April 2, 2024
In my very first article on the Roman Catholic Church, I addressed the papacy in some detail.“It might surprise many Catholics to know that 1) there is no direct line of papal succession from Peter, as the first Pope, down to the present Pope, and 2) the doctrine of Papal Infallibility is very recent. According to one commentator, the first recognized Pope was Gregory I in 590 until he died in 604.” (see my first article, for a brief review which might be helpful as you read this article).
There are several different ways to answer the question of who was the first pope. It most definitely was not the Apostle Peter, as argued by the Roman Catholic Church. It is similar to the question about when the Roman Catholic Church began. The true church of Jesus Christ started with those who believed in Him and committed their lives to Him. The true ‘church’ is the body (group) of genuine believers. It is not the Roman Catholic Church organization or any other denomination, or a building or a corporation. The “church” is the body of Christ, and Christ is the only head of the body, not the Pope.
In the early 300s, Constantine stopped the persecution of Christians, making Christianity a legal religious option in the Roman Empire. He soon decided to consolidate the leadership of all the various groups of believers in multiple towns and cities so that they might work together. Not long after, the Roman Empire made Christianity the religion of the state. A flood of unsaved people joined the Christian Church, and compromise was normalized. After that, it started to persecute other Christians who refused to go along with all the compromises (AD 385). Some say this is the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church. As mentioned earlier, Dr. John White dates the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church around the 12th century and relates it to the doctrines of the mass. I think a better date is when “Christians” began to murder other Christians.
What we know today as the Roman Catholic Church has evolved over the centuries. During this long period, this religious organization held numerous meetings to make decisions about doctrine and practice. Vatican 1 and 2 are the most recent general councils. Vatican I wasn’t the first ecumenical council. Following the capture of the city of Rome by Italian troops in September 1870, which ended the Pontifical States, this council was called. This marked a turning point in the Roman Catholic Church. This council was the 20th ecumenical council. It was called from 1869 to 1870. Papal infallibility was a practice or understanding but unofficial within the Church for many centuries, but at this council was declared dogma of the Church.
For example, in 1854, the Pope back then declared the Immaculate Conception of Mary to be a dogma of the Roman Church. In 1950, the Pope declared the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. They say she did not die physically but was taken up into heaven. The sinlessness of Mary was declared church dogma in 1943 by Pope Pius XII. We will have more to say about this “Nazi” Pope. Way back in 553 and 649, the Catholic church declared that Mary was perpetually a virgin. They say she never had any children, but the Bible denies that assertion. Vatican 1 proclaimed that all such Papal decisions are infallible.
Vatican II met from 1962 to 1965, and it confirmed the Council of Trent, which met in the mid-16th century. The Council of Trent damned to hell everyone (including professing Catholics) who does not believe all of its dogmas and doctrines, including the supremacy of the Pontiff. Its purpose was to advance ecumenism within the greater Christian community and with other religions. This worked especially well with Protestant and evangelical religions. It was about updating Rome’s image, approach, and methods. It was certainly not about changing its many unbiblical doctrines or repenting of its many sins. The council was all about ‘form over substance.’ It was about refreshing the image of the Church, not the substance of its beliefs and practices.
After the Great Reformation in 1517 and Luther’s new German Bible, the next steps for the Roman Catholic Church included the translation of a new English Bible from the Latin Vulgate Bible. This was a Jesuit product in 1582 called the Douay-Rheims Bible. This Bible was created to allow for some Catholic doctrines. The video authors said that one example of the biased notes in this Bible is this thought; the killing of Protestant heretics was not the shedding of the blood of saints in Revelation 17:6. This passage reads, “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” The Roman Catholic Church taught that heretics are not saints but are the worst and most evil criminals imaginable. Therefore, Revelation 17:6 can’t be talking about these wicked people. Murdering non-Catholic Christians was perfectly fine, the church has been doing that for hundreds of years. History is full of examples, and I have given many such examples in these articles.
The Year 1655 was the most notorious war against the Waldensians in Piedmont. John Milton wrote a poem describing this Easter massacre by the troops of Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy, in April 1655. This round of persecution by the Roman Catholic Church was a continuation of previous persecutions of this Christian people. The Pope and his Jesuits tricked these good people into believing their lies, and many of them were murdered, while many, to save their lives, were converted to the Roman Catholic Church. This is but one example of many over the centuries of the perfidy of the Roman Catholic Church for all those ‘believers’ who would not bow the knee to the Pope.
It is essential to remember that the last article, in particular, regarding the Jesuits, is equally applicable to the Pope of Rome. After all, the Pope is the CEO of this religious enterprise, and the buck stops at his desk. Is this not true? Everything the Jesuits have done is ultimately the responsibility of the Popes of Rome. A Pope created this monster, and other Popes have kept it alive.
