With King Charles iii’s coronation just around the corner, one big question is, What role will other religions play? In a country that has an official religion and an established church—the Church of England—but also a Hindu prime minister, a Buddhist home secretary and a Muslim Scottish first minister, it’s an important question.

The coronation is a Church of England religious service, with rules governed by Church of England Canon Law. King Charles has famously talked about his desire to be a “defender of faiths” generally, rather than “Defender of [just the one] Faith.” It’s unclear how multiple faiths can fit into a Church of England service, but Charles is reportedly determined to make it happen.

Regardless, one different faith has already carved out for itself a leading role in the coronation.

Last week, it was revealed that Pope Francis has given King Charles two shards of wood, barely bigger than splinters. They’re supposed to have come from the “True Cross” on which Jesus Christ was crucified. These shards are being incorporated into the much larger Cross of Wales, which will lead the coronation procession.

“Many will be watching the ceremony to witness the pomp and circumstance still found in the official functions of the British royalty,” wrote the Catholic News Agency. “Yet at the forefront of all that spectacle [will be] the simple metallic cross, inlaid with relics of the wood of the True Cross.”

The article added:

Given that many consider the pieces of the cross among the most precious relics in all of Christendom, the pope’s gift is being seen as an incredible ecumenical sign of goodwill. …

Given that the relationship between the British crown and the Catholic Church has been rocky in ages past, Charles’s decision to place the papal gift at the forefront of his coronation ceremonies is significant.

It is a remarkable turnaround. Britain has deposed monarchs for getting too close to the papacy. And the Catholic Church has tried to destroy English monarchs. In 1570, Pope Pius v declared that he had “deprived” Queen Elizabeth “of her pretended title” and “of all lordship, dignity and privilege.”

“We charge and command all and singular the nobles, subjects, peoples and others afore said that they do not dare obey her orders, mandates and laws,” he declared.

Now the Catholic Church will play a leading role in the coronation.

It builds off a dramatic change in relations during the reign of Queen Elizabeth ii. She met with five popes, and in 2010, hosted the first state visit by a pope to the United Kingdom since the reformation.

At the time of that first visit, Andrew Brown captured, in an article for the Guardian, how profound this change in relationship with the Catholic Church really was (emphasis added):

This was the end of the British Empire. In all the four centuries from Elizabeth i to Elizabeth ii, England has been defined as a Protestant nation. The Catholics were the other; sometimes violent terrorists and rebels, sometimes merely dirty immigrants. The sense that this was a nation specially blessed by God arose from a deeply anti-Catholic reading of the Bible. … Rebellion against the pope was the foundational act of English power. And now the power is gone, and perhaps the rebellion has gone, too.

More than a decade later, Britain’s first Catholic prime minister has come and gone. To most, the fact that Boris Johnson was Catholic was one of the least remarkable things about his time in office. And the news of a Catholic relic leading the coronation is regarded as a historical curiosity, nothing more.

The Bible gives a very different view. It tells us that the whole world is deceived (Revelation 12:9)—including the Christian world. Christ said that in this age only very “few” (Matthew 7:14) would truly follow Him and that His Church would remain a little flock (Luke 12:32). The Bible reveals that God has a plan to offer salvation to all men (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9)—now is just not the time for most.

That deceit includes the “True Cross.” The Bible offers no evidence that Christ was crucified on a cross. Instead the word translated cross in most Bibles simply refers to a stake (for more information read our reprint article “The Cross: Pagan Symbol or Symbol of Faith?”) Over the years, so many fragments from the supposed “True Cross” have circulated that John Calvin famously complained that “if all the pieces that could be found were collected together, they would make a big shipload.”

God is full of love for deceived humanity and is planning to soon lift that deceit. Part of that plan will see the Catholic Church take on renewed power in Europe. Revelation 17 describes a “beast” power—an empire in biblical symbolism. This beast is led by a woman, biblical symbolism for a church (Ephesians 5:32). The only church that has ever held sway over kings and emperors like this is the Catholic Church (for evidence, read Chapter 1 of our free book The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy).

God will use this Catholic-led power to correct Britain and America. This is the organization Britain’s royal family is drawing close to. Queen Elizabeth ii and King Charles iii have led the nation much closer to this church that will be used to destroy them. And the nation is so far away from the Bible that it is completely indifferent to it.

Like the rest of the world, Britain as a whole has been deceived. But there used to be a lot more awareness of at least some truth of the Bible.

The throne in Britain and the throne in Rome have both played powerful roles in world history—but there’s much more to this history than most understand. Our two books The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy and The United States and Britain in Prophecy explain the biblical truths you need to understand to know what these two thrones are really about. You can read all of our material online, or order a free print copy, with no strings or follow-up.