Church in Decline
Back to 1The Bible’s Greatest Prophecies Unlocked!
Surveying the scene, the Vatican is troubled by what it sees. In his book “Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam,” Pope Benedict—then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger—described Europe as having denied its religious and moral foundation. He lamented a continent overtaken by secularism and materialism, a Europe that had slipped into immorality, cultural confusion and irreligiousness. He saw a Europe in danger of being overrun by outside forces.
This pope has also lamented the weakening of European churches, telling a gathering of Italian priests, “There is no longer any evidence of the need for God, let alone Christ…the so-called ‘great’ churches seem to be dying.” Indeed, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity, every major religion in Western Europe is declining—except Islam!
The Roman leader is well aware of the dramatic and increasingly growing EU demographic shifts. Consider an article excerpt from a major British newspaper: “Britain and the rest of the European Union are ignoring a demographic time bomb: a recent rush into the EU by migrants, including millions of Muslims, will change the continent beyond recognition over the next two decades, and almost no policy-makers are talking about it.
“The numbers are startling. Only 3.2 per cent of Spain’s population was foreign-born in 1998. In 2007 it was 13.4 per cent. Europe’s Muslim population has more than doubled in the past 30 years and will have doubled again by 2015. In Brussels, the top seven baby boys’ names recently were Mohamed, Adam, Rayan, Ayoub, Mehdi, Amine and Hamza” (The Telegraph).
What instability will such dramatic demographic changes cause in the years ahead? The article continues: “The study for the US Air Force…found that there were at least 15 million Muslims in the EU, and possibly as many as 23 million. They are not uniformly distributed, of course. According to the US’s Migration Policy Institute, residents of Muslim faith will account for more than 20 per cent of the EU population by 2050 but already do so in a number of cities. Whites will be in a minority in Birmingham by 2026, says Christopher Caldwell, an American journalist, and even sooner in Leicester. Another forecast holds that Muslims could outnumber non-Muslims in France and perhaps in all of western Europe by mid-century. Austria was 90 per cent Catholic in the 20th century but Islam could be the majority religion among Austrians aged under 15 by 2050, says Mr Caldwell.”
Think about the previous sentence! Will the Catholic church—with an extremely conservative pope in Rome—tolerate such a dramatic shift?
In 1900, almost every European professed Christianity. More recently, only three out of four even “identify” with Christianity. The number who consider themselves “non-religious” shot up from less than 1 percent to 15 percent. In 12 major European cities, 38 percent say they never or rarelyattend church. France at 60 percent as a nation is the worst. But in areas of France, Sweden and the Netherlands, non-attendance is over 90 percent.
Such statistics threaten the church’s very existence.
In Search of a Government
The Vatican sees a world of secular humanism—of no absolute morals—and devoid of strong leadership.
A recent article about Benedict’s thinking opened this way. It ought to sober you like few things you have heard (emphasis mine): “In the past 30 years, the Vatican has moved strongly to reassert the authority of a traditional, even orthodox Roman Catholicism—to bring the notion of a ‘one true church’ to Europe and then the larger world” (Reuters).
The intent of this thinking is obvious—one church on Earth under the Vatican!
Next are the words of a church official from the same article regarding the connection this pope draws between the church at Rome—and its relationship to the world. The goal in the pontiff’s thinking could not be clearer, and it adds to what we just read (emphasis also mine): “The world is evil and the church is pure…This is serious for Benedict. He doesn’t want the church to be a joke. He’s suspicious of chaos and avoidance of discipline and order, and of human efforts to adopt popular culture and create church out of the world, instead of a church that transforms the world. This deeply upsets him. He sees all salvation taking place inside the Catholic Church. He believes that.”
But understand! While Benedict’s efforts are undeniably intensifying, his beliefs are not new to him. The seeds of his vision were rooted in the thinking of decades ago. An account of this man in a late 1970s informal setting is telling. Here is a description from one who spent an evening with him during that period: “…the whole time he spoke about restoring the old Europe…where the church takes precedence over the state” (ibid.).
Now realize that Benedict was once the Archbishop of Munich (Germany). His daily place of work was Frauenkirche (“Cathedral of Our Dear Lady”). This is home to the tomb of the long-time German Holy Roman emperor, Louis IV (AD 1314-1347). The church-state connection was not missed by the Archbishop during the years he spent there—from 1977 until coming to high office in the Vatican in 1981.
In a dramatic move, Benedict released a formal statement permitting practicing Anglicans to join the Catholic Church. On the 10th anniversary of a mutual declaration between the World Lutheran Federation and the Catholic Church, the pope stated, “I sincerely hope that this important anniversary will help bring forward the path towards the full visible unity of all the disciples of Christ.” This is a stunning development in Rome’s call for—get this!—every professing Christian to align with Catholicism! In addition, Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz referred to the pope in 2009 as one who “speaks like a prophet,” when referring to the pope’s call for European unity. Can the point be missed?
If any still doubt the seriousness of the Vatican, consider the following longer statement in June 2009 from Benedict. It removes all questions about exactly where he wishes to take Europe. His desired destination should be no surprise. Stunning on its face, and sweeping in scope, the words are from his encyclical titled “Charity in Truth” (emphasis mine):
“In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need…for a reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth...To manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority, as…John XXIII indicated some years ago.
“Such an authority would need to be regulated by law, to observe consistently the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity, to seek to establish the common good [but ask: by whose definition?], and to make a commitment to securing authentic integral human development inspired by the values of charity in truth [also ask: would he have in mind other than Catholic doctrine for truth?]. Furthermore, such an authority would need to be universally recognized [Catholic means universal] and to be vested with the effective power to ensure security for all, regard for justice, and respect for rights [again ask: defined by whom?].
“Obviously it would have to have the authority to ensure compliance with its decisions from all parties, and also with the coordinated measures adopted in various international forums…They also require the construction of a social order that at last conforms to the moral order [I repeat: defined by whom?], to the interconnection between moral and social spheres…”
By every definition, this vision describes a world government—based in Europe—endorsed by, and in partnership with, the Vatican.
Therefore, to achieve such an alliance, Rome must find a powerful civil leader.
History is the guide.