If we look at the entire history of the Roman Catholic Church, we find that the then-reigning Pope was the person ultimately responsible for the church’s actions and inactions. Many men willingly submitted their lives and consciences to the Pope, just like many men and women willingly submitted their lives and consciences to Adolph Hitler. Ultimate responsibility for killing 6 million Jews is attributed to Hitler. Still, the culpability extends to everyone who participated in the genocide of the Jewish people and the millions that were killed in the Second World War. Briefly, the Pope of Rome is ultimately responsible for:
- when “Christians” started killing Bible believing Christians in the late fourth century.
- the ongoing persecution of Bible believing Christians during the Dark Ages, a period of about 1000 years.
- the Crusades in the 11th to 13th centuries.
- The Inquisitions starting in the 13th century and ending in the 19th century.
- the suppression of the Bible for over 1000 years and the murder of Bible possessing, reading, and believing Christians.
- the many unbiblical dogmas that have been created over the centuries. All of these false doctrines have hidden the truth of God from the common man and woman, denying them access to the kingdom of God. How many souls have perished in hell because of the ‘little horn’ Pope? Only God knows.
- the unrestrained and often hidden sexual depravity of every variety (homosexuality, incest, fornication, adultery, and bestiality). The pervasive sexual assault of the priests and nuns on each other, children, and other women for around 1500 years. Only God knows how many people and families have been destroyed over these many centuries by these ‘men and women’ of God.
- the untold amount of property and other assets that the Romish Church has stolen over the centuries by fraud, forgery, lying, deceit, and murder.
- the number of wars started, fomented, encouraged, and instigated. Think of all the tens of millions of lives lost as a result. We are talking about hundreds of millions, I would imagine. (I have read that the number of Christians Rome murdered was 50 million to 66 million. That number doesn’t include the wars they have started and tens of millions of lives lost as a result.
Popes will be held accountable for all this by God Himself. They often escape justice in this world, but not in the next.
A Catholic man, Peter De Rosa, wrote a book titled “Vicars of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy”. The date of the edition is the year 2000. Litografia Roses, S. A. Barcelona, printed it, copyright dated 1988. Hats off to him for having the integrity and courage to write such a book. It is well written and informative. I highly recommend it.
In my first article on the Roman Catholic Church, my emphasis was on the reasons why I left the Roman Catholic Church after I became a follower of Christ. In it, I addressed the doctrinal errors of the church. I also made mention of the role of the Jesuits and the Popes, but didn’t spend much time addressing specific abuses. Mr. De Rosa has supplied this specificity to the whole world. Unfortunately, most of the world, and especially the Roman Catholic world, is probably ignorant of the contents and doesn’t even want to know the truth. I wonder, is not wanting to see the truth, identical to not wanting to know God? God is truth.
I will draw attention to a few specific things that will complement the thesis of these articles. I also suggest reading this book, by Brenda Ralph Lewis, “A Dark History: The Popes, Vice, Murder, and Corruption in the Vatican”. It is published by Metro Books, New York. She believes that the vast majority of Popes were good men, while a few were unbelievably evil. More on that subject as we proceed. Is it true that most popes were good men? I am not convinced that she is accurate. It all depends on how one defines ‘good’. If you define ‘good’ Biblically, you arrive at one answer to the question. If you define the word ‘good’ relatively, then you can arrive at a very different answer to the question. Maybe the better question is, “Was there even one ‘good’ Pope?”
In his new preface to this printing, the author De Rosa makes a few very important comments. After his first printing, he heard from fellow Catholics thanking him for writing the book. They had assumed that “apart from the occasional bad apple, like the Borgia Pope Alexandar VI, popes were mostly chosen for their saintliness.” My mother, a lifelong Catholic, once reluctantly told me that “Yes, there were a few bad popes.” That is typically what Catholic people think. And it may be what the vast majority of people think. I believe the truth is a different matter altogether.
As I suggested, the real question is, “Was there even one good, saintly, and righteous Pope?” I do not question the fact that there have been popes who were not as outwardly wicked as the popes cited in these two books. That, however, doesn’t negate the question. Has there been even one Pope that was righteous, saintly, and holy? Let us assume for the moment that Peter was not the first pope.
The Catholic author, Peter De Rosa, reveals that in the last 1500 to 2000 years, the papacy was full of popes who were barbarians, adulterers, murderers, thieves, charlatans, heretics, forgers, and apostates. Just like people today, we have some whose evil is unspeakable and others whose sins are mild by comparison. Not every pope was a godless fornicator and adulterer known for his sexual deviancy and Vatican orgies. Many were. When you think of the depth of sexual depravity of many of the popes, you must think of the most disgusting pornographic material you have ever had the misfortune to see or hear about. For many of the Popes, their sexual lusts had no limits whatsoever. I can’t even name all the things that they are guilty of. Not only was that type of evil practiced habitually by these “Vicars of Christ,” but other satanic forms of wickedness were also done by the “Bishop of Bishops.”
