“Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power” (Maranatha, p. 216)
In an effort to heal the long-standing divisions between Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants, Pope Francis has been aggressively promoting unity among Christians. His call for all Christians to participate in the Sunday Holy Eucharist celebration is at the heart of this effort. By promoting shared participation in the Roman Catholic sacrament of communion, Pope Francis seeks to highlight the common faith that he believes binds all Christians. The ultimate goal is to heal divisions through a unified Christian world based on Catholic doctrine and traditions.
On November 11, 2024, Pope Francis received a delegation at the Vatican from the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, an Oriental Protestant Christian denomination headquartered in India. In their meeting, Pope Francis emphasized the need to restore unity and bring all believers together to celebrate the same Eucharist. He also stressed the importance of having a shared ecumenical evangelism, which is collaboration among different Christian denominations to spread the message of Christ.
The Vatican Press Office published the following:
• “Your Church, heir to both the Syriac tradition of the Saint Thomas Christians and the Reformed tradition, rightly defines itself as a ‘bridge Church’ between East and West. As Your Grace pointed out, the Mar Thoma Church has an ecumenical vocation and it is no coincidence that it became involved in the ecumenical movement early on, establishing a number of bilateral contacts with Christians of different traditions.” [1]
• “The first meetings with the Church of Rome took place at the time of the Second Vatican Council, in which His Grace Philipose Mar Chrysostom, the future Metropolitan, participated as an Observer. These are the small steps that bring us closer.” [1]
• “I rejoice at the beginning of this dialogue, which I entrust to the Holy Spirit and which I hope will hasten the day when we will be able to share the same Eucharist, in fulfilment of the Lord’s prophecy: “They shall come from east and west and sit at table (Matt. 8:11).” [1]
• “I am reminded of what the great Zizioulas said about Christian unity. He was a great man, a man of God. He said: ‘I know the date when there will be full unity between the Churches.’ What is the date? ‘The day after the Last Judgement.’ He added: ‘But, in the meantime we must walk together, pray together and work together. All together’.” [1]
• “I am convinced that working together to bear witness to the Risen Christ is the best way for us to draw closer together. For this reason, as our recent Synod proposed, it is my hope that one day we can celebrate an ecumenical Synod on evangelization, everyone together.” [1]
In Revelation 17:5, “Babylon the Great” is depicted as the “mother of harlots” and represents a corrupt religious, political, or cultural system that aligns itself with worldly powers in opposition to God. The daughters represent all of the churches that will join the idolatrous system that is seducing people away from true faith. This is describing how in the last days many will be deceived, including religious institutions. Under the leadership of Rome, many churches and religious leaders, seduced by the promise of peace, unity, and security, will join this alliance, uniting under a single world religion that will appear tolerant and inclusive yet will reject Christ’s teachings.
Today there is a call for the entire religious world to establish a close and intimate relationship. Pope Francis is trying to unite religious powers in a common vision and mission. Unfortunately, Seventh-day Adventists face an enormous temptation today, a temptation that is becoming increasingly popular. The temptation for God’s commandment-keeping people is to join the religious world on the path toward ecumenism, thus making ourselves indistinguishable from the rest of the fallen churches of Babylon. Instead of joining this movement, we have been called to expose it:
“The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, the inroads of spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power—all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these” (Great Controversy, 606).
Seventh-day Adventists were not raised up as a people to grasp the hand of Romanism. We were raised to give a very special warning message to the world. What is that startling message that God has commissioned us to preach? It is the Three Angels’ Message found in Revelation 14:6–12. These messages need to be heard in every Adventist pulpit and in every Adventist church around the world more than ever before.
“Most startling messages will be borne by men of God’s appointment, messages of a character to warn the people, to arouse them. And while some will be provoked by the warning and led to resist light and evidence, we are to see from this that we are giving the testing message for this time” (Testimonies, Vol. 9, p. 137).
“The third angel is represented as flying in the midst of heaven, symbolizing the work of those who proclaim the first, second, and third angel’s messages; all are linked together. The evidences of the abiding, everliving truth of these grand messages that mean so much to us, that have awakened such intense opposition from the religious world, are not extinct. Satan is constantly seeking to cast his hellish shadow about these messages, so that the remnant people of God shall not clearly discern their import—their time and place—but they live, and are to exert their power upon our religious experience while time shall last” (Selected Messages, Vol. 3, p. 405).
Sources
[1] https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2024/11/11/241111a.html
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