The Pope’s Strange Prayer Meeting
July 31, 2024 (first published to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service January 19, 2000)
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061
866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
The following first appeared in O Timothy magazine, Volume 4, Issue 2, 1987. I am republishing it now to give our readers more background information about the apostasy of the late Pope John Paul II, who was revered by many evangelical leaders.
The Christian world is clamoring to join hands with Rome. We are told that Rome is no longer the apostate institution it was in the sixteenth century. Not only is that not true, but THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF OUR DAY IS ACTUALLY MORE UNSCRIPTURAL THAN IT WAS IN LUTHER’S DAY. It still holds all of its ancient heresies that were condemned by Baptists and Protestants of old, such as the Pope being the head of church, the mass being the re-sacrifice of Christ, Mary being the ever-virgin Queen of Heaven, prayers to and for the dead, and the sacraments being a channel for salvation. In addition to traditional Catholic heresies, the Roman Catholic Church today is filled with gross errors which were almost unknown to the Catholic Church of the sixteenth century, such things as Evolution (even the late Pope declared his belief in it), New Age faith and practice (i.e., a seminar at Catholic Quigley Seminary in Chicago in 1988 featured messages by Matthew Fox and other New Age speakers on “the cosmic Christ within”), universalism (Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II are examples of Catholic leaders who believe all men are children of God), and modernistic theology (Rome’s theological schools are largely given over to the modernistic approach to the Bible which denies the infallible inspiration of Holy Scripture, the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, etc.).
The following report leaves no doubt about Rome’s complete apostasy.
The Christian world is clamoring to join hands with Rome. We are told that Rome is no longer the apostate institution it was in the sixteenth century. Not only is that not true, but THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF OUR DAY IS ACTUALLY MORE UNSCRIPTURAL THAN IT WAS IN LUTHER’S DAY. It still holds all of its ancient heresies that were condemned by Baptists and Protestants of old, such as the Pope being the head of church, the mass being the re-sacrifice of Christ, Mary being the ever-virgin Queen of Heaven, prayers to and for the dead, and the sacraments being a channel for salvation. In addition to traditional Catholic heresies, the Roman Catholic Church today is filled with gross errors which were almost unknown to the Catholic Church of the sixteenth century, such things as Evolution (even the late Pope declared his belief in it), New Age faith and practice (i.e., a seminar at Catholic Quigley Seminary in Chicago in 1988 featured messages by Matthew Fox and other New Age speakers on “the cosmic Christ within”), universalism (Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II are examples of Catholic leaders who believe all men are children of God), and modernistic theology (Rome’s theological schools are largely given over to the modernistic approach to the Bible which denies the infallible inspiration of Holy Scripture, the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, etc.).
The following report leaves no doubt about Rome’s complete apostasy.
Pope John Paul II
The Day of Prayer for World Peace in Assisi, Italy, October 26, 1986, was a major milestone in the formation of the end time one-world “church.” It is apostasy in near full bloom.
Never before in church history has there been a clearer fulfillment of the New Testament prophecies of the great falling away from the faith and of the formation of the harlot one-world religion. Indeed, in this event we see that the hour is very, very late.
In the center of this amazing event we see a cheerful man who claimed to be the successor to the apostle Peter and the head of all churches. Gathered around Peter’s supposed successor were leaders of all sorts of other religions who have come together to pray to their gods for world peace.
The meeting was first announced by Pope John Paul II in January 25, 1986. The announcement was made during a mass in Rome marking the end of Christian Unity Week. The official Vatican newspaper reported the Pope’s words on the occasion of the announcement:
“‘Peace within the Church and peace with all mankind.’ The words of Pope Gregory VII are particularly appropriate in this year 1986, which the United Nations Organization has proclaimed as the International Year of Peace” (“Pope’s Announcement in St. Paul’s Basilica: Meeting of Prayer for Peace with all Religious Leaders,” L’osservatore Romano, 10 February 1986, page 19).
We see that the Roman Catholic Church is in spiritual lockstep with the United Nations.
Twenty-seven years earlier (January 25, 1959), Pope John XXIII announced his decision to convene Vatican Council II (RNS, January 27, 1986). This was the council that launched the Roman Catholic Church into the ecumenical movement.
Who Was There?
There were 160 participants at the ecumenical prayer meeting in Assisi (Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado, October 28, 1986).
