Islam Rising | Francis not the First Pope to Submit to Islam

Pope John Paul II kisses the Quran

The end of the world as we know it seems to have been on the mind of Pope Francis a lot lately. On November 27, while speaking at Casa Santa Marta, the pope spoke about the two cities of Babylon and Jerusalem.  Jerusalem's fate, he took from Luke 21 and Babylon's he took from Revelation 17. It is interesting that he would speak about Babylon since many people believe that the harlot is the Roman Catholic Church.

Prior to that, on Wednesday November 26, the pope spoke about the second coming of Jesus (which he referred to as the consummation of the earth and of humanity) during his general audience. The pope never really gets to specific in these talks.  He talked about the time of the end, but failed to mention judgment. He did not issue a warning to those who fail to believe.

Speaking of end times, the pope seems to be making his way toward a global religious union. After his trip to the Holy Land, the pope invited Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican for an ecumenical service during which both were invited to publicly pray. Sometime later, Peres visited Pope Francis in the Vatican to propose a United Nations of religions to be set up in Rome. This goes along with the Vatican's call for a global moral authority while Benedict XVI was pope.

Immediately after the speeches at St. Peter's and Casa Santa Marta, the pope made a trip to Istanbul. It is interesting that the pope seems to have had the Book of Revelation on his mind before going to Istanbul. All seven of the churches in chapters two and three of Revelation are in Turkey. And, John wrote Revelation while being held on Patmos, an Island just off the coast of Turkey. While in Istanbul, the pope prayed with the Grand Mufti of Istanbul, Rahmi Yaran, at the Sultan Ahmet mosque (also known as the Blue Mosque). The pope did not offer a prayer at the Hagia Sophia, a former church. Praying at a mosque is not new for the Vatican. Benedict XVI also prayed in a mosque while visiting Istanbul.

The question is; Where is all of this ecumenical activity leading? There is a movement to establish an ecumenical religious body that would act as a moral judge over the whole world. Both Shimon Peres and Jerry White of the US State Department would like to see this moral body established in Rome. Whether is is called United Religions or a Global Covenant of Religions, there are a lot of powerful people talking about doing this.