Pat Robertson and Bill Bright participated in a papal mass in New York's Central Park during John Paul II's October visit to the United States. According to the Religious News Service, Pat Robertson marched at the head of an ecumenical procession (which included Bright) to the papal altar and was seated with Protestant, Orthodox and other Christian leaders. Robertson is the Charismatic head of the 700 Club and Bright is the head of Campus Crusade for Christ.

Robertson's seat of honor at the Mass was engineered by New York Cardinal John O'Connor. Bright sat next to Robertson.

One discerning writer described the awful compromise involved with such an action:

"The Mass is still a terrible ritual. It shouts out by Romish word and Romish sacrament that Christ's death on the cross was not enough to save mankind. It was a partial redemption which must be supplemented by the other Romish sacraments, penance, purgatory, priestly absolution, and good works. Further, the whole Romish system of salvation invests its priests with the superhuman power, which no one else has, to transubstantiate bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Christ. No news media reporters I heard in their coverage of the Pope's visit to New Jersey and New York even doubted the truthfulness of Rome's claims. One asked whether a Papal Mass was more significant than a regular parish Mass. The priest commentator replied that the Mass is the Mass is the Mass whether said by Pope or the lowest priest.

"Biblically speaking, in Roman Catholicism, we find a fake priesthood performing a fake ritual producing a fake sacrament with the jingling of bells and the adoration of the faithful gullible producing no saving faith and receiving no true forgiveness of sins. The whole system requires you to use a mediator to approach the one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus" (Kurt Linde, "Some Thoughts on the Papacy and the Evangelization of Roman Catholics," Christian News, October 23, 1995, p. 7)

The meeting of a large number of "evangelical" leaders with the Pope earlier that same day and the participation of some of them in a papal mass is historic. (The earlier meeting was reported in the last issue of O Timothy; it included Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries and Don Argue, president, National Association of Evangelicals.)

The last days apostasy is like a river flowing toward Rome. Those who do not resist the flow and paddle up stream will be swept away at a rapid pace.

The apostasy is also like a strong wind. In the Northwest, where we live, we have powerful winds which sweep in off of the Pacific ocean during the winter season. This Editor lives on an island and our house is located only a mile from the west shore. We have learned that unless you stake a newly planted tree, it will be bent by the winds and will remain bent and crooked. That is similar to what happens today if a Christian does not actively resist and separate from the spirit of error.

Behold Billy Graham, Chuck Colson, Bill Bright, Jack Van Impe, James Robison, Pat Robertson, and a myriad of other so-called evangelical leaders who have played footsie with Romanism through ecumenical activities and have become sympathetic with Rome and blinded to the horror of its blasphemous errors. They admit that Roman Catholicism teaches error, but they do not have heartfelt convictions about the blasphemous character of those errors.

"Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners" (1 Corinthians 15:33).

"A little leaven leaventh the whole lump" (Galatians 5:9).