The Christian leaders represented 32 denominations, whose adherents allegedly number 3.5 billion people, or 70 percent of the world’s population. They came from many ecumenical organizations--The World Council of Churches, represented by its executive secretary and three of its seven presidents, the World YWCA, the World Alliance of YMCAs, Friends World Committee for Consultation, Mennonite World Conference, Reformed Ecumenical Synod, Baptist World Alliance, Disciples of Christ, World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Lutheran World Federation, Anglican Communion, Old Catholic Union of Utrecht, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Orthodox churches. Also invited were 15 Roman Catholic bishops, and leaders of six Roman Catholic Franciscan organizations (Ecumenical Press Service, October 1986, 86.10.121).
Among the Christian leaders present were--
Also represented at the Day of Prayer for World Peace were leaders of 11 non-Christian religions: Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, African and North American animists (who worship spirits and nature), Japanese Shinto’s, fire-worshipping Zoroastrians, Baha’i.
All of these men and women except the Jews worship false gods and are therefore breakers of the first commandment of God’s Holy Law--“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
The Dalai Lama, exiled Buddhist leader who is supposed to be the god-king of Tibet, was at the forefront of the activities, as was Elio Toaff, chief Jewish rabbi of Rome (Ecumenical Press Service, October 1986).
The Dalai-Lama and John Paul II were close friends, and the Buddhist god-king was seated at the immediate left hand of the Pope.
What Transpired at the Event?
The events of the Day of Prayer for World Peace were divided into four main parts: First was the greeting by Pope John Paul II, who was the organizer and main leader of the program. The participants then moved to various venues in the city for two hours of private prayers, after which they came back together and held prayers in the presence of one another. Finally, following a few other rituals for peace, there was a meal and the farewell address by the pope.
An interesting description of some of the strange events at Assisi was given as follows in an Associated Press report:
ASSISI, Italy--Chants, temple bells and pagan spells echoed around the Roman Catholic shrines of Assisi yesterday as Pope John Paul II and his 200 guests from the world’s 12 main religions prayed for world peace...
The medicineman of the Crow Indians [spirit worshippers], Chief John Pretty-on-Top, offered to cast out evil spirits. Many came forward, among them a young Franciscan monk.
In a chapel down the road, the head of the Zorastrian church in Bombay prayed before a fire that symbolized his God.
Next door, six turbanned Sikhs--all Italian converts--sat chanting their prayers in the lotus position to gramophone music.
At an old Roman temple, shoeless Moslems sat on prayer mats.
The 14th Dalai Lama, exiled god-king of Tibet, headed the strong Buddhist contingent, mumbling sutras amid tinkling bells at the Basilica of St. Peter.
In the gardens outside, a Shinto sect called Tenrikyo, in black kimonos, swayed to temple music.
African animists, their togas the envy of any designer, invoked the spirits of trees and plants to come to the aid of peace...
The Pope made three speeches (Gazette News Services, taken from the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune and reproduced in Christian Beacon, December 25, 1986, p. 7).
What Prayers Were Said?
An example of the prayers that were offered to false gods is those of the animists from Africa and North America. Two tribal animists intoned,
“Almighty God, the Great Thumb we cannot evade in tying any knot, the Roaring Thunder that splits mighty trees, the All-Seeing Lord up on high who sees even the foot prints of an antelope on a rock mass here on earth... you are the cornerstone of peace.”
Smoking a ceremonial peace pipe, John Pretty-on-Top, a Crow Indian medicine man from Montana in full-feathered headdress, recited,
“O Great Spirit, I raise my pipe to you, to your messengers the four winds, and to mother earth, who provides for your children... I pray that you bring peace to all my brothers and sisters of this world” (“A Summit for Peace in Assisi,” Time, November 10, 1986, pp. 78-79).
In the Day of Prayer for World Peace we have the coming together of those claiming to be followers of Jesus Christ with those who boldly profess that Jesus Christ is not the only God and Savior and who claim that the God of the Bible is not the only true God. What a perfect demonstration of Apostasy!
An Hour of Silence from Heaven
The Day of Prayer for World Peace was an exercise in vanity.
John Paul II stated that he believed the prayers of would be heard by God.
“It is therefore urgent that an invocation rise in chorus, and with insistence, from the earth toward heaven, to ask the Omnipotent One, in whose hands lies the destiny of the world, for the great gift of peace” (The Tidings, official Roman Catholic newspaper of the Los Angeles diocese, April 11, 1986, p. 1).
