Even Though Laudato Si’ ‘Fell Short’ in 2021, Catholics Look to COP27 in 2022 as the ‘Road from Which There is no Turning Back’

Important events, as seen through the lens of Bible prophecy, are taking place all around us. Pope Francis’ work on climate change was reviewed by the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) for the year 2021. They highlighted the Pope’s Laudato Si’ Platform, his global call to care for our common home, as well as the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland (COP26). According to the NCR, there was a large Catholic representation at COP26:

“A Vatican delegation and several Catholic organizations and parishes were present throughout COP26. Vatican representatives joined high-level talks, while Catholics from other groups participated in sideline events.” [1]

But in spite of this massive effort to influence world leaders to adopt the principles of Laudato Si’, and even though the Vatican created in 2016 the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, an agency dedicated to implementing the Pope’s integral ecology, all these efforts “fell short of those goals, disappointing Catholic environmental and development advocates.” [1]

Christine Allen, director of the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, was a member of the Vatican delegation at COP26. She said the following about the disappointing outcome for 2021:

“Although promises and practical action fell short in the final agreement, ‘we are on the road from which there is no turning back,’ said Christine Allen, director of CAFOD, the Catholic international development agency in England and Wales, which joined the Vatican delegation in Scotland … ‘The level of realization from right across the world that we need to act and act with urgency absolutely took place,’ Allen said.” [1]

Chloe Noel is the coordinator of the Faith Economy Ecology Project at the Washington-based Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, a society of Roman Catholic missionaries. She made the following remarks about climate change and 2022:

“We need more ambition to keep the temperature rise to even 2 degrees Celsius let alone to what the temperature really needs to be, which is 1.5 degrees Celsius … We will continue, as the climate movement, as the faith community, to push the U.S. government to address loss and damage at COP27,” Noel said. [1]

Here we see the character and work of the first beast of Revelation 13. They will not quit, they will not slow down, and there is no “turning back” until they get what they want – Laudato Si’ enforced by law to combat what they call the greatest crisis facing humanity. They have expressed that in 2022 they will continue to call on governments, specifically the United States (the second beast of Revelation 13), to push for climate legislation. What we see in Revelation 13 is a religious power working in partnership with a state power to rule over society with great power and authority.

We know where this leads to because these two beast powers of Revelation 13 will continue to do their work while the solemn, world-wide warning of the Third Angel’s Message is given. You see, while the world is wondering after the beast (Revelation 13:3) and as the deadly wound is healed (Revelation 13:12), then the image of the beast (USA) will impose a law to honor the first beast (Revelation 13:15-17). These developments will take place against the warning of the Third Angel, who says:

“If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” Revelation 14:9, 10.

What we are witnessing is completely in accordance with the Bible’s prophetic description of the religious situation in the final days of world history. In the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of the book of Revelation, John relates a series of visions he saw illustrating the development of the final apostasy. The entire world is wondering after the beast. The healing of the deadly wound is taking place right now. So, what’s next? The mark of the beast will be enforced shortly afterwards. It is easy to see this because Rome’s power is busy attempting to establish a totalitarian, ecumenical and spiritual dominion based on coercive mandates. These restrictions will lead to authoritarian “climate” legislation, forcing entire populations to worship on Sunday in the name of environmental preservation.

This leads us to the conclusion of John’s prophetic overview of the end times, in which the two beasts of Revelation 13 will work together. There will also be a gathering of a third group of faithful believers known as the “Remnant” (Revelation 12:17). This remnant will not blindly follow the final apostasy, as expressed through ecumenism and Sunday worship, but will instead warn against the “worship” of the “beast and his image” (Revelation 14:9-11). They will also “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). These are God’s true people, not the churches that have been progressively falling into the grasp of the Great Apostate, Rome, during the closing days of the world’s history.

More importantly, they will bear the final witness for God and declare to the world in a loud voice, “Come out of her … and be ye separate” (Revelation 18:4; 2 Corinthians 6:17). The moment has come to issue and heed this warning and to make a decision to stand among the “called, and chosen, and faithful” (Rev. 17:14) who will be “with Him” on the day of Christ’s final triumph.

Sources

[1] https://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/2021-review-pope-calls-world-act-impact-climate-change-poorest-countries