Over the past few months, millions of Catholics have been concerned about Pope Francis’s health. On December 7 and January 16, he was reported to have suffered falls, one of which left a bruise on his chin.

On February 14, Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital. Many thought his battle with double pneumonia could be his last. After five weeks, he was discharged. But the concerns are not over. Doctors recommended at least two months of rest and rehabilitation, which is difficult to undertake for a man who leads a global organization with 1.4 billion members.

The fact that this health crisis was preceded by a fall on December 7 and then followed by one on January 16 may prove significant. The two dates span a 40-day period, a number the Bible associates with test and trial. These two dates also hold special significance for God’s true Church. On Jan. 16, 1986, Worldwide Church of God pastor general Herbert W. Armstrong died. Almost four years later, on Dec. 7, 1989, I was fired for holding on to the truths he taught.

One of these truths centered on the rise of the Catholic Church to once more guide and direct a resurrected Holy Roman Empire at the heart of Europe, as prophesied in Revelation 17.

Based on this and other prophecies, I have thought for some time that a new pope may take power soon.

Times Are Changing

A new era in world history has begun. Jesus Christ prophesied of this period, called “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). We have to understand what this means: We are entering into the worst suffering in history. It will be extremely violent—and, thankfully, short. It should not catch you off guard.

The Bible gives many details about what to expect during this period. This includes many prophecies specifically revealing what role the Vatican will play.

In some ways, Pope Francis has prepared the Catholic Church to fulfill some of these prophecies. However, I believe the changing time we live in will require a different pope. Pope Francis doesn’t quite fit the picture.

Prophecy tells us we should expect a strong leader to arise in Germany. Europe’s most powerful country is facing many pressures right now: the war in Ukraine; significant conflict in the Middle East (in Lebanon and Syria, where Germany has vested interests); the possibility of more migrants flooding into Europe. And Germany is in a political mess. This nation needs much stronger leadership. Prophecy tells us it is about to get it.

The Vatican will help bring that political leader on the scene, and that is when we will really see the fireworks. Prophecy says the Vatican will become very powerful and instigate radical changes.

Europe knows that to survive the trouble in today’s world, the Continent must come together and act as one. It has taken many steps to do so, but significant obstacles always arise.

This European unification is also prophesied in your Bible. But the help of the Roman Catholic Church is going to prove essential to make it a reality.

Mr. Armstrong wrote on Jan. 23, 1980, that the challenge of creating a “United States of Europe” is so great that “[t]he politicians cannot do this by themselves. Only with the collaboration of the pope can they do it.”

In the November-December 1954 Plain Truth, Mr. Armstrong noted: “Germany inevitably [will] emerge as the leader of a united Europe. It will require some spiritual binding force to inspire this confidence—to remove these fears—and that spiritual binding force must arise from inside Europe!”

Mr. Armstrong based this forecast on Revelation 17.

The Woman and the Beast

This end-time prophecy portrays the seven heads, or seven resurrections, of the Holy Roman Empire. This church-state union began with the Imperial Restoration of a.d. 554 and has repeatedly dominated Europe through the centuries right up to the Hitler-Mussolini axis of World War ii. That was the sixth resurrection. (This incredible story is explained in our free book The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy.)

The seventh and final revival of this empire is prophesied to rise in our day. This modern-day Holy Roman Empire is again a church-state alliance—actually an empire guided by a religious power—as it has been in the previous six resurrections over the past 1,500 years.

Europe is not heavily Catholic today as it was in the past, but that will change soon, and rapidly.

Revelation 17:1-2 depict a “great whore,” a woman “that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.” A woman is a prophetic symbol for a church. Who is this great false church that sits “upon many waters”? She has large churches in many parts of the world. She is spiritually intimate with the kings of this Earth—even dominates them. Who could this be? Even a teenager should be able to answer that question! Sadly, most people are ignorant of their Bibles.

We need to watch for the rise of a political strongman to guide this empire. And just as important, we need to watch for the rise of the Catholic Church’s influence over it.

Most likely, we will see a church leader installed on the papal throne who knows the German system and will help install the political leader who can really swing Europe around—a good strong believer of the church’s doctrines.

Church Unity

The European Union knows it must unite. Germany has many Protestants, but it also wants more unity. The Bible indicates that this is exactly what will happen as the Protestants come more and more under the pope’s authority. (This is portrayed vividly in the end-time prophecy of Isaiah 47. I explain this in detail in my book Isaiah’s End-Time Vision, free upon request.) Then Germany—the powerful economic engine of the EU—will lead with real power.

“Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children” (Isaiah 47:8). This church lost its Protestant, or protesting, children. However, it has a master plan to force them back into the fold!

The late Pope Benedict xvi and Pope Francis expressed sympathy and praise for Martin Luther. Some Catholics speculate that the Vatican may soon declare Luther a saint. That may be true. After all, if Martin Luther were “together in heaven” with all the Catholic saints, there’s no reason for the Catholic-Protestant division, right? Of course, if they unite, it would be under the authority of the Catholic Church.

However, biblical prophecy indicates that full unity will not be achieved voluntarily. At some point, the mother church will abandon its efforts to woo her daughters back by flatteries and instead revert to the age-old method of enforcing “Christian” unity through physical force.

That too will likely require a different pope.

This description of end-time events foretold in biblical prophecy is crucial for you to understand! You may find it difficult to believe the Roman Catholic Church could be involved in anything so cruel as what the Bible describes. But study into the history of this institution—history it has tried to discredit and bury—and you will learn the cold, hard facts! Read The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy. This church has never repented of its violent, evil, unparalleled past! God forewarns us all. We must heed, lest we find ourselves caught in the worst of these prophesied events!