The prayers were not answered. Heaven was brass. God’s ear was closed to the abominations of that day. The nations have not laid down their arms. They are preparing for war more fervently than ever.
The religious leaders who gathered in the name of peace completely ignored God’s warning in 1 Thessalonians 5: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
Every peace movement is destined to fail. The age will close with the greatest wars and world terrors the world has ever seen. They are described in the book of Revelation.
Conclusion
The hour is very late, my friends. Are you born again? Do you know for sure that your sins are forgiven and that you have eternal life through the blood of Jesus Christ? Are you scripturally baptized by immersion as a picture of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection? Are you a faithful, growing member of a sound New Testament church? Are you living an obedient, fruitful life for Christ? Are you busy serving God and waiting for Christ’s return? Are you separated from the apostasy of these last days? I trust the answer is yes.
Jesus Christ warned, “Watch, therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” (Matthew 24:42).
Never before in church history has there been a clearer fulfillment of the New Testament prophecies of the great falling away from the faith and of the formation of the harlot one-world religion. Indeed, in this event we see that the hour is very, very late.
In the center of this amazing event we see a cheerful man who claimed to be the successor to the apostle Peter and the head of all churches. Gathered around Peter’s supposed successor were leaders of all sorts of other religions who have come together to pray to their gods for world peace.
The meeting was first announced by Pope John Paul II in January 25, 1986. The announcement was made during a mass in Rome marking the end of Christian Unity Week. The official Vatican newspaper reported the Pope’s words on the occasion of the announcement:
“‘Peace within the Church and peace with all mankind.’ The words of Pope Gregory VII are particularly appropriate in this year 1986, which the United Nations Organization has proclaimed as the International Year of Peace” (“Pope’s Announcement in St. Paul’s Basilica: Meeting of Prayer for Peace with all Religious Leaders,” L’osservatore Romano, 10 February 1986, page 19).
We see that the Roman Catholic Church is in spiritual lockstep with the United Nations.
Twenty-seven years earlier (January 25, 1959), Pope John XXIII announced his decision to convene Vatican Council II (RNS, January 27, 1986). This was the council that launched the Roman Catholic Church into the ecumenical movement.
Who Was There?
There were 160 participants at the ecumenical prayer meeting in Assisi (Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado, October 28, 1986).
The Christian leaders represented 32 denominations, whose adherents allegedly number 3.5 billion people, or 70 percent of the world’s population. They came from many ecumenical organizations--The World Council of Churches, represented by its executive secretary and three of its seven presidents, the World YWCA, the World Alliance of YMCAs, Friends World Committee for Consultation, Mennonite World Conference, Reformed Ecumenical Synod, Baptist World Alliance, Disciples of Christ, World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Lutheran World Federation, Anglican Communion, Old Catholic Union of Utrecht, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Orthodox churches. Also invited were 15 Roman Catholic bishops, and leaders of six Roman Catholic Franciscan organizations (Ecumenical Press Service, October 1986, 86.10.121).
Among the Christian leaders present were--
- John Paul II, head of Roman Catholicism
- Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the worldwide Anglican and Episcopal denomination
- Emilio Castro, head of the World Council of Churches Greek Orthodox
- Archbishop Methodios of Thyateira and Great Britain, archbishop and delegate of Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios
- Gunnar Stalsett, Executive Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation
- Allan Boesak, South Africa’s anti-apartheid activist and president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches
- Metropolitan Filaret, head of Russian Orthodox Church
- Mother Teresa, Roman Catholic nun
- Susanna Telewona, a vice-president of the Lutheran World Federation
- Nita Barrow and Marga Buhrig, two of the WCC presidents
- Bernice Schrotenboer, representing her husband, the Reformed Evangelical Synod general secretary
- Val Ferguson, general secretary of Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers)
- Lydia Breen and Doreen Boyd, on the World YWCA staff in Geneva
- Manuela Mattioli and Christiane Witmers, two Catholic Franciscan leaders
Also represented at the Day of Prayer for World Peace were leaders of 11 non-Christian religions: Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, African and North American animists (who worship spirits and nature), Japanese Shinto’s, fire-worshipping Zoroastrians, Baha’i.
All of these men and women except the Jews worship false gods and are therefore breakers of the first commandment of God’s Holy Law--“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3).
