Pope Francis’s Real Legacy

Pope Francis’s Real Legacy
Pope Francis has been the most controversial pope since Pius xii, who led the Catholic Church through World War ii.
Francis increased the profile of the Roman Catholic Church in many ways. Within months of becoming pope, he was arguably the most popular and loved man on Earth, the hope of millions, and Time magazine’s Person of the Year. The enthusiasm he brought to the church was called “the Francis Effect.”
Times have changed in the 12 years since Francis took office. In recent years, that luster had dimmed. Critics have complained that Francis liberalized the church and imposed his views on those reluctant to go along. The world has grown more dangerous and, in many ways, has shifted to the right politically. I wrote in our last issue, “I believe the changing time we live in will require a different pope. Pope Francis doesn’t quite fit the picture” (“A New Era Requires a New Pope”).
Now the world has a different pope. This is a good time to reflect on what Pope Francis did and the dramatic ways he moved Bible prophecy forward.
Restoring Europe’s Latin Empire
Pope Francis was the first non-European pope in over a thousand years. His election captivated Latin America and sparked a surge of Catholicism in his native Argentina.
Our booklet He Was Right documents the accurate forecasts of late educator Herbert W. Armstrong, which he based on the Bible’s prophecies. In this booklet’s chapter about the European-Latin American relationship, we write: “The Plain Truth [predecessor to the Trumpet] recognized the deep importance of the religious roots Europeans and Latin Americans share. In October 1957, it said, ‘Latin American nations will join in with the European revival of the old Roman Empire ….’” (Request a free copy of He Was Right for in-depth insight into this relationship.)
That prophecy was written nearly 70 years ago! It is prophecy that can come only from God.
Latin America possesses tremendous resources. Germany knows this very well. This country is leading Europe. And prophecy shows that it will soon also be leading Latin America as head of a reconstituted Holy Roman Empire!
Pope Francis helped add a crucial religious and cultural dimension to this union. His election highlighted the history these two blocs share going back hundreds of years, along with a shared religion and a shared outlook. At a time when China is also making economic inroads into Latin America, this ancient tie is essential for Europe.
Europe will draw a lot of power from its relationship with Latin America. Mr. Armstrong foretold that this combined power bloc would overtake the United States. His Plain Truth magazine stated in May 1962 that “the United States is going to be left out in the cold as two gigantic trade blocs, Europe and Latin America, mesh together and begin calling the shots in world commerce.”
Mr. Armstrong prophesied precisely what we see happening today! This union will grow stronger than Russia and China. It will be stronger than the United States.
It will instigate a massive trade war—and America will be frozen out!
Economic War
It’s no coincidence that one of Pope Francis’s most notable legacies is his attack on the American economic system.
Pope Francis made clear that he wanted to topple the global system of free-market capitalism. In his first major apostolic exhortation, Joy of the Gospel, published in November 2014, he wrote: “[S]ome people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. [T]his opinion … expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power ….”
Francis called free-market global capitalism “a new tyranny” and condemned it as “a financial system which rules rather than serves.” He also called it “the dung of the devil.”
Of course, the leading nation of free-market global capitalism is the United States of America. So Pope Francis could not possibly wish for the leader of the capitalist system to thrive and prosper, continuing to inflict its “tyranny” on the world. If the free market is a force of destruction, then he would feel not only justified but obligated to use his power to destroy it.
Francis’s next encyclical, Be Praised, added climate change into the mix. He argued that to establish a just economy and to save the environment, a “world political authority” was needed.
Given the flawed nature of Western systems, Francis explained, “it is essential to devise stronger and more efficiently organized international institutions, with functionaries who are appointed fairly by agreement among national governments and empowered to impose sanctions.”
Thus, the pope threw the weight of the Catholic Church behind the environmentalist movement.
These “environmentalists” talk as if the scientific community unanimously agrees that carbon dioxide emission reduction is the solution, and if we don’t act immediately, the planet is doomed. The reality is that there is no scientific consensus on this point. In fact, examples abound of scientific fraud supposedly proving man-made climate change.
