Union between the Catholic and Orthodox churches is the only solution to the world’s economic, political, and social crisis, according to Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew i and Cardinal Walter Kasper. Speaking at the “feast of St. Andrew” on November 30, Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian unity, stated that unity between the two churches “is not an option, it is a duty.”

According to Catholic and Orthodox leaders alike, there is a need to present a united Catholic-Orthodox front to rising problems such as secularism, Islamism and liberal Christianity. That is why leaders on both sides of the Great Schism of 1054 are calling for “unity among Christians.” That is why Orthodox leaders met with Vatican officials in October last year to sign a document establishing the primacy of the pope over all Catholic and Orthodox bishops—though there is still disagreement on exactly what authorities that status grants the Catholic leader.

As the Orthodox churches move toward unity with Rome, the Vatican has no intentions of compromising its beliefs. As former Pope John Paul ii once wrote, “To believe in Christ means to desire unity; to desire unity means to desire the [Catholic] Church.” Or, as a Global News Wire article said regarding Catholic “concessions” to other churches, “These concessions represent neither a shift nor a softening of the dogmatic positions long held by the Roman church. Rather, the dogma remains deeply entrenched and the concessions are merely a part of the strategy or means by which ‘other Christians’ will be led to accept and unite under Catholic dogma” (Nov. 27, 2003; emphasis ours).

The Catholic Church has catholic ambitions. The word catholic means universal.

The Catholic Church is rallying its daughter churches to its banner and reestablishing control over Europe. To see how this development was prophesied in the Bible, read our article “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”