Under the leadership of the Popes (those men of God), the Jews, Bible believing and practicing Christians, and other people were tortured in unspeakably cruel ways. The millions murdered them; all in the name of Christ. When we think of the most evil men who ever lived, we think of men such as Stalin and Hitler because they lived in the last century. But there were many Popes who were cut from the same cloth as these two men. And let us not forget that it was Pope Pius XII, who enabled Adolph Hitler and his Nazi organization to prosecute the Second World War. I wonder, should Pope Pius XII be thought of along with Hitler and Stalin? I find it impossible to determine which Pope was the most wicked.
May I suggest to you that no honest man of God would ever presume to have the authority or attributes that belong to God alone. No man of God thinks of himself as God, like the Pope does. No ‘good’ and ‘godly’ man would ever be involved, in any way, with the mass murder of millions of souls. No ‘good’ man of God would ever be involved in perpetrating or covering up sexual abuse of children and women. (Obviously, I am not talking about defending oneself and loved ones).
Can we thank the Popes for the Crusades, the Inquisitions with their demonic tortures, and many other wicked acts and pronouncements? And should we congratulate the popes for the ‘dark ages’ and for keeping the word of God hidden so well for so many centuries? Should we praise the Papacy for killing Bible believing Christians, who read and lived by the Bible? Should we be grateful to the Popes, as the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, for the wars they caused, encouraged, and lied about?
But the Roman Catholic Church of today has changed, right?
Many Roman Catholics today think all this bad stuff is in the distant past, and the papacy today is now reformed and changed. I had someone tell me that the “excesses” of the past do not make the religion of the church of the present day bad. I wonder, is the torture and murder of 50 – 66 million innocent Christians and others just an “excess?” I would hardly call it an “excess,” which is a dismissive way to blunt the wickedness of the leadership and their religion. Can a bad tree produce good fruit? Jesus said that it was not possible.
The Catholic author, Rosa, disagrees that the papacy is reformed. May I add, Catholic deception knows no limits. Since the author’s first edition of his book, the child abuse sexual scandal of the Roman Catholic priesthood gained worldwide attention (Sexual abuse and immorality were there well over a thousand years ago). Pope John Paul II failed to mention it in his many pronouncements. In addition, the Pope, who represents the entire Roman Catholic Church, never once condemned bishops and priests for protecting other clerics who raped children and sexually abused women. No prior Popes, who covered up all this sexual abuse and immorality, ever put a stop to it and made it public. Nor did this pope, John Paul II, apologize to the victims. The Church indeed paid a significant amount of money to settle the legal claims, but that is only because they had to. And I add, this is not Christian repentance in any shape or form. But an infallible church and infallible Pope can’t repent, can it?
Pope John Paul II ran the church like a dictator and a police state for 25 years, according to the Catholic De Rosa. He even orchestrated the election of his successor (this would not be the first time a Pope stole an election!), Cardinal Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI. Even Cardinal Ratzinger once said, “There are too many Popes that the Holy Spirit could not have picked,” according to the author, De Rosa. Could any truth be more evident to the thinking mind? If you read this article and his book, you too may ask the question, “Has there ever been even one good pope?”
The following quote is priceless and complements the thesis of this article. History is written by those who win and survive, even at the expense of the righteous who are murdered. “On hearing that Ludwig Pastor had begun his great work, The History of the Popes, the Dominican Cardinal de Lai remarked: (in English it is), ‘Charity precedes truth even in the writing of history.’ On hearing this, Pastor replied, “If that were so, all history would be impossible.”
Fortunately, Christ said, “I am the Truth.” This Roman Catholic Cardinal was probably ignorant of the contents of the Bible, for the Bible tells the opposite story. The truth, no matter how awful it is, must always be said. The Bible is a book that exposes the sins of the leaders to the light of truth. Charity would never fail to reveal the truth, and charity would never conceal the truth, as the ‘good’ Cardinal suggests. The Roman Catholic Cardinal, not surprisingly, taught darkness because there was no light in him.
In these articles and the books that I am referencing, the objective is to bring understanding to others that the Roman Catholic Church has written much of the history we think we know today about early Christianity and the Bible. As will continue to be demonstrated, the Catholic Church has destroyed, fabricated, and distorted much of that history in a centuries-long effort to gain absolute power and control, not just over the Christian church, but over the entire world and all nations.
The author, Peter De Rosa, in his introduction, addresses the role of the Roman Catholic Church in persecuting the Jews over many centuries, culminating in the Holocaust of the Second World War. The Roman Catholic Church is greatly responsible for the rise of the dictatorial powers of Hitler and their evil treatment of the Jews. Despite all this wickedness, some Catholics still refuse to recognize that their church has erred greatly and damnably. Why didn’t these “good Nazi supporting Roman Catholic priests and their Pope” stand trial at Nuremberg for war crimes?