Why would scientists deceive the public on this subject? If you see who is really behind it, you will understand that the real issue here is control. Environmental regulation gives significantly more power to bureaucrats. The governments most in favor of confronting climate change are the socialist, Marxist-type governments that want to control everything. Most of the money allocated for climate change initiatives goes to these types of governments.
Pope Francis used this same argument to argue for more Catholic control.
The Deadly Dangerous Cuba Deal
Pope Francis’s two goals of bringing down the United States and uniting Europe and Latin America came together in his Cuba deal.
Cuba sits at the entrance to the Gulf of America, offering a strategic foothold for a foreign power to gain control over or even cut off U.S. trade. And like the rest of Latin America, Cuba has a deep Catholic heritage.
In December 2014, President Barack Obama surprised the world by announcing that America would restore diplomatic ties with Cuba after 53 years of hostility. The terms of the deal completely favored Cuba. Cuba did not have to abandon communism or reform its dictatorial governance. The U.S. got nothing out of this deal.
This deal was largely the handiwork of the Vatican. The pope played a vital role. “Pope Francis issued a personal appeal to me, and to Cuba’s President Raúl Castro,” President Obama said in his landmark announcement. The pope had appealed to both leaders by letter the summer before, urging them to exchange prisoners and improve relations. The Vatican later hosted a clandestine meeting between the two sides in Rome. After months of working behind the scenes, the momentous deal was sealed.
It displayed to the world the kind of power Pope Francis had. “Francis is a master at blending the spiritual with the political,” wrote National Public Radio. “[He] has embraced the bully pulpit of the papacy and has emerged as a daring, independent broker on the global stage” (April 14, 2016).
So America opened itself up to an unsavory regime just a short boat ride away. But this is about much, much more than that, especially when you understand the history of the Catholic Church and Cuba.
Much of the wealth and power of the Catholic Habsburg empire came from Spain’s conquest of the New World. Fleets of ships laden with gold and silver worth billions of dollars crossed the Atlantic. And Cuba played a vital role in its wealth. Havana, Cuba, was the primary port for shipping all the treasure Spain was confiscating and mining in the New World.
Modern Cuba is a Communist nation, but it has only been Communist for 60 years. It has been a Catholic nation for almost 500 years! Today, 60 to 65 percent of Cubans say they are Catholic, so clearly the church’s influence remains entrenched.
The many decades of U.S. dominance of the Caribbean have lulled many into a false sense of security, overlooking the strategic importance of this region. For the Catholic Spanish empire, Cuba was the single strategic port that served two entire continents. For Napoleon, Haiti served as the basis of his empire in the New World. When he lost Haiti in a slave revolt, he gave up his ambition in the Western Hemisphere and sold off a massive chunk of territory in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
There is a much more recent reminder of Cuba’s strategic importance. In 1962, the U.S. discovered that the Soviet Union was deploying missiles to Cuba. Many believe this was the closest the Cold War ever came to full-scale nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis turned out to be a victory for America, but it could have easily been a crushing defeat. It proved how strategic the Cuban islands are for anyone who wants to harm the U.S. With modern weapons, how easily and quickly an enemy force could strike America’s military and its cities!
The Bible prophesies of a deadly economic siege that is going to strike America soon. It will inflict one third of the tremendous suffering in the Great Tribulation. That siege means our enemies will be controlling trade routes—so it is easy to see how Cuba could play a strategic role. (He Was Right explains this in detail.)
The German-led European Union is the seventh and final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire—the same empire that, centuries ago, used Cuba so powerfully to fuel its wars. If the present resurrection were to move into Cuba again, it would be well positioned to launch a trade blockade. And it could do it in the cloak of secrecy, since Cuba is essentially a police state with tight controls on information. Think of the control that it could have. Think of how valuable Cuba has been to America’s enemies in the past! You need to watch events in Cuba.
Meddling in Politics
Pope Francis also got very involved in U.S. domestic politics. The most powerful symbol of his meddling occurred in February 2016. As Donald Trump was campaigning for the presidency, the pope made a point of speaking out against him during his visit to Mexico and the U.S.
