The Reality of Restored Papal Authority

 By Michael Burkert 

Returning to
Europe after three and a half-year’s absence has been a most eye
opening
experience!  Things have changed in old Europe and most people in the
United
States and Canada have no idea what those changes are!  Our partisan
news media
has been so focused on advancing the current Administration’s agenda
that
they’ve turned a blind eye at what’s going on just across the Atlantic.

If you browse the Internet, it’s most difficult to
find any
information on pope
Benedict XVI other than articles of adulation and approval.  The
news media
is either afraid to report what the pope is up to, don’t understand the
significance of his activities, or they don’t care.

I wrote
in 2005, “Joseph
Ratzinger, also known as pope Benedict XVI may not live long enough to
be the
“pope of popes,” but he may well set the stage for the one who will
ascend to
that status.  Continue to keep your eyes on Europe.  The last chapter of
European history is being written now.”

Ratzinger has already lived long enough that he has
made a
lasting impression on the Roman Catholic governing structure, known as
the
Curia. 
Benedict has
done far more than warm the throne of the papacy!  During the past four
years,
he has replaced nearly all of the liberal Cardinals in Rome.  He has
systematically handpicked those ultra-conservative Catholic clerics in
his
efforts to reestablish Europe as a Roman Catholic continent.  Those
efforts are
ongoing and in motion now. 

He continues to root out homosexuals,
pedophile priests
and
bishops, quietly firing them and in some cases allowing them to retire. 
His
emphasis in removing such individuals has not so far been extended to
North
America.  Benedict considers pedophile and homosexual priests in North
America
to be a North American problem!  Don’t expect any
Vatican
sponsored
“bailouts” for U.S. and Canadian Catholic Churches in settling any of
the
multimillion dollar lawsuits currently pending in various courts. 

He has already begun to impose his iron will on the
governments of Europe!  In 2007, Ratzinger summoned Italian Prime
Minister
Romano Prodi to
the
Vatican.  The Pope told Prime Minister Prodi, in no uncertain terms,
that the
proposed “homosexual union” bill or civil union bill would not be
allowed to
pass!  Prodi obeyed his pope and the civil union law never came about.

The pope has also instructed Catholic lawmakers to
vote
Catholic.  Ratzinger is inserting himself and his will into politics and
lawmakers are on notice of how he expects them to vote on hot button
issues such
as homosexual, and ISLAMIC
issues as well.

Bishop Thomas Tobin in
Providence,
Rhode Island has barred
Congressman
Patrick
Kennedy (D-RI) from receiving communion, due to Kennedy’s support
for such
Liberal issues as abortion and homosexual marriage. There is no doubt
that the
Vatican approved this sanction taken against Mr. Kennedy, as he is a
high-profile individual and son of the late
Edward (Ted) Kennedy
(D-MA).

Since assuming his papal duties, Ratzinger has
reinstituted
The Tridentine
Mass,
a Latin language service that had been in disuse for many years, the
pope once
again asserted his core belief, “that unless one holds the Catholic
faith,
there is no salvation.”

Christians and Jews alike cringe at The Tridentine
Mass
because it openly declares that Jews and non-Catholics are lost to the
damnation
of hell fire!  The service asks God to “lift the veil from their eyes
so that
the Jews might be delivered from darkness, and converted to
Catholicism.”
 

Many Christian clerics have subsequently opined
that the
pope is sending a signal to all, including anti-Semites.  The Catholic
Church
remains anti-Semitic as it always has been.  The same holds true,
regarding the
pope’s attitude toward Muslims.  He has no use for them either.

In November 2008, the pope made it clear to
European Union
lawmakers that he wants Sunday recognized as an official day of rest. 
If you
were not already aware of this, Sunday is also noted on European
calendars as
the SEVENTH DAY OF THE WEEK.

The union of church and state is on track in
Europe.  While
some EU member nations are not predominately Catholic, the Bible clearly
tells
us that the final rendition of the
Holy Roman
Empire,
will consist of only 10 member nations or kingdoms.  Although Germany is
currently about 50-50 Catholic-Lutheran, that could change, literally
overnight.  Pope Benedict is making strong movement toward gathering in
the
“daughters of Catholicism.”  Don’t be surprised if the Lutheran Church
is
reunited with its Catholic “mother,” in the near future.

