Preparations for a Last Crusade

Preparations for a Last Crusade
Jerusalem has been the target, the aim, the sacred prize of world powers time and again through the centuries of history. And today, even in our supposedly sophisticated age, the battle over Jerusalem continues.
While Israel controls the city, rivals covet it and want to seize it.
The terrorists of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and their chief sponsor, Iran, claim the city as their own. Israel has so far checked their ambitions. Many other terrorist groups have similar goals but lack the strength to attain them.
Turkey, which ruled the city in the days of the Ottoman Empire, has also made its interests known. Its newfound reach into Syria alarms Israel.
But there is another power, more subtle, more dangerous. Its preparations are as secretive as they are extensive. More than any other challenger, it is ready to strike in a moment. History warns of its religious zeal and military might. The Bible reveals its evil plot—and shows the only way to avert it.
Jerusalem the Focal Point
Jerusalem means “city of peace”—but God prophesied: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces …” (Zechariah 12:2-3).
“Truly, every empire and nation that has ruled Jerusalem has had burdensome and painful problems,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry writes about these verses. “To this day, this city is at the heart of the world’s thorniest political and diplomatic dilemma. It is a hot spot for devastating news caused by religious and political resentments, terrorist attacks and other violence. It is a powder keg charged with nuclear potential! No other city is so fraught with international tension.
“Bible prophecy shows that events in this city will trigger a nuclear World War iii! That alone is a vital reason to closely watch Jerusalem” (The Eternal Has Chosen Jerusalem; request a free copy).
Many people fear that World War iii could break out in any one of numerous ways. The Bible prophesies that the conflict will be triggered over Jerusalem. The preparations for this war are already visible, and are patterned with astonishing similarity after the Crusades of old.
Cyprus Militarization
From the beginning of his presidency in early 2023, Nikos Christodoulides has focused on militarizing Cyprus. Forbes reported, “Cyprus Is Planning a New Military Buildup” (March 19, 2023). Then came Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist massacre on Israel and the resulting war. This heightened Cyprus’s urgency to militarize—and increased the island nation’s attractiveness as a partner for foreign powers.
“The strengthening of the Cyprus republic’s deterrent capabilities is of the utmost importance,” Christodoulides said in November 2024, “and we take advantage of every opportunity, both in the direction of the United States and nato, but also the European Union.”
Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and, because of Turkey’s opposition, likely won’t soon become one. But it is a member of the EU. After Cyprus reportedly bought two Barak MX air defense missile batteries and dozens of interceptor missiles from Israel, Christodoulides told reporters on Dec. 5, 2024: “The only thing I can say is we will [do], and are doing, everything necessary to bolster the deterrence force of Cyprus, not only because we are a country under occupation but an EU member state in a region of particular geostrategic importance.”
Christodoulides sees Turkey as an occupying force on the island and wants to draw closer to the EU. Back in 1974, the Greek military junta in Cyprus tried to force a union between the island and Greece. Turkey intervened militarily—purportedly to protect Cyprus’s Turkish minority—and captured a third of the island. To this day, Turkey demands a two-state solution.
The German-led EU, however, wants control over Cyprus due to its “particular geostrategic importance.”
“Set in the midst of the Mediterranean Sea, near the heart of the world, is strategic Cyprus,” Mr. Flurry wrote in our November-December 2019 issue. “Look at a map, and you can see it is a stepping-stone between Europe and the Middle East. It is near Jerusalem, it is near Rome, and it is near Berlin. Understand its proximity to these important cities and to strategic areas, and you begin to understand why Cyprus has played such a crucial role in history” (theTrumpet.com/21310).
For powers outside the Middle East, Cyprus is as close as you can get to Jerusalem and nearby important trade routes.
“Cyprus has played a critical role in this region for centuries. During the Crusades, when European warriors descended on the coasts of Israel and Lebanon, at times they relied on Cyprus for a base. In the 19th century, when Britain wanted a naval base to guard its vital trade with India, it used Cyprus as a base. Even in modern times, in 2006 when Germany joined a United Nations naval mission off the coast of Lebanon, it used Cyprus as a base” (ibid).