Some fifteen years after the Nazi concentration camps closed, Pope John XXIII prayed a prayer acknowledging the sin of the Roman Catholic Church, “The mark of Cain is stamped upon our foreheads. Across the centuries, our brother Abel has lain in blood which we drew, and shed tears we caused by forgetting Thy love. Forgive us for crucifying Thee a second time in their flesh. For we knew not what we did.” The author, De Rosa, thinks that was a remarkable prayer as it was “some atonement” for all the evil done to the Jews by the Roman Catholic Church over many centuries. He calls this pope “John the good”. The author, De Rosa, believes there is at least one good Catholic Pope. What do you think? I am not yet convinced.
Before you answer that question, let me make a few comments. This prayer from Pope John XXIII was not a prayer of repentance but more of a public relations prayer. If the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church were repentant over the Second World War, then the Pope:
- should have traveled to Israel and confessed his and the Roman Church’s sins over many centuries, against the Jewish people personally, explicitly, and publicly. That is what a real follower of Christ would have done.
- Furthermore, the Roman Catholic Church, if it were really repentant, would then make restitution to the Jews for all wealth they stole from the Jews. Some of it was stolen directly, while much of it came through the Nazis. The Roman Catholic Church should have given back to the Jews all their lands, possessions, and money in restitution. The Pope and the Church did none of this, demonstrating that this prayer was superficial at best.
- If the Roman Church was repentant, then it should have confessed the fact that the church helped rescue many a Nazis leader from punishment at the close of the war (The Vatican Ratlines).
But this ‘prayer’ was good enough for many to give the Roman Catholic Church a pass on their evil in WW 2. What this proves is that the power of the Roman Catholic propaganda machine is immense and covers the globe. Only God and the Jesuits know the secrets that the confessional has produced to aid the Church in times of need. After WW 2 the church needed an excellent Public Relations campaign. Seems like it was a great success.
And how is it that evangelicals accept this false repentance so readily? That makes me so sad because it speaks to the apostasy of the evangelical church.
Additionally, the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, if they were repentant followers of Jesus Christ, should confess and forsake their many other sins against others. Still, especially those sins against Bible believing Christians whom they murdered and tortured over about 15 centuries. How does one apologize and repent for the torture and murder of some 50 – 66 million people? How about the Roman Catholic Church disbanding and giving away all its wealth and possessions? How about the Roman Catholic Church let the whole world read about all the secrets contained in the Vatican Library?
Back to Pope John XXIII and his ‘prayer of repentance.’ Did you notice that the infallible Pope, the Vicar of Christ on earth, knowing all truth, the Holy Father, said that “they knew not what they did.” What a pathetic excuse he offers the Jews and the world. The Roman Catholic Church leadership knew exactly what they were doing, and they did it anyway. I am not ready to concede that there has ever been even one ‘good’ Roman Catholic pope. Pope John XXIII is no exception to the long list of unrepentant and unsaved popes. The current occupant, Pope Francis, is no exception. How about you? Are you ready to concede that there has been at least one good (honest, righteous, and holy) pope? Can you name him?
(I recommend this book by Avro Manhattan, The Vatican Moscow Washington Alliance).
It is now time to look at a few of the examples the author, De Rosa, gives in his book.
A chapter in his book is titled “Papal Pornocracy”
In this chapter of his book, he tells the story about how the warlords of the tenth century took complete control of papal elections. Seven (7) popes came from one family. Say what? Pretty much without exception, each of the seven popes helped shape “Roma Deplorabilis.” That is ‘Rome of Shame’. (Page 47). It was not just the notorious Borgia Pope who disgraced the name of Christ. “Very many (Popes) were libertines, murderers, adulterers, warmongers, tyrants, simoniacs who were prepared to sell anything holy.” (Page 47). The author says that for at least 150 years, every Pope was a bad apple. Can a good tree bring forth bad fruit and can a bad tree bring forth good fruit? Remember the sordid history of the papacy extends well beyond just this 150-year time period that De Rosa is talking about.
The author tells the reader that in the 9th and 10th centuries, starting in 880 and for the next 150 years, there were about 35 popes. The average reign was about 4 years, as many popes were elderly to start with. Six popes were dethroned, and a number of them murdered. No one knows how many popes there were during this time because there was not yet a fixed way to elect the Pope. At this time, there were several antipopes as well. When a Pope disappeared, there was no telling what happened to him. Did he die in a brothel? Did an angry husband kill him? Did he flee after dishonoring a young virgin? This last question was written about Pope Benedict V in 964. One Church historian said that Pope Benedict V was ‘the most iniquitous of all the ‘monsters of ungodliness’, but the author De Rosa says that this historian was premature in that assessment. Imagine that someone worse would become pope. The pontiffs during these 150 years were the worst of the worst. Not sure how accurate that assessment is, but it conveys the truth that the Papacy was full of wicked, evil men. Not one of them was a good man or even a follower of Jesus Christ, yet they were all Popes. Only people with no discernment can believe such nonsense.