In Mexico, the pope visited the American border. He walked up to a concrete ramp and bowed before a large cross overlooking the border, with barbed wire fences filling the background. The Rio Grande at this point is hemmed in with cement and looks more like a moat than a river. Then the pope descended to give the first-ever Catholic mass that straddled the border between two countries. About 200,000 people watched from the Mexican side and around 50,000 from the U.S.
The global media loved it. “Pope Francis is the pope of mercy, he is the pope of the poor, he is the pope that visits inmates, he is the pope who wants to be where there is pain, and this is exactly where we find him now,” gushed cnn.
This visit provided the most iconic visual from his trip, and it was overtly political, directly aimed at influencing American politics.
Then, during the pope’s flight home, a journalist asked “if an American Catholic can vote for someone,” referring to Trump, who promises to strengthen border security and deport 11 million illegal immigrants. The pope replied, “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.” He made very clear what he thought of Trump and his policies, clearly trying to influence the presidential race.
This pope was very politically minded, as he himself admitted. Even as he spoke about Trump, the pope described himself as a “political animal.” Back in 2013, he said, “A good Catholic meddles in politics.” He saw this as his religious duty. In Argentina, before he became pope, Cardinal Bergoglio often supported or opposed political causes.
Political “meddling”—to use the pope’s term—is hardly exclusive to Francis. The Vatican often meddles in European political matters, even telling certain lawmakers how to vote. Politics is a fundamental part of the role the Catholic Church believes it must play in the world.
A Deadly Visit
One of the most significant moments of Pope Francis’s papacy was his visit to Jerusalem in May 2014. The news media failed to recognize its significance. This momentous visit shed light on the future of Europe and of the world and showed us where we are in Bible prophecy.
The pope did not fly straight to Israel. Instead, he flew to Jordan, then spent most of the next day in the West Bank, visiting the Palestinians first. There he made the most eye-catching moment of his visit to the Holy Land.
In an unscheduled move, the pope ordered his motorcade to make an unexpected stop at a section of Israel’s security wall in Bethlehem, covered in graffiti comparing it to the Warsaw Ghetto. Near the spray-painted words “Free Palestine,” he touched the wall and prayed, with cameras capturing the moment. He deliberately directed the world’s attention to that image.
Why does that fence even exist? Britain’s liberal Guardian newspaper described it this way: “Built by Israel as a so-called security fence …. It has become an emblem of the Israeli occupation” (May 25, 2014). So-called? The government built this fence to prevent Palestinian weapons smugglers and suicide bombers from traveling into Jewish population centers! Palestinians and everyone else are still free to move about—they just have to pass through a checkpoint so Israelis have a better chance to stop someone from walking onto a bus full of innocent people and blowing them up! The pope’s photo op equated the Jews with Nazis and signaled support for a Palestinian state. It was an extremely provocative, hostile act toward Israel, yet almost nobody criticized Francis for it.
On his trip to Bethlehem with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the pope issued a statement referring to “the state of Palestine” and to Mahmoud Abbas’s office as the “presidential palace.” He also called Abbas “a man of peace and a peacemaker.”
During Sunday mass, Pope Francis prayed with Fouad Twal, a Palestinian archbishop who was then the Catholic Church’s Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. “In his sermon, Twal accused Israelis of being the present-day version of Christ-killers by referring to the Palestinians as walking ‘in the footsteps of the divine child,’ and likening the Israelis to King Herod,” Caroline Glick wrote. “In his words, ‘We are not yet done with the present-day Herods who fear peace more than war … and who are prepared to continue killing’” (Jerusalem Post, May 27, 2014).
After hearing these violent and outrageous words, not only did the pope fail to condemn them, he added to them! “Who are we, as we stand before the child Jesus? Who are we, standing as we are before today’s children?” he asked. “Are we like Mary and Joseph, who welcomed Jesus and cared for Him with the love of a father and a mother? Or are we like Herod, who wanted to eliminate Him?” Apparently he really believed the Jews are “present-day Herods … who are prepared to continue killing”!
