Pope Calls for Uniting World Religions!
On the 15th of February 1798 Napoleon’s chief of the army, General Louis-Alexander Berthier, marched into Rome. And in one of history’s most defining moments he deposed the then reigning pontiff, Pope Pius VI, and took him as a prisoner. In doing so he brought to an end nearly 1300 years of Roman Catholic persecution and dominance in world affairs. And throughout the 19th century that followed, the power and influence of Rome remained as low as the collective emotion of those nations who suffered under her dominance and misdeeds did remain high.
During this time, while Rome was still healing from the near deadly wound inflicted by France, any expectation of any Pope reclaiming the type of influence his predecessors enjoyed in centuries passed would have seemed not only unlikely but completely void of support.
The above context makes the following statement actually quite extraordinary! It is taken from the book “The Great Controversey” published in 1888.
“The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. The Roman Church … is employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has done.”
The Great Controversy Pages 563-565
You could search the literature of that century, but you would be hard pressed to find anybody voicing anything like that kind of awareness of the very long-game that Rome had committed to playing with goal of reestablishing it’s former global relevance and influence. In fact it’s very likely that the prescience of the author who penned that warning could not even be fully appreciated in her day, but here in June of 2016 it is hard not to come to the conclusion that not only was she right, but her warnings are very worthy of further investigation.