Popes often bought the office; some killed for it, others stole it, some had parents obtain the office of Pope for them, some were born into it, and some owed their office to “beautiful mistresses” in what became known as ‘The Reign of the Harlots.’ (Page 48). Two women, in particular, in less than 10 years, created or destroyed no less than 8 popes. And to think that people believed that this evil Church was the true Church of Jesus Christ is almost unbelievable.
The author states that there was a story about a female pope! Ever hear of Pope Joan? Pope Sergius took a mistress, Marozia, when she was fifteen and he was forty-five. In the book, she is called the ‘beautiful whore’. She married several times and had many lovers. Her son by Pope Sergius would eventually become the Pope, and he did at the age of 20, Pope John XI. Her other son became jealous and wanted in on the action. This reads like a soap opera so that I will end this story here.
The Boy Pope, age 11. In about 1032, the pope dies. “Count Alberic III paid a fortune to keep the job in the family.’ (Page 53). And who would be a better Pope than his son, who was 11 years old? As the expression goes, you can’t make this stuff up.
Popes during these 150 years were sexual madmen and some of the most evil people alive at the time. Who do you think was more pleased, God or Satan? But not every Pope was a sexual deviant. Other Popes had different “gifts or talents.”
Pope Gregory VII and his School of Forgery
In the book, The Vicars of Christ, by Peter De Rosa, he has a section on Pope Gregory VII, Pope Gregory the Great, “and his school of Forgers” (page 58). His name is Hildebrand, and he grew up in Tuscany, the son of a carpenter. From his youth, he had an affinity for the apostle Peter.
When he became Pope Gregory VII, in the eleventh century (1015-1085), he wrote out the powers he claimed as Peter’s Vicar. There is a list of 27 such powers that the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church have, according to this Pope. He is credited with advancing the supremacy of the papacy. Author De Rosa is not sure that Pope Gregory VII even knew that most of these powers were based on forged documents produced by his predecessors.
Pope Gregory VII was most definitely not the first or only Pope to use forged documents to move their personal and ecclesiastical agendas forward. I am still looking for that one good Pope. How about you?
“For seven centuries, the Greeks had called Rome the home of forgeries.” (Page 59). Pope Gregory VII did not disappoint. He had an entire school or team of forgers on staff doing his wicked bidding. This team might produce entirely new forgeries or touch up existing documents, real or fake, to meet the purpose of the day. This instant method of creating and inventing history was very successful, as all these lies were made canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. By doing this, he accomplished one of the greatest and quietest revolutions in the Roman Church. Imagine the implications of this? If this were ever acknowledged, it might undo the entire fabric of the Roman Catholic Church. All this was done on paper before the time of printing machines, copy machines, and computers. Written manuscripts were rare in those days. And many, including some of the emperors, could not read or write any language.
There is much more that this wicked pope is credited with that must go unmentioned for now. He used all this to create strife wherever he and the Roman Church were located. As pope, he had the power to dethrone monarchs of nations, and he did. The results were continual conflict and civil wars.
In the 12th century, all these forgeries were consolidated at Bologna by Gratian, a Catholic monk. He wrote the “Decretum” or code of Canon Law, which De Rosa says is the most influential book ever written by a Catholic! This book was a skillful combination of past forgeries, over three centuries, and his fabrications. What a guy this Pope was as the Vicar of Christ! Get this: “Of the 324 passages he quotes from popes of the first four centuries, only 11 of the 324 passages are genuine.” I want to stress what the author is saying. Gratian created a predominantly false history for the first four hundred years of the Christian Church. The sayings of the Bishops of Rome for the first four hundred years are pretty much all false (only 11 of 324 were true). Doesn’t close count? You’re right, 11 out of 324 is not close at all. If this were common knowledge, would any right-thinking person entrust their souls to the Roman Catholic Church?
Advancing to the 13th century, the Decretum was used by none other than Thomas Aquinas. Most Catholics have heard that name. He used this as a source for papal church father quotes in the writing of his Summa Theologica, which is the second most important Catholic book ever written. Gratian misled Aquinas. That is true of so many others as well; then and even today, this is still true. This quote is fantastic: “One small irony: in his Summa, Aquinas says heretics should be executed on the same basis as forgers. Heretics forge not currency but something far more precious: the faith. Thomas Aquinas did not ask what penalties were appropriate for criminals who forged documents that misled the church, himself included, for generation after generation.” (Page 60). Aquinas was correct. Heretics forge something far more precious than currency. Heretics forge a false faith. Forgers are no different, just more devious. Is a Pope who forges (lies) but is not sexually immoral, a good Pope? If you think he is, then you and I have a very different view on what makes a person a good person.
