As European Union leaders and the head of the European Central Bank (ecb) met in Brussels for what was billed as a make-or-break summit for the eurozone, the pope was praying to mother Mary for a suitable outcome. No doubt he was seeking the endorsement of the queen of heaven on the Holy Roman alliance that has emerged between Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and Rome’s man presiding over the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi.

The Economist even transferred Benedict’s title momentarily to Draghi, calling him “Pope Mario.”

Draghi’s Holy Roman agenda was set during October by a group of Vatican elites, operating under the aegis of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, with release of a memorandum titled: “Towards reforming the international financial and monetary systems in the context of a global public authority.” As we pointed out at the time, the strength of the memorandum was in the statement proposing “that globalization be regulated by a global public authority” (emphasis added throughout).

The ecb may not yet be global, but it does now hold the control of all mechanisms needed to effectively administer the newly developing fiscal union that will prevail in the largest trading bloc on the planet—the European Union!

Since taking on the presidency of the ecb, Mario Draghi has moved swiftly to consolidate his position as the second-strongest voice in Europe to that of Angela Merkel—some would even say his voice is now the strongest, particularly following his impeccable performance during last week’s EU summit. Some pundits are even noting that Europe is no longer dominated by a German and French partnership. They claim that any remaining influence that President Nicolas Sarkozy once had in effective EU leadership has been quickly overtaken by Mario Draghi. Predominant leadership in the EU is no longer a Merkel-Sarkozy affair. It is now dominated politically by Merkel and monetarily by Draghi.

In fact, considering Draghi’s allegiance to mother Rome, one could even theorize that the woman of Revelation 17 is already mounting the beast, with Draghi now being the singular public voice calling the tune applying the tourniquet on European debt.

So, what did really happen in Brussels last week, and how does it affect you? For affect you it will—in the pocketbook, where it hurts the average consumerist Anglo-Saxon citizen most.

One Roman personality came to the fore last week during a time when the whole world’s political focus was on Brussels—Mario Draghi. This president of the European Central Bank, having only taken office November 1, held the world’s financial system to ransom for two days during which European heads of government considered, then yielded to, the demands he had crafted for an EU fiscal compact.

The upshot was that 26 of the 27 EU nations have implicitly capitulated to those demands, Britain being the only real dissenter from the initiative to join Draghi’s fiscal compact.

Mario Draghi is now the most powerful technocrat in Europe and possibly—given that the EU is the world’s largest trading bloc—the most powerful technocrat in the world!

There was a multitude of commentary on the recent EU summit, most of it missing the point that one personality had emerged from it garnering power of a nature that Hitler’s economics minister, Dr. Walther Funk, could once only dream of. Though Funk had a similar vision to that of Draghi’s European fiscal compact, he never did quite achieve it during the last time that Germany and Italy attempted fascist rule over the European continent. Now European fiscal union is about to become a reality, though it will eventually embrace far less than the 26 nations which have for the moment agreed to sign up to it.

Now that the dust has settled, consider the prophetic reality of what resulted from the EU summit last week.

In his booklet Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast? Herbert Armstrong pointed to the correct interpretation of the great prophecy on the current resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire, declaring:

In the 17th chapter of Revelation we find a beast, and a woman—a great, wealthy but fallen woman—who was riding the beast. The Bible describes the symbol “woman” to mean a church (see 2 Corinthians 11:2; Revelation 19:7; Ephesians 5:22-27). On the other hand, “beast” is a symbol of a kingdom, or empire. …The beast of Revelation 13 is not the woman who rode the beast—the beast is the government, and the woman is a church.The beast of Revelation 13 is the Roman Empire!

Now consider that prophetic revelation in relation to that which happened last week in Brussels.

“At least there is hope. Grim-faced European leaders gathered in Brussels on December 8 for their summit to save the euro with the news that Pope Benedict xvi was praying to the Virgin Mary for the sake of Italy and Europe. He should also spare a prayer for Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank” (Economist,December 9).

The context within which the pope prayed that prayer to his queen of heaven ought to be electrifying to any true student of biblical prophecy.

Under the headline, “Pope highlights Mary’s role as ‘woman of the apocalypse,’” Catholic News Agency reported the following (December 8):

Pope Benedict xvi reflected on the biblical description of a “woman clothed with the sun” in his remarks at Rome’s Spanish Steps on the 2011 Feast of the Immaculate Conception.”What is the meaning of this image? It represents the church and Our Lady at the same time,” the pope told the crowd …. “Before all, the ‘woman’ of the apocalypse is Mary herself.”The 12th chapter of … the book of Revelation describes the glorification and persecution of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”Pope Benedict … gave listeners his insight into the connection between the Virgin Mary and the church, portrayed in the Apocalypse through the single image of the sun-clad woman. … He stressed the world’s need for the hope brought by the “woman clothed with the sun”—“especially in this difficult moment for Italy, for Europe and for different parts of the world.” …”For this also we, especially on this day, never cease to ask with filial trust for her help: ‘O Mary … pray for us who have recourse to you.’”

It is interesting to note the symbolism here. On the day of the Vatican’s Feast of the Immaculate Conception, that Jesuit son of Rome, Mario Draghi, submitted the uniquely conceived fiscal compact with the demand that all EU nations sign up to it—a demand that was acceded to by all except Britain the following day.

“As the dinnertime negotiations stretched into the wee hours of Friday morning, leaked drafts of a communiqué indicate that the summiteers intend to agree to a ‘fiscal compact’ to ensure the stability of the eurozone. These words matter: They are the same ones that Mr. Draghi had used a few days earlier ina Delphic judgment that many interpreted to mean that he would intervene more heavily in the bond markets, once the politicians had delivered a more credible system to impose budget discipline.

“The leaders seemed to be appealing directly to Mr. Draghi to deploy the ‘big bazooka,’ which only he controls, to protect big and vulnerable sovereigns like Italy and Spain” (Economist, op. cit.).

No wonder the Economist referred to Draghi as “Pope Mario”!

Do we truly see what is so rapidly happening in Europe right now?

It really has to do with a small group of elites in Europe setting up a system that ultimately will lead to the fulfillment of that prophecy that both Herbert Armstrong and our own editor in chief have warned would be a soon-coming reality.

What happened in Brussels last week was just one more significant step toward implementation of an iron-clad fiscal union, ultimately to consist of ten nations which yield up all sovereign power to one singular overarching authority that your Bible terms “the beast” (Revelation 17:12-13).

Overseeing that beastly power as its major spiritual influence is a great church described as a woman riding the beast. These two will implement a system which, for a brief moment in time, will literally dictate terms of trade, globally!

“And he causes all … to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads … that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark …” (Revelation 13:16-17).

That Germany has unquestioned dominance, politically and economically, in Europe is now unquestioned.

That the pope’s man, Mario Draghi, has unrivaled control over Europe’s central banking system and the control of the mechanisms that will be used to address Europe’s current financial crisis—the Exchange Rate Mechanism and the European Financial Stability Facility—is a fait accompli.

In effect, a Jesuit-trained Roman mind, receiving his spiritual direction from the vicar of Rome, is in total charge of Europe’s new fiscal compact which he not only had a large part in forging—and naming—but the control of which he has demanded and got!

Not for nothing did Mario Draghi state last Friday, “It’s a very good outcome for the euro area, very good.”

Well, we shall soon see for whom this compact is deemed “very good,” for it is destined to work not only against Britain, but against its Atlantic partner America in a powerful way. Ultimately, it will affect global financial transactions to the point that the impact on Anglo-Saxon economies will be devastating!

The time to prepare for that inevitability is NOW!

A good place to begin would be by studying our booklet Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast?