End Time Picture Jigsaw Puzzle Pieces
‘Charity (Love) in Truth’ (Caritas in veritate – Benedict XVI), ‘The Christian Family in the Modern World’ (Familiaris Consortio - John Paul II) and Anglican Leader: Women Priests Shouldn't Prevent a Union with Rome
Following is a summary of "Caritas in veritate" - Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI (16th) or in English, ‘Charity (Love) in Truth’. It is crossed referenced to the original (see paragraphs and chapters in brackets). The full document is lengthy and can be easily accessed from the Vatican by typing into your search engine the name of the encyclical. The original is reasonably rigorous reading.
It makes informative reading when read along side pope Benedict XVI’s, September 2010, announcement that the Catholic world in 2012, will be hosting the next World Meeting of Families and his exhortation to uphold the values promoted in John Paul II’s, ‘The Christian Family in the Modern World’.
‘Charity (Love) in Truth’ builds on previous encyclicals from other popes, and has some points which commend it from a Christian stand point. However, it has sections which put more building blocks in place for the end time scenarios leading up to and following on from the imposition of the ‘mark of the beast’ that are described in the prophecies of both Daniel and Revelation and are expounded upon by Ellen G White, in The Great Controversy. (Available at the online STL Bookstore, www.steps.org.au - also see Mark Woodman’s DVD series, ‘God’s Final Call’ , available at STL).
The encyclical seems to be a significant prophetic step, directly fulfilling Seventh-day Adventist understanding of Bible prophecy – (Dan 7:8 - Little Horn, Rev 13: 3- 5 – the healing of the wound that was deadly, and imposition of Sunday worship, etc).
As well, a 2010 news report from Religion News Service, entitled, ‘Anglican Leader: Women Priests Shouldn't Prevent a Union with Rome’ gives further insight into how the end time jigsaw puzzle pieces foretold centuries ago by God through His prophets, in love for the end time generations, are all coming together before our very eyes. Are we seeing them? How do we respond to them?
Here are the three articles for your information. Please feel free to copy them and use them as you see fit.
A. ‘Charity (Love) in Truth is pope Benedict XVI (16th) version of the ‘gospel of truth!!’.
‘Charity (Love) in Truth’ (Summary)
"Caritas in veritate" - Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI (16th)
The encyclical is summarized into ten points.
1. A Global Government. The pope is calling for a "true world political authority" to fix the problems that plague the world. (Part 67)
2. Church and State. The pope says this new political authority will make its decisions based on spiritual values. (Chapter 5) (Religious freedom does not mean religious indifferentism, nor does it imply that all religions are equal [133]. Discernment is needed regarding the contribution of cultures and religions, especially on the part of those who wield political power, if the social community is to be built up in a spirit of respect for the common good. - an extract from this chapter)
3. The Papacy at the Head (Implied). These spiritual values cannot be derived from just any religion, since not "all religions are equal." (Part 55)
4. Religion, Politics and the Economy. The church must influence all areas of society since God must have "a place in the public realm, specifically in regard to its cultural, social, economic, and particularly its political dimensions." (Part 56)
5. Power to Enforce Law. This "political authority" must have "real teeth" and "be vested with the effective power" to enforce its laws around the world. (Part 67)
6. Control Buying and Selling. The new world governing power will institute socialistic policies for government to redistribute wealth. (Chapter 3) (Last sentence from chapter - In this way it will be possible to experience and to steer the globalization of humanity in relational terms, in terms of communion and the sharing of goods.)
7. Resurgence of Labor Unions. Labor Unions are to be empowered to "play a decisive role" in the new world order. (Part 25)
8. The Church's Goal. Pope Benedict says that this encyclical is to help achieve "The goal of the history of the human family"– to build "the universal city of God." (Part 7)
9. Redefining Religious Liberty. While claiming not "to interfere in any way in the politics of States," the pope redefines "liberty" as happening when the world obeys laws shaped by the Roman Church's spiritual values. According to the pope, as the church influences states to enforce its view of "truth" on others, people are set "free." "This mission of truth is something that the Church can never renounce." (Part 9)
10 Immortal Souls. The non-biblical belief that man has an immortal soul helps to insure the pope's global agenda. "Man is ...God's creature, whom God chose to endow with an immortal soul." (Part 29)
Some Observations
· The pope's views on the redistribution of wealth and his agenda set forth in Charity (Love) in Truth echo many of the same themes that Obama campaigned for last year. As a result, the White House was excited about the meeting as this insider describes:
Press quote: (Dan Gilgoff, Obama's Most Important Catholic Adviser, U.S./ News & World Report, July 10, 2009).- "The encyclical ramped up the level of White House enthusiasm for this meeting because you can't read it without sensing that these two men are seeing economic questions the same way," says a Catholic adviser to the White House . . . The Holy Father's emphasis on putting the human person at the center of the economy strongly echoes themes that Obama campaigned on and is working to implement.
· G8 Summit – Following the release of Charity (Love) in Truth , President Obama, along with other world leaders, went to Italy to meet for the G-8 summit. He also had a personal interview with the pope, and the pope presented him with a copy of the pope's latest encyclical. It is claimed that the pope prepared the encyclical just for this summit and for Obama as the popes blue print for world government and social cohesion.
· It would appear that Benedicts ‘Charity (Love) in Truth’ encyclical has been used to underpin the European Community’s move towards work free Sundays on the grounds of the health, need for a days rest, children’s rights to spend time with their parents, spiritual needs of workers, etc. No wonder the labour unions are giving the encyclical their wholehearted support. None of these ‘rights’ are wrong in themselves. But, how far is the step from ‘work free’ to ‘compulsory worship’?
· Pope Benedict XVI has further developed the need for a balance between work and rest with Catholic feast days, Easter and Sundays, ‘especially Sundays’, as featuring in the strategy for getting the right balance, as defined by him. He is drawing the attention of the world and Catholics back to "Familiaris Consortio" authored by pope John Paul II, in the 1980’s. (See full press report below from Zenit, the Vatican Newsagency) - "it is necessary to promote reflection and efforts at reconciling the demands and the periods of work with those of the family and to recover the true meaning of the feast, especially on Sunday, the weekly Easter, the day of the Lord and the day of man, the day of the family, of the community and of solidarity." The whole document is readily accessed through web search.
· The Zenit news release and web link follows. Embolding and underscore is supplied and is not part of the original press release
B. Pontiff Wants Families to Start Preparing 2012 Event
Recommends Initiatives Based on "Familiaris Consortio" (John Paul II)
VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 26, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The next World Meeting of Families is not till 2012, but Benedict XVI is asking families and parishes to begin preparations a year in advance, availing of Pope John Paul II's apostolic exhortation “Familiaris Consortio.”
The German Pontiff made this request in an Aug. 23 letter to the president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Ennio Antonelli. The Vatican released the letter this week.
The theme for the upcoming 7th World Meeting of Families is: "Family: Work and Celebration." The Holy Father's letter reflected on these themes, and the appropriate balance of work and rest.
"Work and celebration are intimately connected in the life of families: they condition choices, influence relations between married couples and between parents and children, affect the relation of families with society and with the Church," the Pontiff noted. "Holy Scripture tells us that the family, work and the feast day are gifts and blessings of God to help us to live a fully human existence. Daily experience attests that the authentic development of the person includes the individual, familial, and communal dimension, activities and functional relationships, as well as openness to hope and to the Good without limits."
In this light, Benedict XVI lamented the modern organization of work, "in function of market competition and maximizing profit," and the concept of rest or celebration as an "occasion for escape and consumption."
He said both these factors "contribute to the break-up of the family and the community and to the spreading of an individualistic lifestyle."
"Thus," the Pope continued, "it is necessary to promote reflection and efforts at reconciling the demands and the periods of work with those of the family and to recover the true meaning of the feast, especially on Sunday, the weekly Easter, the day of the Lord and the day of man, the day of the family, of the community and of solidarity."
Getting ready
Characterizing the World Meeting of Families as a "privileged occasion to rethink work and celebration," he affirmed that the event "must connect to an adequate journey of ecclesial and cultural formation" if it is to bear fruit.
"It is my wish, therefore, that already in the course of 2011, the 30th anniversary of the apostolic exhortation 'Familiaris Consortio,' the great charter of family pastoral care, might be taken as a valid guide with initiatives at the parish, diocesan and national level, aimed at throwing light on experiences of work and celebration in their truest and most positive aspects, with particular regard to the effect on the concrete life of families," he said. "Christian families and ecclesial communities of the whole world should thus feel called and involved and enter solicitously onto the path toward Milan 2012.'"
http://www.zenit.org/article-30480?l=english
More Observations
· Below, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, is openly talking about union with the Catholic Church in a 2010 news report recently released.
· The health of workers, the rights of children and the need for family time, etc, could well be a basis for the ‘solidarity’ of society that provides a major alignment between the Anglicans and other Protestant churches as they work for union with the Catholic Church. They are powerful arguments for coming together given that there is no Seventh-day Sabbath barrier, to keep them apart.
C. Anglican Leader: Women Priests
Shouldn't Prevent a Union with Rome
Source: 2010Religion News Service, as quoted in Adventist Review Online, December 2, 2010
BY FRANCIS X. ROCCA
A week and a half after losing five Anglican bishops to the Catholic Church, the leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion reaffirmed his dedication to ecumenical relations between the two churches--and his belief that female Anglican priests should not be an impediment to union.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams spoke November 17 at a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Vatican's ecumenical office. Dozens of senior Catholic leaders attended, including the church's No. 2 official, Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
While reflecting on progress in Anglican-Catholic relations, Williams admitted to "intractable difficulties" in two areas: disputes over the authority of the pope, and a failure of the two churches "to recognize each other's ministries fully."
Catholics insist on an all-male priesthood, while several parts of the Anglican Communion--including the Church of England, the Episcopal Church in the U. S. and the Anglican Churc of Canada – ordain women.
Williams echoed a statement from his November 2009 address to a Vatican ecumenical conference, when he asked rhetorically "in what way" the ordination of women priests could "compromise the purposes of the church."
The issue has provoked tension not only between Rome and Canterbury, but within the Church of England itself.
Earlier this month, five Church of England bishops announced plans to join the Catholic church under a Vatican program that permits them to retain many traditional Anglican forms of worship and governance in special Catholic dioceses. The Vatican designed the program to facilitate the conversion of Anglicans upset by their churches' growing acceptance of homosexuality and women priests.
In his speech, Williams did not refer to the bishops' conversion or to the Vatican's overture to Anglican converts.