On top of that, Francis embraced the Palestinian mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, addressing him and his associates as “dear brothers.” Who is Sheikh Hussein? “In 2012, Hussein said it was the destiny of Muslims to kill Jews, who he claims are subhuman beasts and the enemies of Allah. He has also praised suicide bombers and said their souls ‘tell us to follow in their path.’ Francis didn’t condemn him” (ibid). The pope—whom so many millions viewed as a peaceful, religious man—condemned none of this when he was right there among these people so full of hate. He considered them “dear brothers” and increased their stature! How could a man with normal human affection cozy up to people whose greatest passion is to wipe the Jews off the map?
The pope also invited Abbas to visit the Vatican to sign a joint treaty. There he welcomed the terrorist leader as “an angel of peace.”
The next time the pope’s views about Israel were starkly displayed to the world came after Hamas’s horrific attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
October 7
After the Hamas massacre, Pope Francis expressed sorrow over “what is happening in Israel,” but didn’t condemn Hamas. Days later, he briefly acknowledged Israel’s right to defend itself, then shifted focus to the “total siege facing Palestinians in Gaza, where there have also been many innocent victims.” Vatican News said he “invited both parties to restraint.” He later spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden and Iran’s president, pledging aid for Gaza and support for Palestinian statehood.
There is something terribly wrong with how the pope responded to those horrific murders! He expressed little sympathy for “what is happening in Israel”—mass murder, the mass rape of women, the execution of parents and children in front of each other, the decapitation of civilians and even of babies! The pope did worse than try to make the blood-soaked terrorists and the Israeli people equally guilty: He insinuated that the Israelis were much more guilty!
In his final book, Pope Francis wrote, “According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide. It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.” That is a diabolic lie! In fighting Hamas, Israel is working harder than any other modern nation to avoid civilian casualties.
Why would the pope speak in such a vile manner? One of the most recent clues came the month before the massacres. In September 2023, the Vatican’s foreign minister stated that Jerusalem, which is controlled by the Israelis, should be subjected to an internationally guaranteed statute to ensure “the equal rights and duties of the faithful of the three monotheistic religions.” But Israel already gives equal rights to Christians, Jews and Muslims—even allowing Muslims to control the Temple Mount and deny Jews access to most of it. This is not about guaranteeing religious rights to various religions: It’s about taking control over Jerusalem for the Catholic Church!
This is one of the latest indications of the Vatican’s—and Europe’s—intent to project power into the Holy Land and right into Jerusalem.
Last December, just months before he died, the pope unveiled a nativity scene with “baby Jesus” in a manger lined with a Palestinian kaffiyeh—a symbol of support for the Palestinians and particularly for Hamas since October 7.
What Is the Vatican?
Here is something Herbert W. Armstrong wrote in an October 1951 Plain Truth article, “The Pope Plans to Move the Vatican.” I hope you will read it closely because it is profound.
Under the subhead “The Great Unrecognized Dictatorship,” he wrote, “How many have realized these staggering facts: The oldest political dictatorship on Earth is the Vatican! The Roman Catholic Church is far more than a religion. It is also politically a world power. … And how many people know that the real objective of the Catholic political power is precisely the same as the goals of communism and fascism—to gain dominance, control and rule over the whole world! … Of course it is generally known that most nations send ambassadors to the Vatican, and papal ambassadors are established in most world capitals. But it has not been generally grasped that this Roman system is much more than a church—it is a state, called in the Encyclopedia Britannica an ecclesiastical world empire—it is a political dictatorship—it is a world power whose influence in many respects outweighs that of any nation on Earth!”
The Vatican is a dictatorship. It is literally a state, with political interests, foreign policy, sovereign independence, recognition under international law, official relations, diplomatic immunity, administrative departments, ambassadors, a central bank, a capital, a very centralized government—and a man who dictates.
How many people really understand that? How many Catholics understand that? The Vatican governs 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, and it influences millions of other people, as well as national governments.
“I am not here saying anything about, or against, Catholic people, either in the United States or elsewhere,” Mr. Armstrong continued. “Nor am I here saying anything about the Catholic religion, save that it is pagan, cloaking the original Chaldean mysteries in the garb of Christianity, falsely so labeled, and deceiving its own adherents, who are quite often sincere and devout, with its sense-appealing pomp, ceremony, mysticism and superstition.
“But what I am here concerned with is Catholic political power—the papacy as a world power, a dictatorship, bent on conquering and ruling the world!”
