the allegiance of more than a half-billion Christians at that time, remained silent when a simple protest probably would have saved 1,045 lives. Only 15 of the 1,060 survived the war.

“Television journalist Ed Bradley recounted these events during a 60 Minutes episode on March 19. Bradley interviewed one of the Jewish survivors, who asked, ‘Didn’t the pope know where they were taking us? Didn’t he ask himself where those railroad tracks ended up? We were right under his window, but his voice wasn’t lifted. Nobody came, not even to save a child.’

“A Vatican representative, Father Peter Gumpel, attempted to answer the victim’s questions, saying the pope couldn’t leave the Vatican because it was surrounded by German troops. He might have been arrested, Gumpel said. In quick reply, Bradley asked, ‘But wouldn’t that be the kind of action that a true saint would have taken? Wouldn’t that have been what Christ would have done?’ Understandably, Gumpel stuttered in his response, saying he did not know what Christ would have done.

“But this matter goes far beyond just defending Pius xii in the face of harsh criticism. Gumpel is one of the Vatican’s senior saint-makers who happens to be in charge of Pope Pius xii’s beatification process (the final hurdle to being named a saint). For 30 years he has been researching Pius’s life to see if he’s worthy of sainthood. Put another way, his job is to find damning evidence, if any, that would preclude Pius from beatification. He hasn’t found any!” (emphasis mine throughout).

The effort to beatify Pius xii was an in-your-face attack against the critics—not repentance. Surely we can see this as dangerous thinking inside the Vatican. Such history becomes very prophetic of the Vatican’s role in the immediate future. We will pay a deadly price if we don’t take heed!

The media give the Catholic Church virtually nothing but praise, in spite of the critics within the church itself!

The article continued: “Near the end of his research, Gumpel told 60 Minutes he is ‘totally convinced that [Pius] did what he could [to help Jews during World War ii], that he was a holy person and that he should be beatified.‘ [Just what is their standard for judging a pope holy?] Asked if Cornwell’s research in Hitler’s Pope would have any bearing on the Vatican’s final decision, he said it would ‘have no effect whatsoever because it’s totally worthless from a historical point of view.’

“To cast aside Cornwell’s book as totally worthless is remarkable, considering the depth of his research and the unprecedented access he had to the Vatican’s own documents!

“Is this the kind of ultraconservatism that is believed to be gaining control of the Vatican? Gumpel, who has publicly blamed the Jews for killing Christ [the Bible teaches that our sins killed Christ—we are all guilty], declared the Vatican’s resolute stance on Pius’s impending sainthood just two days before Pope John Paul ii arrived in the Holy Land for his much-celebrated tour. Doesn’t Gumpel’s statement cast a dark cloud over the pope’s apologies?

“Only five popes in the past thousand years have been declared saints by the Vatican.”

Gumpel was the spokesman for John Paul ii and the Vatican. John Paul, regardless of his health, was in charge and obviously shared those views. And don’t forget: This church considers itself God’s number-one representative on Earth. Does any serious-minded person think that our God of love agrees with Gumpel?

Didn’t this spokesman carry the heart of the Vatican hierarchy’s views? Yes he did, and that perspective will come back to haunt this world! That spokesman’s views foreshadow some horrendous evils to come.

These condemning facts, which come from inside the Vatican’s own archives, escape most media outlets today! A Catholic scholar was given free reign to research the Vatican archives, which is a very rare privilege in that church’s history.

Why is the Vatican so secretive?

Gumpel’s comments about Hitler’s Pope were made when the Vatican was relatively weak. What will the Vatican be saying when the EU becomes the world’s number-one superpower? (This is precisely what the Bible prophesies!)

Let the world beware. From this source will come Britain’s and America’s greatest suffering ever—if they don’t heed God’s warning!

Gumpel gives us a powerful insight into the Vatican’s thinking. It is the kind of prophetic insight that clearly shows what we can expect in the near future! We don’t have to guess.

Such a powerful church must be held accountable. There is some extremely dangerous thinking inside the Vatican.

But it gets even worse.

The Ratlines

Trumpet readers are well-aware that in December 1991, Germany decided to recognize breakaway Yugoslav republics Slovenia and Croatia despite strong opposition from the EU, the United States and the United Nations; and despite the fact that the move again resurrected unsavory memories of Germany’s fascist past.

One week later the Vatican also recognized Croatia.

The EU eventually recognized the two states a month later. The UN also backed away from a direct confrontation with Germany. And the U.S., which at first blamed the Germans for provoking Yugoslavia’s civil war by recognizing the two breakaway states, eventually flip-flopped to even SUPPORTGermany’s decision militarily!

In July of 1997, a United States Treasury document was published accusing the Vatican of hoarding Holocaust gold for the Croatian Nazi puppet regime during and after World War ii. The Vatican dismissed the accusation as ridiculous. But then, when pressured by Jewish organizations to open their archives (which have been closed for 100 years) to dispel rumors of Nazi sympathies, the Vatican refused. Why? Could it be that they have something to hide?

In their book Unholy Trinity, Mark Aarons and John Loftus contend that they do have something to hide!

Mark Aarons is an international award-winning investigative reporter and author of several books on intelligence-related issues. Based in Australia, he exposed war criminals in that country and prompted changes to Australian federal law. John Loftus, author of four intelligence-related history books, is the former chief prosecutor of the U.S. Justice Department’s Nazi War Crimes Unit. As such, he once held some of the highest security clearances in the world.

During World War ii, many Serbs, according to these well-informed authors, were butchered by the Croats using medieval methods. “Eyes had been gouged out,” they wrote, “limbs severed, intestines and other internal organs ripped from the bodies of the living. Some were slaughtered like beasts, their throats cut from ear to ear with special knives. Others died from blows to their heads with sledgehammers. Many more were simply burned alive.”

Much more alarming, however, is the “special relationship” between the pope and Croatia at a time when Croatian fascists were slaughtering Serbs. Aarons and Loftus said the atrocities were already under way when Pope Pius xii met with Ante Pavelic, Croatia’s leader, in April 1941.

The pope agreed to meet with Pavelic again in May 1943, by which time the Nazi atrocities against the Serbs were without refute. (One Italian journalist interviewed Pavelic in his home and was shocked to find a large bowl of Serbian eyes the fascist had been collecting.) Yet, according to Unholy Trinity, “Pius himself promised to give Pavelic his personal blessing again. By this time, the Holy See possessed abundant evidence of the atrocities committed by his regime.”

Any right-thinking person ought to ask why the very highest officials in the Catholic Church, including the pope, would associate with and even protect Croatian fascists. Is that the kind of history more “conservative” Vatican officials today want to hold on to?

The Vatican’s connection with this sordid history went beyond a simple blessing from the pope. The Vatican actually helped to smuggle many of the worst criminals of the age! “For fugitive Nazis, all roads led to Rome,” Aarons and Loftus wrote.

High-ranking ministers, civil servants, even Ante Pavelic himself, with help from the Vatican’s Ratlines, were able to disappear into thin air, intelligence sources have confirmed. At the time, the Vatican labeled these escapees “refugees.” But they were Croatian fascists who were helping Hitler’s regime!

Remember, this all happened at the end of World War ii!

Pope Pius xii was by far the greatest Nazi smuggler at the end of World War ii! And another man who later became pope, Giovanni Montini, was also deeply involved in this crime against humanity!

What if this Holy Roman Empire turns its wrath toward America, first of all, the next time around? That is precisely what the post-World War ii Nazi underground has pledged to do!

They know that the U.S. mass-produced most of the armaments that beat them in World Wars i and ii.

We can’t afford to take this lightly.

These shocking facts reveal that the Vatican was deeply involved with the Germans in World War ii. There is simply no other explanation. But most people continue to ignore the truth—to their own great peril!