In recent decades, Cyprus became home to critical military bases and surveillance capabilities, further boosting its importance. For these reasons and more, Germany took note.
When Cyprus faced serious economic trouble in 2013, “Germany blocked Russia from getting involved, and stepped in to offer a bailout package—with tough conditions,” Mr. Flurry wrote. “Cyprus accepted. Thus, the EU became the de facto ruler of Cyprus. … And since Germany is Europe’s largest economy and put up the largest share of the money, Germany became the real power in Cyprus” (ibid).
Since then, Germany’s power has grown. “According to provisional figures for 2023, German exports to Cyprus were worth €797.7 million, while imports from Cyprus to Germany totaled €125.7 million,” the German Foreign Ministry noted. “Within the EU, Cyprus is one of the most important shipping centers and has the second-largest open register of ships; it also has the world’s ninth-largest fleet by tonnage. In the field of ship management, German or German-led companies have a market share of around 50 percent. Since Limassol port was privatized in 2016, its container terminal has been managed by a German company (Eurogate)” (“Germany and Cyprus: Bilateral Relations,” Sept. 25, 2024).
Cyprus’s EU membership and Germany’s economic leverage over the island ensure that ultimately, any investment in fortifying this island will also help the EU and thus advantage Germany.
Island Fortress
Christodoulides told Phileleftheros on Dec. 30, 2024, that his government had decided to upgrade the air base in Paphos with help from the United States, and the naval base in Mari with help from the EU.
“Foreigners see our geographical position as our key advantage,” he said. “Regarding the naval base, I’m speaking with the president of the European Commission. I spoke again recently about EU financial contribution through a specific union program so that the base can host any vessel from an EU member state.”
This is the fate of the Mari base. Expect Cyprus’s other bases, such as the one currently held by Britain, to also fall into the hands of the EU. As Mr. Flurry warned in 2019, “Germany has worked through the EU to ensure it dominates Cyprus. … Justified as it might be, Brexit puts the future of those bases [speaking of Britain’s Akrotiri and Dhekelia bases] on Cyprus in doubt. I forecast that Britain is going to lose control of those bases” (op cit).

Politics Today wrote, “Now that Britain has left the EU, its vital military bases in Cyprus are at the mercy of a Greek Cypriot regime drunk on the political leverage handed to it by Brussels” (Oct. 11, 2023).
Cyprus is also directly involved in frequent military exercises involving other EU nations.
- Since 2020, Cyprus, France, Greece and Italy have participated in multinational military exercises called “eunomia,” conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean.
- For “eunomia 4” in 2023, Cyprus hosted a five-day drill that involved naval and air forces. Christodoulides emphasized Cyprus’s “particular geostrategic significance” to the EU.
- “eunomia 5” in 2024 again involved naval and air forces and included anti-air, anti-surface and anti-subsurface exercises; maritime interdiction; search-and-rescue training; noncombatant evacuations; and cyberwarfare exercises.
- Another multinational civil-military cooperation hosted by Cyprus is the “Argonaut” exercises. In 2024, sea, air and land drills took place in Cyprus. They tested, among other things, the forces’ ability to evacuate civilians from Sudan and Israel via Cyprus.
- “Siege Engine 2024,” sponsored by the European Defense Agency and hosted by Cyprus, involved about 150 troops from four EU member states: Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland and Sweden.
Daily Sabah, a Turkish government media outlet, warned, “The current militarization of this small Mediterranean island is not merely another move in the chess game of regional power; it’s a shift with serious implications for Mediterranean stability—or potentially, its opposite” (Nov. 19, 2024).
It is understandable that a Turkish outlet is alarmed by Cyprus’s militarization. Actually, it should concern us all.
