November 18, 2004 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
Since the days of Ronald Reagan, who took office in 1980, conservative American presidents have drawn the nation into an ever-tightening relationship with the Vatican. This is a very serious matter, for it is spiritual adultery.

In September 1983 the U.S. Congress repealed an 1867 legislative act that had barred appropriations for a U.S. ambassador to the Vatican. President Reagan signed the bill. Much evidence has been presented to prove the involvement of Rome in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Before his death, Lincoln had stated: “This (civil) war would never have been possible without the sinister influence of the Jesuits. We owe it to popery that we now see our land reddened with the blood of the noblest sons.” Brigadier General Thomas M. Harris, a member of the 1865 military commission that investigated Lincoln’s murder, published a tract entitled Rome’s Responsibility for the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln (1897). This was preceded by ex-Roman Catholic priest Charles Chiniquy’s Fifty Years in the Church of Rome (1886), which contains three chapters documenting Rome’s involvement in Lincoln’s assassination. Ex-Romanist Burke McCartney’s 1924 book The Suppressed Truth about the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln also presents evidence of Rome’s involvement.

In early 1984 the U.S. Congress under Ronald Reagan appointed an American ambassador to the Vatican.

In June 1984, President Reagan arranged a special meeting with the Pope in Alaska for a two-hour consultation, and spoke highly of this meeting.

In 1987, when Pope John Paul II arrived in Miami, Florida, on his second visit to America, President Reagan actually flew from Washington D.C. to greet this foreign religious leader. The President of the United States waited for more than an hour until the Pope completed his business so the two could meet privately. The President then returned to the nation's capitol. Thus we see the President of the United States seeking advice from the Roman pontiff and waiting on him like a servant. It is highly doubtful that the President would treat any other denominational or religious leader in this fashion.

President George Bush continued this pattern when he met with the pope on a trip to Rome in May 1989. He said that he benefited from John Paul II’s “wise counsel” (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 28, 1989, p. A6). Bush pledged to join the Pope in working for lasting world peace.

In 1990 it was reported that President Bush was in the habit of discussing world affairs with the Pope at least once a week by telephone (U.S. News & World Report, Aug. 13, 1990).

In 2001, President George W. Bush, Jr. dedicated the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C.

On June 4, 2004, President Bush presented Pope John Paul II with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The presentation was made during a papal audience at the Vatican. The President was accompanied by his wife Laura. The citation attached to the Medal read:

“A devoted servant of God, His Holiness Pope John Paul II has championed the cause of the poor, the weak, the hungry, and the outcast. He has defended the unique dignity of every life, and the goodness of all life. Through his faith and moral conviction, he has given courage to others to be not afraid in overcoming injustice and oppression. His principled stand for peace and freedom has inspired millions and helped to topple communism and tyranny. The United States honors this son of Poland who became the Bishop of Rome and a hero of our time.”

President Bush presented the award “on behalf of the American people.”

This citation contains many blasphemies and untruths. To call the pope “His Holiness” is blasphemy. There is only One who deserves that title, and He is not a sinful man. God say, “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another...” (Is. 42:8). To speak of “the goodness of all life” is false. The Bible plainly says, “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Rom. 3:12). To speak of the pope overcoming injustice and oppression is confusion, for he represents perhaps the most unjust and oppressive religious organization that has ever existed. During its 1,600 years of history, Rome has enslaved multitudes, both spiritually and physically, through its heresies and its inquisitions. And as for the idea that the Pope helped to overcome communism, in reality it was the heresies and immoralities of Roman Catholicism in nation after nation that helped pave the way for communism by producing societies filled with moral weakness and injustice. Roman Catholicism has never lifted man up socially, morally, or economically. It has degraded men, turned them into idolaters. Its degraded priesthood and mindless myths (i.e., Mary is the Queen of Heaven) have produced countless agonistics and atheists. Italy itself is a testimony to this. So is Quebec, Ireland, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, etc.

The pope is a usurper and a blasphemer, an anti-christ, and his false sacramental gospel has sent multitudes to hell. The Apostle Paul warned that those who preach a false gospel are accursed (Gal. 1:6-9).

It is just as wrong to call evil good as it is to call good evil, for the Word of God warns: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isa. 5:20).

It is impossible to be blessed of God if one blesses the pope. Think of the evil that has already befallen America since 1980.