It was not by accident that Joseph Ratzinger chose
the name
“Benedict” for use in his papacy.  Many years ago,
St. Benedict
was
declared the “Patron Saint of Europe.”  Ratzinger thinks of himself in
that
light, being there to strengthen Europe and particularly the European
Union. He
has no illusions that Muslim
Turkey is a European nation, or that it has any business as a member
of the
European Union.He has no illusions that
Muslim
Turkey is a European nation, or that it has any business as a member of
the
European Union.
 

The last pope named “Benedict” reigned over
Catholicism
during the First World War.  This was a trying time for the church and
although
pope Benedict XV had little influence over the warring factions, one
significant
result stands out as a result of that conflict.  The Office of
Information
Security, or the “Vatican Intelligence Service,” was created to protect
Catholic
properties and interests from both sides in the war.  It’s more active
today
than ever.  The Vatican has an intelligence gathering organization that
is on
par with, or is more effective than our own
CIA or the current German

Bundes
Nachrichten Dienst, or
BND. 
Information is power and the Vatican has a lot of information at its
disposal!

Oh the other hand, don’t think for a minute that
Josef
Ratzinger has forgotten the United States and the Roman church in our
country. 
While essentially placing the blame on the American Catholic Church for
the
pedophile priest problems the church continues to face, Ratzinger has
ramped up
efforts to strengthen the church in America.  The recent

Manhattan Declaration, signed by a multitude of Christian
organizations,
including the American Catholic Church, is a prime example of the pope’s
activism. Without his tacit approval, no Catholic official would have
signed the
declaration which places the U.S. Government on notice that CATHOLICS
AND
PROTESTANTS BOTH, WILL PERPETRATE CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE if laws are enacted
which
result in the forced compromise of Christian values, beliefs and
traditions.

The Manhattan Declaration is a historic point in
Christian
cooperation in the United States.  Signing on behalf of the Roman
Catholic
Church was the Archbishop of Washington DC,
Donald Wuerl, a
candidate for elevation to the rank of Cardinal.  Wuerl, an arch
conservative,
is a personal friend of pope Benedict and was hand selected for the
position he
now holds.  Additionally, the
Archbishop of
Philadelphia,
Justin Regali also signed the document, on behalf of American
Catholics.

The significance of Christian clergymen from nearly
all
walks of American Christendom cannot be understated!  At no time in our
history,
have so many denominations of Christian churches and organizations come
together
and found common ground of this magnitude.  Is it another indication of
an
eventual reunion of the “Mother Church” and her daughters?

Basically, the Manhattan Declaration, which so many
have
agreed to, states the following:
 

“We will not comply with any edict that purports
to
compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive
research, assisted suicide and euthanasia or any other anti-life act;
nor will
we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual
partnerships,
treat them as marriage or the equivalent or refrain from proclaiming the
truth,
as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the
family.”

It sounds as though the Obama Administration and
the
Democrat controlled Congress has been put on notice, that they can
expect open
resistance to continued Liberal initiatives that would as an example,
make it a
“hate crime” to preach biblical principles that coincide with God’s
Law.  Only
time will tell if the Manhattan Declaration leads to a reunification of
many
Christian denominations.  There is little doubt as to this very issue
being on
the mind of Josef Ratzinger as well as many in the hierarchy of the
Roman
church.  In the meantime, watch the EU and the continued influence the
Roman
church will exercise in the governance of Europe.  Sunday, as a day of
rest for
all in Europe will likely be the next major influence that the Vatican
imposes
on Europe.  Look for other influences as well to soon dominate European
politics.

The papacy of Josef Ratzinger or pope Benedict XVI
may
prove to be even more significant than that of his predecessor, John
Paul II. 
While he may not be the pope of popes, his legacy will be that of the
pontiff
who restored papal authority in Europe. 

 
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