Christian or otherwise, virtually every statesman or politician from most countries would be honored to sit at his table. He writes books that are immediate bestsellers. When he visits nations, hundreds of thousands flock to the streets in the hope of catching a glimpse of him. He heads a religion of more than 1 billion people. Beyond these immediate followers, he is esteemed and admired by countless others, including many atheists. In fact, Pope Benedict xvi may be the most popular and widely respected man on Earth.

With this popularity comes incredible influence. When Benedict speaks, people listen. His audiences aren’t just those standing before him; his voice traverses international borders. Unlike any other public speaker on Earth, the pope has an audience that spans the entire globe. When the pontiff speaks, particularly on occasions such as Easter weekend, his messages are heard and read by hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Millions of people, including many prominent and powerful leaders, look to Pope Benedict as their spiritual leader. Large factions of the world allow their moral and spiritual lives to be shaped by the man they believe to be Christ on Earth. For this reason alone, it is important that we pay close attention to the content of what this powerful man is saying to the world.

With Easter now past, let’s consider the content of Pope Benedict’s messages over the weekend.

In a series of Good Friday meditations in Rome last week, the pope publicly lambasted the state of today’s Western society and the destruction of Christian values. Regarding Benedict’s comments during last Friday’s ceremonies, Catholic World News noted that the pope once again “took an unsparing look at the evils of contemporary life” (April 14).

Before he had even delivered his meditations in Rome, the Times in London had reported that he was about to “deliver a blistering attack on the ‘satanic’ mores of modern society today” and that he would pray for “society to be cleansed of the ‘filth’ that surrounds it and be restored to purity, freedom from ‘decadent narcissism’” (April 14).

Although the composition of the Good Friday prayers and meditations had been assigned to a high-ranking archbishop in the Vatican, Benedict left little doubt that he had “given his blessing” to them. The tone of the prayers and meditations in both content and delivery was stern. Benedict made it clear that he is not pleased with the deteriorating state of religion and society in today’s world. Regarding the tone of meditations, the Times stated that they were striking in their contrast to the “contemporary fashion for feel-good religion” (ibid.).

Is Pope Benedict xvi beginning to restore Christianity to its traditional and more conservative roots? The pope condemned a gamut of societal problems, from the destruction of the traditional family unity to the growing popularity of genetic engineering.

In the prayer prepared for the Third Station of the series, Benedict stated, “Lord, we have lost our sense of sin! Today a slick campaign of propaganda is spreading an inane apologia of evil, a senseless cult of Satan, a mindless desire for transgression, a dishonest and frivolous freedom, exalting impulsiveness, immorality and selfishness as if they were new heights of sophistication” (Catholic World News, op. cit.).

Further on the pope prayed, “Lord Jesus, open our eyes: Let us see the filth around us and recognize it for what it is …” (ibid.). The most powerful religious leader on Earth is not pleased with the moral degradation and spiritual ineptitude of today’s world.

In his meditation during the Seventh Station of the series, the pope attacked the various routes by which the traditional family unit is being maligned and destroyed. The pope’s staunch stance against homosexuality is widely known, but in his Good Friday meditations the pope also condemned “scientific advances in the field of genetic manipulation. Warning against the move to ‘modify the very grammar of life as planned and willed by God,’ the pope will lead prayers against ‘insane, risky and dangerous ventures in attempting to take God’s place without being God” (Times, op. cit.).

Although he’s only been in office for a year, Pope Benedict xvi has already delineated the theme of his reign. Unlike his predecessor, this pope is less concerned about traveling the globe than he is with reinstating Roman Catholicism to its central role in Western society.

Regarding this trend, the L.A. Times wrote, “Benedict is fashioning a streamlined pontificate, a leadership that shuns—or at least dims—the spotlight on himself and focuses instead on strengthening the Catholic Church” (April 16). Pope Benedict xvi knows that Catholicism—even Christianity as a whole—is struggling to hold position in an anti-religious and morally relative society.

“Benedict, many Vatican-watchers say, will be a better hands-on administrator. At the same time, he is reserved and prudent. He has not launched the kind of major overhaul of the Curia, hunting the heads of opponents in the Vatican administration, that some predicted. Instead, he has begun a careful recapture of traditional aspects of the papacy while fighting for a revival of Catholic identity in the increasingly secular West“ (ibid.; emphasis ours throughout). Benedict is seeking to restore the identity and popularity of Catholicism in the world.

“Another shift in this papacy is Benedict’s focus on Europe and his much harder line on Islam. Both reflect the prime importance he attaches to strengthening Catholic faith and values in all aspects of life, especially in the West” (ibid.). The days of the Vatican being marginalized by secularism are quickly coming to an end.

Western society is being strangled to death by secularism and moral depravity; the Western world needs to once again orientate around Catholic beliefs and values; the Vatican must be restored to its place at the center of Western society. These were the underlying themes of Pope Benedict’s Good Friday messages. These were the themes that the most influential man on Earth chose to convey to his millions of followers.

Pope Benedict xvi is on a mission. That mission is to restore the image of the Vatican in the eyes of the world and to reinstate Catholicism to its historic role at the epicenter of Western society.

Here at the Trumpet, we do not necessarily take issue with the Vatican’s stance on traditional Christian values. We watch the growing preeminence of the Vatican in the context of history as well as Bible prophecy. Both indicate that a powerful and influential Vatican does not bode well for civilization.

You can read about the role of the Roman Catholic Church in both history and prophecy in our book Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.