A Relationship to Watch
When Bavarian Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope, a fellow countryman and the leader of Germany’s most Catholic province said, “I am certain that the new pope will be able to win over and rally all the world’s Catholics, not only because he is the most brilliant theologian of all time, but also because of his human and pastoral qualities.”
Clearly, Edmund Stoiber is a faithful admirer of the new pope.
What’s interesting is that Bavaria’s Edmund Stoiber and now-Benedict xvi are two men the Trumpet
has closely watched for several years now. We forecasted that both would likely take the lead of their respective governments. That already happened for one of them.
Now, Benedict xvi has visited with Edmund Stoiber.
After the official meeting with Stoiber’s complete entourage on November 3, the pope met privately with Stoiber for about 10 minutes. No “official statements,” no political hobnobbing, no cameras—just two Bavarians behind closed doors.
What intriguing timing. Stoiber has just turned down a cabinet post in a messy grand coalition that seems to have been doomed before it even started. He has no portfolio in the new government. Yet he is the only German politician to have an audience with the most powerful man in the world’s largest single religion. Is it not strange?
There is no doubt the pope is interested in the political crisis in his homeland. What does he have to say about it? What influence is he wielding to forge a solution?
Look at the facts. Both men think alike (somewhat similar to how Iran’s new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the Iranian clerics think). Both want increased Catholic influence in European politics.
If Benedict sees in Stoiber a man with the fervor and influence to help bring about these spiritual changes, is it possible these two men have forged some kind of agreement—the pope to get more involved in German politics and work to boost Stoiber’s bid for power—and Stoiber to implement the bidding of “the most brilliant theologian of all time”?
No relationship may be more necessary to watch than that nurtured on this November 3 visit.
Past Predictions
Bavaria was home soil not only for the present pope and a staunch-Catholic premier, but also European influentials like Otto von Habsburg and Adolf Hitler.
Now, combine recent events with past analysis from the Trumpet. Those familiar with us know that we refer to Bible prophecy to determine which events to highlight and which to make strong assertions about.
The world is staring down the barrel of another resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire. Based on key prophecies scattered throughout the Bible, we at the Trumpet have been looking for a Germanic resurrection of such an empire.
That is why we strongly speculated on the appearance of a German pope before he was elected (in our May 2005 issue, which arrived in mailboxes around the time that white smoke ascended from Vatican City that cloudy day in April). And that is why we have tracked the career of the Bavarian premier loyal not only to the Vatican but also to his political mentor, Franz Josef Strauss.
Our editor in chief, Gerald Flurry, wrote in one of the Trumpet’s sister publications back in the summer: “We need to watch the European Union for a man stepping in and seizing control of that entity through flatteries.” He based this statement on a prophecy in Daniel 11:21, which indicates this political leader of the Holy Roman Empire will not be voted in. “I truly believe the Vatican will help bring that political leader on the scene, and that’s when we will really see the fireworks. We know from these prophecies that the Vatican will become very powerful and instigate some radical changes” ( Royal Vision, July/August 2005).
This was written before the stalemate occurred in Germany’s elections.
What’s even more captivating, this Royal Vision piece was based on comments by Mr. Flurry at a January 2005 conference—long before the installment of a German pope or even the death of Pope John Paul ii! He asked publicly, about the coming pope, “What would a German do in that office? He certainly would know quite a lot about German politics, I would think. … I think the Vatican is going to be working behind the scenes. They may have a pope to help them do it who really knows the German system and begins to get the leader in there that can really swing things around, a good strong Catholic ….”
As the Trumpet declared just after Benedict’s installment, “Now that a Bavarian pope reigns in the Vatican, we must wonder how Europe would change were a Bavarian premier to take the German chancellorship—or, more significantly, a position at the top of the European Union. We have been looking for a strong church-state connection to take hold in Europe, steered by the Vatican and Germany. Would it not be natural for these two powerful men—both from the same religiously charged region in Germany—to make this happen?”
With the Bavarian Benedict able “to win over and rally all the world’s Catholics” and a rising political twin who will likely lead Germany and even Europe, it appears Europe’s future as a resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire is coming very close to fruition.