The Dalai Lama, exiled Buddhist leader who is supposed to be the god-king of Tibet, was at the forefront of the activities, as was Elio Toaff, chief Jewish rabbi of Rome (Ecumenical Press Service, October 1986).
The Dalai-Lama and John Paul II were close friends, and the Buddhist god-king was seated at the immediate left hand of the Pope.
What Transpired at the Event?
The events of the Day of Prayer for World Peace were divided into four main parts: First was the greeting by Pope John Paul II, who was the organizer and main leader of the program. The participants then moved to various venues in the city for two hours of private prayers, after which they came back together and held prayers in the presence of one another. Finally, following a few other rituals for peace, there was a meal and the farewell address by the pope.
An interesting description of some of the strange events at Assisi was given as follows in an Associated Press report:
ASSISI, Italy--Chants, temple bells and pagan spells echoed around the Roman Catholic shrines of Assisi yesterday as Pope John Paul II and his 200 guests from the world’s 12 main religions prayed for world peace...
The medicineman of the Crow Indians [spirit worshippers], Chief John Pretty-on-Top, offered to cast out evil spirits. Many came forward, among them a young Franciscan monk.
In a chapel down the road, the head of the Zorastrian church in Bombay prayed before a fire that symbolized his God.
Next door, six turbanned Sikhs--all Italian converts--sat chanting their prayers in the lotus position to gramophone music.
At an old Roman temple, shoeless Moslems sat on prayer mats.
The 14th Dalai Lama, exiled god-king of Tibet, headed the strong Buddhist contingent, mumbling sutras amid tinkling bells at the Basilica of St. Peter.
In the gardens outside, a Shinto sect called Tenrikyo, in black kimonos, swayed to temple music.
African animists, their togas the envy of any designer, invoked the spirits of trees and plants to come to the aid of peace...
The Pope made three speeches (Gazette News Services, taken from the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune and reproduced in Christian Beacon, December 25, 1986, p. 7).
What Prayers Were Said?
An example of the prayers that were offered to false gods is those of the animists from Africa and North America. Two tribal animists intoned,
“Almighty God, the Great Thumb we cannot evade in tying any knot, the Roaring Thunder that splits mighty trees, the All-Seeing Lord up on high who sees even the foot prints of an antelope on a rock mass here on earth... you are the cornerstone of peace.”
Smoking a ceremonial peace pipe, John Pretty-on-Top, a Crow Indian medicine man from Montana in full-feathered headdress, recited,
“O Great Spirit, I raise my pipe to you, to your messengers the four winds, and to mother earth, who provides for your children... I pray that you bring peace to all my brothers and sisters of this world” (“A Summit for Peace in Assisi,” Time, November 10, 1986, pp. 78-79).
In the Day of Prayer for World Peace we have the coming together of those claiming to be followers of Jesus Christ with those who boldly profess that Jesus Christ is not the only God and Savior and who claim that the God of the Bible is not the only true God. What a perfect demonstration of Apostasy!
An Hour of Silence from Heaven
The Day of Prayer for World Peace was an exercise in vanity.
John Paul II stated that he believed the prayers of would be heard by God.
“It is therefore urgent that an invocation rise in chorus, and with insistence, from the earth toward heaven, to ask the Omnipotent One, in whose hands lies the destiny of the world, for the great gift of peace” (The Tidings, official Roman Catholic newspaper of the Los Angeles diocese, April 11, 1986, p. 1).
The prayers were not answered. Heaven was brass. God’s ear was closed to the abominations of that day. The nations have not laid down their arms. They are preparing for war more fervently than ever.
The religious leaders who gathered in the name of peace completely ignored God’s warning in 1 Thessalonians 5: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”
Every peace movement is destined to fail. The age will close with the greatest wars and world terrors the world has ever seen. They are described in the book of Revelation.
Conclusion
The hour is very late, my friends. Are you born again? Do you know for sure that your sins are forgiven and that you have eternal life through the blood of Jesus Christ? Are you scripturally baptized by immersion as a picture of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection? Are you a faithful, growing member of a sound New Testament church? Are you living an obedient, fruitful life for Christ? Are you busy serving God and waiting for Christ’s return? Are you separated from the apostasy of these last days? I trust the answer is yes.
Jesus Christ warned, “Watch, therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” (Matthew 24:42).
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