We all know that most heretics were tortured and or burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church. I must admit that my heart breaks when I read such accounts. The mystery and mischief of ungodliness in the Roman Catholic system are overwhelming. Think of all the evil caused by lies, forgeries, and fraud. The evil caused by these wicked popes, and the wicked leaders within the system, and their apostate (some say counterfeit) Christian Church boggles the mind. Only God can comprehend it in its full measure. My heart yearns for those ignorant and deceived Catholic people who are being dragged into hell by the devil’s religious leaders. If only more of them were teachable. If only more understood that willful ignorance will keep them from inheriting the Kingdom of Christ.
Do not think for a moment that we have uncovered all the horrible evil of Pope Gregory VII. I highlighted but one area of many before we move on, one last quote. “History became a minor branch of theology, where it has remained ever since. After all, even history cannot contradict infallible truth. Hence, in the formative years of Roman Catholic Christianity, all discussion was stifled by recourse to ‘authorities’ that were instantly fabricated……. It is no small thing to manufacture history.” (Page 61). Hitler and other despots knew this, too. That is why they took over control of public education, which decides what history will be taught.
We have strong evidence that the Roman Catholic Church and its leadership (the Pope) have manufactured history. They have repeatedly lied and forged documents for hundreds and hundreds of years. Keep this in mind as we proceed, as it is the foundation for comments to come.
What did the Reformers think about the office of the Pope? Martin Luther and those before and after him recognized that the pope was the man of sin and the son of perdition (antichrist), mentioned in the Bible. That understanding was the fire that carried the Reformation forward. Popes from ancient times had declared themselves to be God and all the names and claims of such a position. As God, they could and did, at will, change the laws of God and the words of God. The pope is not just the representative of Christ on earth, but is Christ. Therefore, all that needs to be done is to obey the pope. Some popes even claimed to be the way, the truth, and the life. Some of them also taught that a person can’t be saved except through the pope. (We also know the many popes believe that without Mary’s intercession, no one would be saved.)
Is the Pope God on earth?
Even Pope John XXIII, on November 3, 1958, declared that no man can be saved apart from the pope. In 1984, Pope John Paul II proclaimed that people should not go to God for forgiveness of sin but to him and his priests. Apparently, according to the authors of this video series, an LA Times article quoted the pope who declared that the Protestant error was that a person can go directly to God for forgiveness of sins. Imagine that! May I always be in such error.
In the Roman Catholic Church and the minds of its leadership, no sin is greater than not obeying the pope even if he asks you to do the unthinkable. What evil and darkness parades as light. If someone doesn’t see the Satanic nature of the papacy, they are deceived and may be lost forever. All the early reformers from the 14th century believed this. In the 19th century, Charles Spurgeon made his position very clear as well: the pope is the man of sin, the son of perdition. But today, few leaders of the Evangelical Church believe it.
At the time this video series was filmed, the pope then was Pope Benedict XVI (1927 to Dec. 31, 2022). There is a painting of him with these words inscribed on it, “the truth, the way, and the life.” Blasphemy of the most depraved nature. I wonder why it doesn’t shock more Christians that a mere man could allow such evil to be seen.
Even President George Bush, when interviewed about his meeting with the Pope, was asked about what he saw when he looked into the Pope’s eyes. Bush said that he saw God! Very interesting and very disappointing. This may surprise you. I think Bush did see god when he looked into the eyes of the Pope. He saw the god of this world, but not the one and only true God who created all things. When Martin Luther looked into the eyes of the Pope and many other great Christian men and women of God over many centuries, they saw not God but Satan. I wonder who saw the truth more clearly?
Most reformers believed the Pope to be the man of sin or the antichrist. But today, the leaders of the evangelical church believe the antichrist or man of sin is still to be revealed at some point in the future. It is common today to accept the Church of Rome as a true Christian church, which it is not. Jesus warned His followers that many would come in His name. “For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ” and they will mislead many.” Matthew 24:5. Each pope claims to be Christ, the Vicar of Christ on earth. Popes also claim to be God, as mentioned earlier. They assert the prerogatives of God, such as the power and authority to forgive sins and change the law of God at will. Woe to them.
There’s a lot more to discuss. Read his book if you want to learn more about the history of the Roman Catholic Church and the truth about the Papacy.