Remember History
Francis’s papacy was dangerous for the whole world. Yet few recognize this. Why? Because of people’s ignorance. If people had the perceptiveness of Caroline Glick, for example—or if they truly remembered history—there is no way the pope could get away with promoting Palestinian propaganda!
Look back in history. In the Middle Ages the Catholic Church killed about 50 million people in the Inquisition. That is the extreme to which it will go to increase its power. And it will do everything it can to blot out that history.
Look at the horrors the Vatican-guided “Holy” Roman Empire has committed throughout the ages. The Bible literally gives a picture of it. God is the greatest and most masterful user of symbols; He depicts the Holy Roman Empire very appropriately as a beast—a great monster like you’ve never seen before! A political-military beast guided by a political-religious beast. That Holy Roman Empire is about to burst onto the world scene, led by Germany and the Vatican.
This beast is ridden and guided by a woman “[w]ith whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (Revelation 17:2). God uses these symbols to describe an entity that has intoxicating power over peoples around the world because it has had illicit relations with the political leaders of many nations. In the Bible, God uses a woman to represent a church. This woman is very powerful. “[A]nd I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth” (verses 3-5).
The Bible is not silent about such a great and unique political power. Daniel 7:8 records a vision God gave that describes the history of the Roman Empire and how it became the “Holy” Roman Empire: “I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” This little horn—a great false church—plucked up the Heruli, the Vandals and the Ostrogoths from ruling Rome. Then it proceeded to dominate multiple resurrections of the Roman Empire over a span of centuries—all the way down to today!
God prophesied that this church-state combine would rise seven times: “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” (Revelation 17:10). When the meaning of that verse was revealed to Mr. Armstrong around World War ii, five resurrections had come and gone; the sixth was on the scene. Now, the last is upon us!
Since a.d. 554 this empire, through its secular agents, has routinely killed people who don’t submit to its power, shedding more blood than any other church could even begin to do! Why? Not because of its doctrines or its people—but because it had political dictators who were out to control the world! And it has never repented of that evil. And according to prophecy, the seventh and final resurrection of that empire will be the very worst! Even as it talks about peace, that Holy Roman Empire is rising again!
This is about a political dictator who wants to rule the world.
Another Church
Revelation 6:9-11 also foretell a time coming soon when this beast will persecute and kill God’s own people. This dictator will kill people who refuse to follow him and who follow God instead.
This beastly power is at work, and it is going to guide the destruction of the Jewish nation, which gives it such honor today. And it will destroy the rest of the modern descendants of Israel, particularly the United States and Britain.
Why would God let this evil empire do this? God says He actually puts it in their minds—because of Israel’s abominations (Revelation 17:17). God says the modern nations of Israel (the English-speaking nations, primarily), which had a history with Him, are committing such abominations that they must be punished! And He will use this beastly power to do just that.
Ezekiel 16 uses the symbol of a prostitute to represent our sin-drenched nations. Our nations are so full of sin that God sends this destroying machine of church and state to wreak the worst suffering and destruction ever on the modern nations of Israel.
God gives us one more symbol though—one of hope. “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1). Who is this? This is not a world-political-power church. This is God’s true Church. He says His people are clothed with the sun and have the moon as their footstool and a crown of 12 stars. That means they have all the power of God, the Creator of the universe, behind them. He gives this Church unstoppable power—if it obeys Him and exposes what Satan is doing. God’s true Church declares God’s warning about the abject evils our nations are committing that are bringing them down. It also declares His warning about the Holy Roman Empire that is going to leave us in its bloody trail.
Verse 3 reveals “another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.” Satan is the head of every single one of the resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire, which worshiped him.
Verse 5 says that Christ is “to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” God is going to rule the world! That is where these epic and catastrophic events are leading!
“Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (verse 12). This is terrible news: Satan has been cast down to Earth and is stirring up abominations and horrible sins inside the modern nations of Israel and around the world. He is stirring up his political-religious dictator. He is stirring up his beast power.
But he only has a short time—because Jesus Christ is coming to conquer that dictator and that beast and all of mankind and the devil, and He will rule all nations with a rod of iron!