The destiny of the Vatican and the German people have been interlinked for centuries, beginning with Charlemagne’s rise to power and the forceful conversion of German tribes to Catholicism. This year, the fate of the world’s largest religion and Europe’s largest economy meet again. In early May, the Vatican is expected to vote in a new pope and the German parliament a new chancellor.

Germany’s coalition government collapsed on Nov. 6, 2024, the day Donald Trump was declared winner of the United States presidential elections. Snap elections were held on February 23, but due to complicated coalition negotiations, a new chancellor has not yet been voted into office. That is expected to happen May 6, if all goes well. Of note, the presumed chancellor, Friedrich Merz, is a Roman Catholic, unlike Germany’s last three chancellors.

While Germany held elections and entered coalition negotiations, Pope Francis was hospitalized with double pneumonia. Doctors later revealed that he was near death on multiple occasions; however, he was released from the hospital on March 23. On April 20, the pope’s health appeared relatively stable and he met United States Vice President JD Vance. Then on April 21, Francis died suddenly of a stroke. New papal elections are traditionally held 15 to 20 days after a pope’s death; this puts the elections around May 6.

These events were impossible to predict a year ago before Germany’s coalition broke and Pope Francis’s health took a turn for the worse. But their convergence may not be a coincidence. We may be about to see the rise of one of Europe’s prophesied 10 kings along with the rise of another pope. Both these events will be critical in end-time prophecy. They could also enable an overarching strongman of Europe to rise.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry drew attention to the leadership vacuum in both the Catholic Church and Germany in our May-June issue, which went to press on April 3. In “A New Era Requires a New Pope,” Mr. Flurry explained a prophecy in Revelation 17 about the unification of Europe under a political-religious leadership—another church-state combine. This passage has often been misinterpreted. However, older works such as Lange’s Commentary note that it refers to the Roman Empire, ruled over by the Catholic Church.

This is easily proved.

The passage describes a woman riding a beast. In biblical symbolism, a woman refers to a church (see Ephesians 5 and Revelation 12); and a beast refers to an empire (Daniel 7). Put together, we have a church that guides an empire. This and other key identities mean this must refer to the Holy Roman Empire (request our free book The Holy Roman Empire in Prophecy).

Revelation 17 prophesies that this empire will rise seven times. Previous resurrections of this church-state union were ruled by Justinian, Charlemagne, Otto the Great, the Habsburgs and Napoleon. After Napoleon, who put the imperial crown on his own head, another emperor rose with the same fascination for the old empire: This man was Adolf Hitler, who brought the imperial crown from Vienna to Nuremberg where they were housed in prior centuries. (To learn more about this history, watch Mr. Flurry’s recent Key of David program “The Crown Jewels of Charlemagne.”)

This history with Hitler occurred during the prophetic time of Revelation 17:10: “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.”

The timing of this prophecy was revealed to the late Herbert W. Armstrong, who was on the scene during the Hitler-Mussolini axis. He warned of another final resurrection of this same empire, as Mr. Flurry explains in Prophesy Again.

Both Daniel 2 and Revelation 17 reveal that this last empire would be ruled by 10 kings. “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (Revelation 17:12-13).

Concerning these verses, Mr. Armstrong wrote in the October 1962 Plain Truth: “The beast, then, is the leader, or ruler, over all—and 10 other dictator-kings, or lesser rulers over 10 European nations or nation-groups.”

In “Germany Is Looking for a New Charlemagne” Mr. Flurry wrote:

We believe there will be one supreme king over 10 kings. (There is a slight possibility that there could be just 10 kings total and that the leadership would come out of Germany.) Given that Revelation 17 is a prophecy of a church-state combine known as the Holy Roman Empire, Mr. Armstrong strongly believed that those leaders would be Catholic.

We may be seeing some indications who the dictator-king, or lesser ruler, over Germany could be. Friedrich Merz is a Roman Catholic who has repeatedly called for a guiding culture in Germany based on Christian, or rather Catholic, values. He is also an outspoken advocate for a European army. Since his party won the election, he has been acting with unusual urgency and zeal to create a militarized Germany—even defying democratic norms doing so. Furthermore, he enjoys the support of [Karl-Theodor zu] Guttenberg, who we believe may be the “one supreme king.”

As Mr. Flurry explained, Merz could play an important role in this rising Holy Roman Empire—but we don’t expect him to be the overall leader. He could also play a role in bringing that strongman to power—not just over Germany but over all of Europe.

Europe is prophesied to revive its Catholic heritage. A staunch Catholic chancellor and a new pope are certain to play a role in that. The overarching strongman will be critical to bring Europe together. However, as Mr. Armstrong wrote on Jan. 23, 1980, this “United States of Europe” can only come together “with the collaboration of the pope.”

For this reason, Mr. Flurry wrote in 1999 that along with the prophesied strongman of Europe, “[a] great false religious leader is also going to come on the scene about the same time. He will be allied with this political leader of ‘fierce countenance’ (Revelation 17:5).”

We could see the emergence of one of Europe’s prophesied 10 kings in Germany along with a papal election in the same month. This means the rise of Europe’s overarching strongman, who will be empowered by both Europe’s 10 kings and the pope, may also be around the corner.

In “A New Era Requires a New Pope,” Mr. Flurry wrote:

Prophecy tells us we should expect a strong leader to arise in Germany. … The Vatican will help bring that political leader on the scene, and that is when we will really see the fireworks. Prophecy says the Vatican will become very powerful and instigate radical changes. …

We need to watch for the rise of a political strongman to guide this empire. And just as important, we need to watch for the rise of the Catholic Church’s influence over it.

Most likely, we will see a church leader installed on the papal throne who knows the German system and will help install the political leader who can really swing Europe around—a good strong believer of the church’s doctrines.

This overarching strongman will closely cooperate with the religious leader to radically transform Europe and the world. In the end, these two individuals will share the same fate at the return of Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:20).

To understand this connection between church and state and to see where it all leads, request a free copy of Mr. Armstrong’s booklet Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast?