On January 9, 2025, Pope Francis gave his annual New Year’s address to the nation’s ambassadors. The diplomatic corps to the Holy See is a collective body of 180 ambassadors and diplomats who have been officially accredited to represent their respective countries at the Vatican. These diplomats are key players in international diplomacy and engage with the Holy See to hear Rome’s position on global issues.
The Pope emphasized his 2025 policy agenda throughout the meeting and urged everyone to act in unison so that the world might overcome the problems and conflicts of the 21st century. Pope Francis’ full speech was released by the Vatican Press Office, and we’ve highlighted some of the important points below. Pope Francis expressed the following to the world’s ambassadors:
A Reciprocal “Affection” for the Apostolic See (Pope)
• “To all of you, I express my gratitude for the affection and esteem for the Apostolic See shown by your peoples and governments, whom you capably represent. This is seen by the visits of more than thirty Heads of State or Government whom I had the joy of receiving in the Vatican in 2024.” [1]
• “For my part, I have sought to reciprocate this affection by my recent Apostolic Journeys.” [1]
A Call to Jubilee Action
• “My prayerful hope for this new year is that the Jubilee may represent for everyone, Christians and non-Christians alike, an opportunity also to rethink the relationships that bind us to one another, as human beings and political communities.” [1]
• “For the Jubilee is meant to help us step back from the increasingly frenzied pace of daily life in order to be refreshed and nourished by what is truly essential. In a word, to rediscover ourselves, in him, as children of God and as brothers and sisters … This is a summons to all those who serve the common good and who exercise that lofty expression of charity – perhaps the highest form of charity – that is politics.” [1]
2025 – A Year of Peace
• “The prospect of a diplomacy of forgiveness is not, however, meant to heal international or regional conflicts alone. It makes everyone responsible for becoming an artisan of peace, in order to build truly peaceful societies in which legitimate political, but also social, cultural, ethnic and religious differences constitute an asset and not a source of hatred and division.” [1]
• “How I would like this year 2025 to be truly a year of grace, abounding in truth, forgiveness, freedom, justice and peace! … May hope flourish in our hearts and may our time find the peace for which it so greatly longs.” [1]
Seeking the Common Good
• “I would like to highlight some responsibilities that every political leader should bear in mind in fulfilling his or her responsibilities, which ought to be directed towards pursuing the common good and the integral development of the human person.” [1]
• “Communication, dialogue, and commitment to the common good thus require good faith.” [1]
Call to Climate Change Action
• “Each of us must feel in some way responsible for the devastation to which the Earth, our common home, has been subjected. Increasingly, nature itself seems to be rebelling against human action by extreme manifestations of its power.” [1]
• “We cannot remain indifferent in the face of all this! We do not have that right! Rather, we have a duty to make the greatest effort to care for our common home and its inhabitants, now and in the future.” [1]
This annual meeting at the Vatican with all the ambassadors of the world plays a significant part in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy because it underscores the Holy See’s role as the moral authority and key actor in international diplomacy. This event allows the Pope to present the Vatican’s agenda on critical global issues such as dialogue, global peace, climate change, and international unity. This yearly gathering also highlights the Vatican’s unique and uncontested role in world affairs – by strengthening international ties and promoting collaboration on global policies.
In the book of Revelation, the “kings of the earth” are depicted as uniting with the “great harlot,” symbolizing an alliance between political powers and a corrupt religious system that is leading the world astray (Revelation 17:2). Prophecy portrays the harlot as riding on a scarlet beast, representing the union of church and state power into a corrupt harmony. This will lead to the global consolidation of power and influence, as the world’s most powerful nations give their strength and power to the beast (Revelation 17:13). Furthermore, whenever the State enters into an unholy alliance with Rome, it always results in the enforcement of false worship and the persecution of God’s faithful commandment-keeping people.
This event, which took place at the Vatican on January 9, 2025, serves as a warning that the final crisis is before us and is a call to remain faithful to God in the midst of widespread deception and compromise.
“The time of trouble is a fearful ordeal for God’s people; but it is the time for every true believer to look up, and by faith he may see the bow of promise encircling him” (Great Controversy, p. 633).
Sources
[1] https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2025/01/09/250109d.html
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