Watch Germany
Shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, Germany moved an unknown number of its Special Operations Forces, Navy Special Operations Forces Command and special forces of the federal police to Cyprus. Bild explained in “Secret Operation Hostage Rescue: Bundeswehr Activates Special Units”: “They are on the ground primarily in case the conflict escalates and Germans have to be pulled out of Lebanon in a robust operation. This means that the Bundeswehr could also intervene from the sea (Mediterranean)” (Oct. 18, 2023). Germany also had a corvette and military transport aircraft available in the region to assist. In November 2023, German and Cypriot defense ministers signed an agreement to intensify military cooperation.
German personnel are involved in military missions surrounding Israel: in Iraq and Jordan in the mission Counter Daesh–Capacity Building Iraq; in Lebanon and at sea nearby in United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Maritime Task Force. Germany is also participating in the EU naval missions eunavfor Aspides in the Red Sea, eunavfor Irini in the Mediterranean Sea, plus nato’s Sea Guardian operation in the Mediterranean and Standing Maritime Group 2 in the Aegean Sea. Through its dominance of the EU, Germany also holds the balance of power over the Balkans and Malta.
Through the EU and nato, Germany and its EU partners are well positioned to pour war personnel and materiel into a modern Middle Eastern conflict.
Germany also has access to weapons of mass destruction through nato’s nuclear-sharing agreement. In nato’s 2023 annual “Steadfast Noon” exercises, it practiced using these weapons in Italy, Croatia and the Mediterranean Sea. Germany could decide one day to use these bombs offensively—for example, against belligerent powers such as Iran.
No doubt Cyprus will play a critical role in any future Mideast war. But controlling this island is a means to an end: When German forces commence warring in the region, what will be their objective? To understand, we must look at a longtime partner of Germany: the Vatican.
Gateway to Jerusalem
In 2021, Vatican News reported that Cyprus has 38,000 Catholics—about 5 percent of the population—and that a majority of these are part of the Latin rite. It noted that many trace their roots back to Crusaders who settled there after the Third Crusade (a.d. 1191) and the 1187 fall of Jerusalem to the Muslims.
Crusaders controlled Cyprus for 300 years until 1489. “The Latin Catholics [in Cyprus] thrived until Cyprus was conquered by the Turks in 1570–1573, when thousands were killed, churches converted to mosques, and the Latin church dissolved” (Vatican News, Nov. 25, 2021).
The Catholic Church is now reviving its presence on the island.
On Jan. 26, 2024, the Vatican inaugurated an independent apostolic nunciature, the equivalent of an embassy, in Cyprus. Vatican Deputy Secretary of State Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra said, “Today we inaugurate the pope’s home in the small geographically but huge historically Cyprus.”
On March 16 that year, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa consecrated a Latin bishop on Cyprus. It was the first time in more than three centuries that the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem—a Catholic diocese including Cyprus, Israel, Jordan and Palestine—had a resident bishop in Cyprus. The Catholic Church’s presence in these territories was established in the days of the Crusades. Every time the church sought to expand its influence in the region, bloody war ensued.
Bruno Varriano, the newly appointed bishop, told Crux, “Every time there was persecution against the friars in the Holy Land, they would seek shelter here in Cyprus. That’s why the church here has never disappeared” (March 28, 2024).
“Saint Francis grew up in the zealous atmosphere of the Crusades. It was in this spirit that he brought 12 companion friars to the Holy Land in 1219,” the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, founded by Pope Pius xi in 1926, recounted. “As long as the Crusaders had a footing in the East, the fate of the Franciscans was linked to that of the Christian soldiers. When the latter were defeated at Acre in 1291, the Franciscans inherited their fivefold cross, which they fly to this day as a neutral international flag. From that time the friars continued the defense of Christianity in the Holy Land, without any real weapons of warfare” (One, Spring 1977).
Centuries later, Catholics still see God’s hand in the Crusades. As Pope Paul vi put it, “It was not without providential design that the historical events of the 13th century took the Franciscan Order to the Holy Land” (Nobis in Animo, 1974).