I have already mentioned the book written by Branda Ralph Lewis titled, “A Dark History: The Popes, Vice, Murder, and Corruption in the Vatican. I recommend it. In this book, the story is told about Pope Formosus “whose rotting corpse was dug up, put on trial by his successor, and thrown into the Tiber River, twice. John XII was not content with running a brothel at the Vatican; John blinded one cardinal and castrated another, and was said to have drunk toasts to the Devil. Pope Innocent III, “Instigator of the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathar heretics, was responsible for the deaths of up to one million people over 20 years.” You might recall I wrote about Pope Innocent III in one of the earlier articles. Then there is Pope Alexander VI (formerly Rodrigo Borgia), “who fathered eight children by three or four mistresses. He bribed his way to the papacy and appointed his relatives as cardinals and amassed a vast fortune.”
The Borgia Popes, there were two, were very wicked, but Rodrigo Borgia, who would become Pope Alexander VI, the nephew of the first Borgia Pope, was infamous. I shall end this article on the Papacy with a few comments about this person. We are talking about a Pope in the 15th and 16th centuries, not one from the 860- to 1000-year period referred to earlier. Did the papacy get better during this intervening time? Did the bad tree start producing good fruit, or did it continue to produce bad fruit?
A few additional highlights about Pope Alexander VI: as mentioned, he fathered eight children by at least three mistresses. After all, he was a celibate minister of the gospel! Much of this transpired while he was not the pope but a cardinal or priest of high rank because of his uncle, the pope, Pope Calixtus III.
He had to wait many years to ‘buy’ the office of the Pope, which he did with fantastic bribes paid to a number of the cardinals (other men of God). He stole the papal election. He must have been a Democrat at heart, for they, too, are very proficient at stealing elections! He lived better than most of the powerful and wealthy in his day. His wealth, which he took from the Roman Catholic Church, was vast. Even when he became pope, his sexual practices, including orgies, did not change, but became more secretive. Pope Alexander VI had sons and daughters. He made two of his sons part of the top leadership of the Catholic Church. He promised not to do so, but lying and dishonesty came naturally to the Borgia family because they were such strong and good “Roman Catholic Christians”. He appointed his eldest son, Cesare Borgia, to the Archbishopric of Valencia at the age of 17, making him the primate of all of Spain. And he wasn’t even a priest of the Roman Catholic Church. No nepotism there. (Makes one think of Hunter Biden, doesn’t it?)
Pope Alexander VI made his younger son, Jofre, brother of Cesare, archdeacon of the cathedral at Valencia at age 11. Pope Alexander VI made good use of his daughters, also in marrying them off to cement other significant political ties with other wealthy and influential people. Those cardinals who objected were threatened, removed, or bribed.
The good Pope Alexander VI gave many of his family members and relatives great wealth and high positions in the church. The author says that the Papacy in his hands resembled the Mafia. (Page 138). He even dared to make his bastard son, Cesare, a cardinal at the age of 18. No surprise that the older Cardinals objected vociferously. But why did they object? Did they object to the evil of all this or only that this preferential treatment was denied them? I guess the latter.
It turns out that his son, Cesare, was murdered, and some suspected that his younger brother killed him. The Pope called off the investigation before the killer was found. No surprise there. (Hunter Biden, anyone?)
The story is told that at one supper event, hosted by Cesare Borgia in 1501, 50 courtesans danced naked with 50 servants. “This was followed by an orgy in which whoever made love to the prostitutes the most times or produced the “best performance” received prizes. The onlookers, who include Pope Alexandar VI, Cesare, and Lucrezia, selected the winners.” (Page 150). Clearly this Pope was very evil and godless.
If you have heard the name ‘Machiavelli’, it is no surprise that he took the life of Cesare Borgia as a model for his celebrated book II Principle (The Prince). The adjective, Machiavellian, is synonymous with cunning, scheming, or unscrupulous behavior. It comes from the name of this Italian writer, Niccolo Machiavelli. (Page 151). If someone calls you Machiavellian, it is no compliment. It is a name befitting a criminal, a thief, a murderer, a con man, and a dishonest person with no integrity or conscience. Not one of the apostles of Jesus Christ would ever be called such a name of disrepute, but many of the Popes of Rome rightfully hold this title of Machiavellian.
If you want to understand the evil of this line of Popes (Borgia), think of TV programs and movies like the following, and you will get a good idea of what that ‘man of God and Vicar of Christ’, the Pope, and his illegitimate children, were like. I Googled it and this is what came up: The White Lotus, The Menu, Succession, Parasite, Billions, Triangle of Sadness, Knives Out, Gossip Girl, The Hunger Games, Arrested Development, Veep, Joker, Empire, Dynasty, and The Wolf of Wall Street. Add to that the Godfather and all three or four of its movies. When a man of God is more like a Mafia don than a holy man of God, you know there is something wrong.
For a person to pretend to be a man of God, especially the Pope or some other high-ranking religious figure, and then to live like the devil is 100 times worse than for a politician or businessman to do the same. All these popes should be on the list of the worst of the worst godless persons that have ever lived. They are worse than Hitler or Stalin, in my opinion.