Aarons and Loftus understand the important history between Croatia and the papacy, dating back to a.d. 700. The Catholic Church has been involved in mass murder since a.d. 514, when the first Holy Roman Empire began. This church has more to hide—or repent of—than any other institution in the history of the world!

Germany and the Vatican primarily started the war in Yugoslavia. This is the so-called Holy Roman Empire in action! This power should be feared a thousand times more than the Serbs. Still the world races madly toward disaster because men refuse to face the truth.

Why can’t we see that Germany and the Vatican are renewing their ties from World War ii? That history reaches back to Charlemagne.

Why would a church that is supposed to teach God’s love again ally itself with Croatia and Germany, considering their heinous Nazi crimes? Wouldn’t a repentant church or state do just the opposite? Unless they plan for a future somewhat akin to the dream of Adolf Hitler!

Margaret Thatcher was the only high-ranking politician who would even discuss the “German problem.” Only she had the understanding and courage to do so! It probably cost Mrs. Thatcher her job.

No politician has yet had the courage to discuss the Vatican problem. That attitude can only lead to a bloody disaster.

President Tudjman (at the time of Croatia’s breaking away) refused to admit any wrongdoing on Croatia’s part in the Nazi slaughter of World War ii. Yet Germany and the Vatican defied the world and started a civil war to recognize that Catholic nation!

Does God think like a Nazi? Some of the Vatican’s deeds make it appear that way!

This is just the small beginning of the resurrected Holy Roman Empire with its bloody past and bloodier future. However, it is politically incorrect to criticize the Vatican or Germany for continuing their horrendous past. That naiveté and cowardice is going to help bring the worst suffering ever on America and Britain.

Remember, all this information can be obtained from the Vatican’s own archives!

Infallibility

One Vatican journalist noted in 1986 that “anyone who believes this pope is anything but a traditionalist, believing in orthodoxy and discipline, simply has failed to understand the man. He is a liberal only in his understanding, mastery and exploitation of the modern means of communication. When it comes to doctrine, there is simply no room for argument or dissent.” John Paul lived up to his “infallibility” tag. London’s Financial Times said “no pope before him has ever been as infallible as the present” (Oct. 16, 1998).

The Bible clearly teaches that only God is infallible. When a pathetic, sinful man claims infallibility in one area, it often spills over into other areas—especially when his power grows.

Just study papal history if you think that is an exaggeration!

Let me remind you once again: This is the bloodiest church in history, now united with the cruelest, bloodiest nation in history! Those are the facts of history.

And it is even more disturbing today, since we are living in the nuclear age.

We need to pause and ponder this mega-explosive potential. All we need do is understand a little history. Unfortunately, most of our colleges in America and Britain teach little or no history anymore. That is why we have so little prophetic insight into where these events will lead us.

Pope John Paul ii made a major change shortly before he died. In the past, it has taken two thirds of the cardinals to elect the pope. But this “infallible” pope changed that rule to an absolute majority.

What this means is that if two thirds of the electors had not agreed upon a candidate after 12 days of balloting, a bare majority would have changed the rules to elect their candidate (“absolute majority” means more than half).

Jesuit (Catholic) scholar Thomas Reese notes the obvious significance of this alarming change in his 1996 book Inside the Vatican: “There is no longer an incentive to compromise and find a consensus candidate. All that is needed is a candidate who can get an absolute majority of the votes after about 30 ballots have taken place. This change increases the likelihood of a more radical and ideological candidate being elected pope. It means that a pope can be elected who was opposed by just under half the cardinals.”

Obviously, the College of Cardinals would have needed to reach an impasse before resorting to the above procedure. But the point is, it nearly guaranteed that a man like Joseph Ratzinger would be elected. And the result of such action might have shocked the world.

Thomas Reese was stunned to find that the Vatican offered no explanation for why John Paul changed the way the next pope could be elected. “It is almost as if the pope did not realize the consequences of what he decreed,” Reese said.

Pope John Paul’s legacy will ultimately be shaped by what he prepared the way for. And that legacy is going to be far different than the way it appears today.