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pizzaballa is the most influential Catholic figure in the Middle East, and he has been discussed as a possible next pope. The first Latin patriarch of Jerusalem went on the First Crusade in 1099 as a chaplain! Today’s bishops walk in the footsteps of the spiritual advisers of the Crusades.
The Vatican is reviving Europe’s religious ties with Cyprus and restoring the heritage of the Crusaders there.
Archbishop Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, apostolic nuncio to Cyprus, referenced Cyprus’s historic role in an interview with Phileleftheros on April 7, 2024: “Cyprus may be a small country, but it has a highly strategic position. With the words of Pope Francis, which I often quote, Cyprus is a bridge between Europe and the Middle East. … Here, we can feel the European culture, but at the same time, we experience the consequences of what is happening in the Middle East. This is not only limited to the recent conflict in Gaza but has been an ongoing reality.”
Catholic leaders say Cyprus served as a bridge between Europe and the Mideast. But it was also a bridge for the Catholic Church—particularly in the Crusades.
The Crusades were a violent attempt to gain control of the Holy Land and surrounding areas. They entailed the brutal butchering of Muslims and Jews. Crusaders sometimes even killed allied Christians and plundered their wealth.
When Catholic leaders speak of Cyprus being a bridge, they don’t directly reference the Crusades. But that was what Mr. Flurry recalled when Cyprus became an EU member in 2004. “[W]hy did the EU want tiny Cyprus to be a member?” he asked. “Is the EU already thinking about Cyprus as a launching pad from which to protect its Jerusalem interests?
“You can be certain that the EU is thinking about how to protect the holy places in and around Jerusalem. Catholic Europe has thought like this for almost 2,000 years!” (Trumpet, December 2004; theTrumpet.com/1153).
Building Toward Collision
Since then, Cyprus has offered its services to the German-led EU more than once. At a summit on Nov. 21, 2024, Christodoulides noted, “Stability, welfare and security in the Eastern Mediterranean are inextricably linked to the security and stability of the EU.” He offered Cyprus as “a bridge between the EU and the region.” This offer sounds sweet to those seeking to strengthen the Christian presence in the Middle East.
On Dec. 23, 2024, Christodoulides appointed Thessalia Salina Shambos as Cyprus’s special representative for religious freedoms and protection of minorities, including Christians, in the Middle East. She will aid the EU’s “efforts to support religious groups in the region,” protect cultural monuments and heritage, and highlight “the diplomatic role of the Republic of Cyprus as a bridge between the European Union and the Middle East, building on its geographical, cultural and historical position ….”
Cyprus’s “historical position” is being revived.
It would be foolish to believe that Christian minorities in the Mideast can be strengthened through diplomatic efforts alone. Many Christian communities are being violently persecuted by Islamist extremists. According to the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need, over 360 million Christians live in regions with high persecution. In Syria and Iraq, hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee. To effect change, the EU will need to strengthen not only its religious and diplomatic outreach but also its military presence.
After Bashar Assad was toppled in December 2024, Christodoulides spoke about future EU cooperation with Syria. He noted that Cyprus is the EU member closest to Syria, “so you understand that the role that we must have and that we claim is a leading one” (Dec. 15, 2024).
He told Phileleftheros on Dec. 30, 2024, that the EU would like to cooperate with the new Syrian rulers, but warned that if “they exclude minorities, Christians, etc, the EU won’t come to help.”
Years ago Mr. Flurry wrote, “It is interesting to also note that Germany has always felt a mission to protect Christianity. But not ‘all’ of traditional Christianity. The Germans have always sought to protect Roman Catholicism” (Trumpet, May 1992). How true that statement is proving to be.
Fears of Another Crusade
On Oct. 28, 2024, Al-Akhbar, a Hezbollah-connected outlet, published an article titled “Germany in Hostile Territory.” It criticized Germany for sharing intelligence with Israel and for a German frigate intercepting a Hezbollah missile. It said Hezbollah was pushing for “the exclusion of Germany from participating in international forces.”
