By Pastor Aubrey Duncan

“And all the world wondered after the beast.” Revelation 13:3.

In a recent meeting, hosted by Pope Francis at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the Pontiff welcomed the attendees with these words: ”I am pleased to welcome you, the members of the Pontifical Academies of Science and the Social Sciences. I greet the President and all the guests, mayors, and governors coming from various parts of the world for this summit on the theme From Climate Crisis to Climate Resilience.”

Responding to the pope’s invitation and present at the gathering were Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, as well as Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. Also in attendance were mayors from some of Europe’s largest cities, including the mayors of Rome, Paris, and London, as well as lawmakers from Asia and Africa, researchers and academics from the world’s leading universities, and representatives from international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

Naturally, the various panels and discussion groups focused on the need to collectively mitigate the climate crisis. Part of the proceedings was to draft what is called the “Planetary Climate Resilience,” to which all participants were signatories. The document was later submitted to the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change], which transmitted it to all the nations.

Coming on the heels of the “From Climate Crisis to Climate Resilience Summit” was the G7 meeting in Rome, Italy. Here, Pope Francis addressed the leaders of the most developed countries directly and, by extension, the rest of the world. Was this just a coincidence or the outworking of a meticulously orchestrated agenda? Francis’ address to this auspicious group, which gathered to discuss the economic, political, and military state of world affairs, was focused on the benefits and dangers of AI technology. In his speech, the pontiff referred to his recent Encyclical Fratelli Tutti, which essentially lays out his plans for a new world political order in which his church would constitute the foundation. He also made reference to his earlier encyclical, Laudato Si, which called upon the world to adopt Sunday sacredness to save the planet from climate disaster and secure equity for the poor and disenfranchised.

Apparently, artificial intelligence poses some threats to the pope’s plan for world domination. He therefore warned the world leaders: “The technological paradigm embodied in artificial intelligence runs the risk, then, of becoming a far more dangerous paradigm, which I have already identified as the “technocratic paradigm.” We cannot allow a tool as powerful and indispensable as artificial intelligence to reinforce such a paradigm, but rather, we must make artificial intelligence a bulwark against its  expansion.” His message was clear: AI must only be implemented for the advancement of Rome’s agenda and not against it. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the host of this year’s G7 meeting, remarked about Francis’ attendance: “His presence brings prestige to our nation and to the entire Group of 7.”

Most recently, in a meeting held at the Vatican with the world’s top bankers, Francis made this impassioned appeal: ”First, I invite you to place the environment and the earth at the center of your attention and responsibility. We are in a time of serious environmental crisis, which depends on many actors and factors, including the economic and business choices of yesterday and today. It is no longer enough to comply with the laws of states, which proceed too slowly: we need to innovate by anticipating the future, with courageous and far-sighted choices that can be imitated. The innovation of the entrepreneur today must first and foremost be innovation in caring for the common home”. Essentially, the pope admonished the world’s leading bankers that all their activities must be in accordance with his plan for the common good of humanity, with his climate change agenda as the focus.

These initiatives and other activities in which the pontiff and his church are engaged are coalescing into the worldwide legal implementation of Sunday sacredness, which the Roman church claims as her mark of ecclesiastical authority.

To the contrary, however, the God of all Creation has enshrined His seal of authority in His Ten Commandment Moral Law. It is His Seventh-day Sabbath. He lovingly appeals to all humanity: “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14:7).

Moreover, Creator God predicted that as we approach the closing scenes of earth’s history, there will be a conflict of apocalyptic proportions revolving around His loving call to follow Him by honoring His Seventh-day Sabbath, which identifies Him as Creator, and Rome’s program to force all to recognize her as earth’s supreme authority by enforcing Sunday sacredness. This is the moment in which all of Earth’s inhabitants find themselves. What will your choice be?

With the plethora of appeals emanating from all levels of society, systematically orchestrated by Francis and his Papacy, the world is being conditioned to accept her Mark of Authority (Sunday sacredness), thereby rejecting the God of Creation and His Seal of Creatorship, His Seventh-day Sabbath.

A Crystal Clear Identification

The ascension of the Roman Church to world dominance ushered in what came to be known as the Dark Ages. The primary focus of that massive European ecclesiastical establishment was the removal of God’s word from the people. As that Light was extinguished, the denser the darkness deepened. Intrinsically interwoven with the fabric of darkness were the threats of persecution and slaughter of those we chose not to abide by her doctrines, which were, and still are, contrary to the Word of Almighty God. The Psalmist David reminds us: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).

