In the lead up to a day of prayer, the Roman Pontiff has exhorted “believers of all faiths [to] unite spiritually for a day of prayer, fasting and works of charity to ask God to help humanity to overcome the coronavirus pandemic. […]
His comments come as part of a series of interreligious initiatives that have marked the current Roman Pontiff’s tenure, the most striking of which is perhaps being conducted through the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, with its Abrahamic Family House project in Abu Dhadi.
Another speaker in the video below announces, “The things that unite us – Christians, Muslims, non-believers – prayer is one of these things.”
Prayer is obviously not one of the things that unite “us” with the irreligious, so “non-believers” must refer to the the religious followers of faiths other than Christianity and Islam. Seemingly, by this priest’s logic, if you are Christian or Muslim, you are a “believer”.
The obvious question is, “A believer in what?”
Fundamentally, Protestantism – based on the authority of the Bible – and Orthodoxy – which places heavy emphasis on Christian tradition – can never accept unity with Islam.
The Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy, on the other hand, creates a problem for faithful Catholic believers trying to reconcile the teachings of Christ with the ecumenical teachings of its putative vicar. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “… the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.”[emphasis added] CCC 882
How to reconcile the two?
Day of Prayer
On 14 May, Francis anticipated criticism of his growing calls for interreligious prayer when he said during an address,
“Maybe someone will say, ‘But this is religious relativism and you can’t do it.’ But how can you not pray to the Father of all?“
There are plenty of examples of the Israelites coming unstuck because they did not pray to the “Father of all”, but instead worshipped false gods, Baals, Ashteroth, Marduk, Milcom, golden calves and the like.
Who you are praying to matters.
Elijah mocks the Baal-worshippers who “called on the name of Baal from morning until noon … but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.” When Elijah prayed, the fire of the LORD fell from heaven, and the people fell on their faces saying “The LORD, He is God; the LORD, He is God.”
In Exodus 23.13, the Israelites are even warned, “Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.”
Clearly, praying to one other than God is possible. It insults the intelligence of followers of other religions to say in effect, ‘You think you’ve praying to such-and-such a deity, but actually you are praying to the “Father of all”.’
What sort of a spirit, therefore, is this that animates the pontiff to say, “Ognuno prega come sa, come può, come ha ricevuto dalla propria cultura [Everyone prays as he knows, how he can, as he has received from his own culture]”?
Surely, it is in the spirit of Antichrist to call for people of ogni confessione religiosa to join together in prayer.
Even if all believers were consciously praying to the “Father of all”, what good would this do them if they were in rebellion against God.
“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. (James 2.19)
“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ (Matthew 7.22-23)
Neither is it enough to take the name of “Father of all”, if you deny the Son of God.
“Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father…” (1 John 2.23)
“… every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God” (1 John 4.2)
Scripture tells us what we should do with such as Francis:
“… keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which you received from us.” (2 Thessalonians 3.6)
‘Cathlam’ or Bahaism?
At present, this rapprochement between Christians and Muslims is very much a Catholic initiative, being led by a pontiff out of accord with many of his followers, for whom ‘Cathlam’ must surely be a cause for dismay. The initiative however is very much in tune with contemporary globalism, and is not without support in the halls of power.
The goal for the present Pontiff appears to be for the central tenets of different religions and their external sources of authority to be subordinated to this new dogma through a union of all mankind. This clearly cannot be achieved without indoctrination and coercion, hence the need for a Global Pact on Education. If the Pontiff is interested in Cathlam at all, it is surely only as some intermediary stage.
It is clear from his pronouncements that the endgoal is the unity of all people, hence the need for an educational initiative to overcome the dogmatism and belligerence of the followers of traditional religions. In this, his worldview is far more in line with that of the Baháʼí.
We know that the Day of the Lord will not come until after a generalised apostasy has taken place and the “man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship” (2 Thessalonians 2.3-4). As an abstract philosophy, the Pontiff’s bahaism is incomplete without some object of worship. Men do not worship abstract ideas: even atheistic communists need a Lenin, and fascists need a Hitler figure. This figure will be revealed in the Last Days following a period of unprecedented tribulation. In preaching the unity of all mankind and all religion, this pontiff is laying the intellectual seeds of the “deluding influence” in preparation for the rebuilding of the temple, and the man of lawlessness setting himself up as the last of the false gods.
Those who hope in Christ, by contrast, will not be disappointed, and he will repay those who trust in Him for their faithfulness.
Picture by Alan Fernando Witrón López / CC BY-SA.