On June 19, 2024, the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah issued a direct threat to Cyprus: “The Cypriot government must be warned that opening Cypriot airports and bases for the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon means that the Cypriot government has become part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war.”
In “The Fall and Rise of Lebanon,” Mr. Flurry noted that this was a strange threat, since Cyprus hadn’t aided Israel militarily. But, he explained, “the island nation is essentially controlled by Germany. It is Germany that truly concerns the terrorists.” He pointed back to Cypriot history: “For hundreds of years, the Holy Roman Empire has sought control of Jerusalem, which it views as sacred. Crusaders often went through Cyprus to reach the coasts of Israel and Lebanon, and they butchered many Muslims! This is why Islamist leaders are alarmed by Germany in Cyprus.
“Nasrallah knew this history. Iranian leaders know this history. They know what Germany has in mind, and they strongly oppose it! These terrorists also want control of the Middle East, especially Jerusalem—and Germany, moving military personnel and equipment into Cyprus, poses a real threat to their ambition!” (Trumpet, January 2025).
Hezbollah and Iran see modern crusaders gathering on Cyprus with ambitions for Jerusalem. In fact, the whole world should be able to see this!
The parallels are too numerous to ignore. During the First Crusade, Cyprus was under Byzantine rule and served Crusaders primarily by providing supplies. Today, the EU is using Cyprus to deliver supplies to Palestinians and Christians in Gaza. Historically, Cyprus often helped Catholics evacuate from the Holy Land. Today the island offers the same service. From the Third Crusade on, Cyprus became a military fortification for Crusaders to prepare for their missions. Today, an increasingly militarized Cyprus is hosting foreign powers.
Neither the Catholic Church nor the nations of the Holy Roman Empire have ever renounced their ambitions to conquer Jerusalem. The Bible reveals that in the name of peace and religion, Germany and the Vatican will again crusade to conquer the Holy City.
An Ignored Warning
In 1982, Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Plain Truth (predecessor of the Trumpet), visited Cyprus at the invitation of the acting president, Georgios Ladas. At the meeting, Mr. Armstrong spoke on Bible prophecy, which reveals that the Holy Roman Empire, traditionally ruled by Germany, will rise once more.
“I think it’s going to be a union between the nations that are Roman Catholic and the nations that are Orthodox Catholic. And religion is going to play a part in that again,” Mr. Armstrong warned. “Religion has played such a part in wars in the past.”
Ladas was surprised at the notion that religious wars would make a comeback. Yet this is what the Bible foretells.
Jeremiah 1:15 prophesies that “all the families of the kingdoms of the north” are about to surround Jerusalem. This will be a resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe. Daniel 2 and Revelation 17 prophesy that 10 kings will lead 10 European nations (or groups of nations) controlled by the Catholic Church.
Daniel 11:41 warns that foreign troops will “enter also into the glorious land,” Jerusalem. “And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain …” (verse 45). Mr. Flurry explained: “Europe will gain so much power in the Middle East, and religion will be such an important part of its empire, that it will actually move its headquarters to Jerusalem!” (Trumpet, November-December 2019).
Cyprus is a stepping-stone to exactly this objective.
The Bible also reveals that Jerusalem will be besieged (Zechariah 12:2-3). This siege will last 40 days (Ezekiel 4; request your free copy of Ezekiel—The End-Time Prophet, by Gerald Flurry.) It may not be coincidence that one military exercise conducted in Cyprus with other EU nations is called “Siege Engine 2024.” Siege engines were used by Crusaders to conquer Jerusalem.
Headlines in the near future may report that Catholic- and German-dominated European forces have used Cyprus to cut off maritime trade from reaching Israel and to deploy and supply the deadly armies of the new Holy Roman Empire.
These warnings are clear and devastating. Their fulfillment will shake this world. We must understand why God recorded them: to forewarn the nations and to give us an opportunity to avert the disaster by turning to Him. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11). This is the only way to ward off the impending disaster!