During that period of darkness, anyone found in possession of or professed to believe the minutest portion of God’s truth was subject to the cruelest, most inhumane, and most barbaric treatment that the human mind can conjure up. Starvation, burying alive, quartering, dismemberment, and burning at the stake were but a few of the satanic deeds employed by the Roman church to drive fear into the hearts of anyone who dared to believe the truth of God’s word rather than the dogmas of the church. Never before or since has the human family experienced such depths of despotism as during the reign of the Roman papacy. Famed papal historian A.J. Wylie characterizes that period of human history: “the noon of the papacy was the midnight of the world” (The History of Protestantism, b.1, ch. 4).

John Foxxe, another chronicler of papal persecution, relates in his classic, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs: “At Barre great cruelty was used, even to young children, whom they cut open, pulled out their entrails, which through very rage they gnawed with their teeth. Those who had fled to the castle, when they yielded, were almost hanged. Thus they did at the city of Matiscon; counting it sport to cut off their arms and legs and afterward kill them; and for the entertainment of their visitors, they often threw the Protestants from a high bridge into the river, saying, “Did you ever see men leap so well?” (John Foxe, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, pg. 67).

Despite the unrelenting, unimageable cruelty perpetrated by the Roman church, individuals such as Irishman Columba and his followers, under the most trying of circumstances, spread the word of a crucified and risen Savior not only throughout Scotland but also to Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Bible faith and practice existed in Armenia and Central Africa, outside the reach of the papal persecutors. The Waldensians, so often referred to as ‘the church in the wilderness’, were the bearers of the True Light amid the proliferation of papal darkness and apostasy.

Almost two hundred years before Martin Luther, there arose in England one who had become known as the Morning Star of the Reformation. John Wycliffe was a man of fervent piety, well-versed in the philosophy of his time and the law of the church. But it was his study and investigation of the Holy Scriptures that were to determine his destiny. Convinced of the Truth of God’s word, he purposed to dedicate his life to sharing the Good News that salvation is available only through the grace of God by faith in His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The works of the Columba, the Waldenses, the Albigenses, and Wycliffe were not in vain. Embraced by churchmen such as Calvin, Huss, and Jerome, the Gospel of God’s Grace was spread to both the higher classes and the common people of Europe. Their acceptance and promulgation of the Light of God’s word motivated them to reject Papal heresies and its unbiblical doctrines. Their tenacious commitment to the Holy Scriptures not only made an impact upon their own hearts but also upon the hearts of the princesses and nobles of the church. Consequently, many chose the Light of God’s word rather than the traditions of the church. The testimony of these early Reformers planted seeds that enlightened the nations of Europe and bore fruit that has forever changed the social, economic, political, and religious landscape of the world.

And then came Martin Luther. Not merely by his own studies, as may be so popularly believed, but also by the far-reaching impact of the Reformed faith of those before him, was his spirit stirred. His bold act of nailing his 95 Theses on the cathedral door in Wittenberg, Germany, ignited a flame in Protestantism that will last throughout the closing scenes of earth’s history. Even though much attention has been paid to Martin Luther and his stance on salvation by faith as opposed to salvation by the sacraments of the church, the contribution of the early Reformers must not be forgotten. Without those who came before him, his success could not have been what it has been.

Quite ironically, however, and worthy of deep contemplation is the Roman church’s leading the procession that called for a celebration of 500 years of Luther’s courageous act in Wittenberg, Germany. That procession is the Ecumenical Movement, engineered by the Papal Church, in which the descendants of the Mighty Protestant Reformation have returned to the mother church. They have suffered a severe case of spiritual and historical amnesia. Under the stewardship of her current Jesuit pope, Francis 1, the church of Rome joyfully celebrates the resounding success of the Jesuits’ counter-reformation. The selection of the first Jesuit pope speaks volumes. That success is of eternal significance and must not be taken lightly.

This is exactly as the Bible predicted. John the Revelator foretold: “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast” (Revelation 13:1–3). We are experiencing the fulfillment of that prophecy in real time as the rapid resurgence of the Papal power to universal recognition and soon world domination, unfolds before our eyes.

About: Follow Pastor Aubrey Duncan at his Unfolding Prophecy Page.