All factors are in place for the greatest potential disaster in that church. Bible prophecy says that the new pope, Benedict xvi, is going to be far to the right of Pope John Paul ii. And we believe this pope will be the last one.

Church Unity

Benedict xvi will add to the church’s power in another way. We are about to see the Protestant churches return to the Catholic Church—the throne—from which they rebelled.

A May 12, 1999, Reuters report illustrates my point: “The push for unity between Anglicans and Catholics took another hesitant step forward Wednesday when a commission from both churches asked Christians to recognize the universal role of the pope.

“A document released by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission went further than earlier statements embraced by Anglican representatives in recognizing the pope’s ministry as ‘a gift to be received by all the churches.’

“The study, called ‘The Gift of Authority,’ also relates that the pope has a ‘specific ministry concerning the discernment of truth.’ [This will lead to the pope ruling all Christianity and having the power he has never had before in the history of that church!]

“The 43-page document is not an authoritative declaration from either the Anglican or Catholic churches, but is meant as a study paper for both. It was released at Westminster Abbey, an Anglican church, but in a part of the building that pre-dated the split in 1534 between the Anglicans and Catholics.

“The archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, urged the world’s 70 million Anglicans to read the document.

“‘Christians need urgently to be able to speak with a common voice, confident of the authority of the gospel of peace,’ Carey said in a statement. ‘I commend the text to all Anglicans for the most serious consideration and debate.’”

This agreement is on the most sensitive issue of all—government, or who has the authority. The Protestant daughters are returning to their mother church. It was all prophesied to happen (Isaiah 47:1-8; see “Returning to the Fold” on page 18).

David’s Throne

There is another ominous sign relating to this Anglican-Catholic study document: It was released from Westminster Abbey, which is where David’s throne is—where kings and queens of the once-great British Empire are crowned.

That is the throne on which Jesus Christ will sit when He returns! (For a detailed study, write for our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy, which clearly traces that throne back to King David. Before Herbert W. Armstrong died, he distributed over 5 million copies of that book.)

In Luke 1:32-33, an angel told Mary that her Son, Jesus Christ, would be given that very throne: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

This refers to a throne on this Earth—in Westminster Abbey! Jesus Christ will not return to a nonexistent throne! Here is the awesome and only hope of the world! Christ is going to rule from that very throne—not the pope’s throne. If we are true Christians, we must look to the throne that Christ will rule from very soon. A Christian is one who follows Christ.

God will hold Britain and America accountable for the knowledge concerning that throne. We are the same people—brothers—and are without excuse.

“The gift of authority”—God’s authority—is given only to those who look to that throne! Britain has “the gift of authority” already but refuses to accept it. And the Anglican Church leads the rebellion!

For the Anglican Church to release that study paper from Westminster Abbey is the ultimate insult to God! If it is rejecting God’s authority, then whose authority is it accepting?

Britain should be teaching the world about the imminent return of Jesus Christ to sit on that throne! What a “gift of authority” that is. If only the people of Britain understood. They must understand that there is no power in the universe that could change this truth. It must be accepted by all humanity. It’s only a matter of when.

God has given “the gift of authority” to His true Church because it teaches the truth about David’s throne. And God is going to punish this world until every person accepts the most inspiring truth ever given to man!

Britain’s monstrous sin will not go unpunished! God will punish its people until they learn about David’s throne. Are they going to be a bloody victim of the bloody Holy Roman Empire before they accept the truth?

Time is going to radically change our view of the pope’s funeral. And we only have a very short time to wait.

As the Holy Roman Empire grows in power, our message must intensify!

And now the Anglican Church is promoting world rule for the Vatican throne. Britain’s greatest honor from God has been to possess and exalt the throne of David. Now that honor has become its most despicable shame!

God says that the leaders who do this are going to receive “the burial of an ass”! (Jeremiah 22:19).

Jesus Christ is about to return and sit on David’s throne forever. That is the best news this world could hear today.