Follow the money
It is always revealing when following the flow of cash in an organization or church. Money and politics are closely related, especially when considering the Roman Catholic Church. I recommend two books by Avro Manhattan. The first is titled “The Vatican Billions,” and the second is titled “The Dollar and the Vatican.”
The Pope is the CEO of the Roman Catholic Church organization, including the Vatican State. The corruption of Popes, as it relates to ‘love of money’, has been highlighted in this article. Many popes have used the financial resources of the Church for personal reasons that have nothing to do with the gospel but everything to do with gratifying selfish lusts and ambitions. They have also used donations to fund wars and for other nefarious reasons. There can be no doubt about any of this.
To improve cash flow, the Popes have shamelessly sold ‘holy’ things and fake relics. Popes have stolen inheritances, forged documents, and sold ‘sin’ to raise money for the “lusts” of the leaders. Luther objected very much to the selling of indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church. Buying an indulgence from the Pope meant that the amount of temporal punishment would be reduced. However, “an indulgence is partial if it removes part of the temporal punishment due to forgiven sin, or plenary if it removes all punishment.” (Taken from Got Questions website). A Catholic Dominican friar, who lived at the time of Luther, was made infamous for selling indulgences to raise money for the Pope. Johann Tetzel’s slogan is “As soon as the gold in the casket rings, the rescued soul to heaven springs.” Bottom line, this is nothing but merchandizing the gospel of Jesus Christ and is a stench in God’s nostrils. The practice of selling indulgences even made it to this nation. The potential for misunderstanding and abuse is clear.
Do you realize that the Roman Catholic Church organization is one of the wealthiest enterprises that has ever existed, if not the richest of all? Their wealth, according to the author, Manhattan, is in the many billions of dollars. Consider their priceless art, artifacts, land, buildings, cash, precious metals, manuscripts, and jewels. The largest landowner in the world is the Roman Catholic Church. Imagine that. The current Pope has an estimated net worth of 16 million, according to one website. Let us not forget that the Pope is a celibate man, not a man of poverty!
The Catholic Church’s finances are secret. Jesus said everything that is hidden will be brought to the light. I guess the church is waiting on Jesus to return before we all get to see what the Roman Catholic Church has done with all the money! Does any of this sound like what a Christ-honoring organization looks and acts like? If it does, may I encourage you to read the Bible and ask God to open your eyes.
In my lifetime, I have listened to the Pope criticize and lecture the world for not helping the poor and allowing migrants to move freely to their country. What hypocrisy from the wealthiest Christian charity in the world. If the Roman church cared so much about the poor in the world and those who are starving, why not divest itself of its tremendous wealth? This Church system is the biggest and most profitable con the world has ever seen. Our evangelical prosperity preachers have nothing on the Roman Catholic Church.
One World Bible and One World Church
This is the ultimate objective of the Roman Catholic Empire. From Constantine the Great to when Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire, this church system has been incorporating pagan practices and Christianizing them. The Roman Church is still building bridges with other faiths. Eventually, they will form a one-world religion with the Pope at the head. For example, consider the Pope’s comments about Islam and consider the steps that are being taken to bring both religions together. The Pope thinks that Catholics and Muslims serve the same God. They may, but it is not the God of the Bible.
Mary is a cornerstone of that eventual consolidation of religions. In my articles on Islam, I addressed the many ways in which both Catholicism and Islam are alike, especially when considering Mary. I recommend this book for further study: “Queen of Rome-Queen of Islam, Queen of All” by Jim Tetlow, Roger Oakland, and Brad Myers. Here is what they said in 2006. “The Queen of Peace has succeeded in bringing multitudes from varied religious backgrounds together. Presently, millions of Eastern Orthodox and Anglicans venerate and esteem her. A growing number of Protestants pray to her and go on pilgrimages to her apparition sites. And as the following chapters will document, millions of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, New Agers, and others revere and honor her. Truly the apparitions of Mary have garnered a global following.” (Page 17 of their book). The stage is being set for the end times revelation of the Queen of Heaven.
Final Comments
We are back to the question, “Is there even one good Pope?” We have looked at Popes who started to murder Bible believing Christians from AD 385 until now. We have not examined each Pope in detail, but the general character of the Papacy is clear for all who have eyes to see. As far as I know, not every Pope was sexually depraved, but many were. Name one pope from 385 on until the 19th century that did not murder heretics or incite wars? Name one Pope that was an honest, truthful, and holy man of God like Peter, Paul, and the rest of the apostles? Name one Pope who was faithful to the Bible? Name one that has truly repented of their sins and the sins of the Church of Rome over its long and bloody history? Don’t hold your breath while you are looking for that one good pope.
In my last article, Part 10, I will summarize and provide some conclusions.
