BILLY GRAHAM AND ROME - PART 3 of 6
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Updated and enlarged February 1, 2006 (first published February 17, 1997) (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) -
This article is part three in a six-part series titled “Billy Graham and Rome” by David W. Cloud. It is excerpted from the book Evangelicals and Rome, copyright 1999, 2001, Way of Life Literature, Port Huron, Michigan.
BILLY GRAHAM AND ROME -- PART 3 of 6
1971
Graham brought the concluding message at the 29th annual convention of the National Association of Evangelicals, April 22, 1971, in Los Angeles, California. He described the prayer groups which were formed the last time he had gone to New York City: “Some of them were Jewish, some were Roman Catholic, in fact hundreds were Roman Catholic, meeting to pray” (Graham, cited by D.A. Waite, What’s Wrong with the N.A.E.? - 1971). Donald Waite remarks, “If [these were] true Jews and true Roman Catholics, thus unsaved, how in the world could they pray and get through to God without coming through the blood of Calvary’s cross and personal faith in Jesus Christ? Such ecumenicity on Graham’s part is serious indeed.”
1972
In January 1972, an article appeared in the Catholic magazine Homiletic & Pastoral Review by the aforementioned Charles W. Dullea, Superior of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Entitled “A Catholic Looks at Billy Graham,” this article explains why the Vatican supports Graham.
“The Catholic will hear no slighting of his Church’s teaching authority, nor of Papal or Episcopal Prerogatives, no word against the Mass or sacraments or Catholic practices. Graham has no time for that ... THE CATHOLIC, IN MY OPINION WILL HEAR LITTLE, IF ANYTHING, HE CANNOT AGREE WITH.”
In June 1972, Billy Graham was honorary chairman of Campus Crusade’s International Student Congress on Evangelism known as Explo ‘72, in Dallas, Texas. Roman Catholic parishes participated. Mr. Paul Eshelman, director for Explo ‘72 said, “Roman Catholics have been involved in arrangements. ... Sisters helped with advance registrations; young men studying for the priesthood worked in Explo’s Dallas office.”
Catholic literature distributed at the congress read in part, “True Catholics believe that under the appearance of bread and wine, achieved at the consecration of the Mass, the very real body of Christ is present in the tabernacle of their Churches” (Logos, May-June 1972).
On April 21, 1972, Billy Graham was awarded the International Franciscan Award by the Catholic Franciscan friars for “his contribution to true ecumenism” and “his sincere and authentic evangelism” (Minneapolis Star, April 22, 1972, quoted by the F.E.A. News & Views, Jul.-Aug. 1972). In acknowledging the award, Graham said: “While I am not worthy to touch the shoe laces of St. Francis [a Roman Catholic ‘saint’ who believed in salvation by works], yet this same Christ that called Francis in the 13th century also called me to be one of His servants in the 20th century” (The Gospel Standard, Feb. 1986).
At the Greenville, Missouri, crusade with Billy Graham associate Ralph Bell, a local Roman Catholic priest was on the platform to read the Scripture (D.A. Waite, What’s Wrong with the N.A.E. - 1972?, report on the 30th annual convention of the National Association of Evangelicals, April 11-13, 1972, St. Louis, Missouri).
At the Charlotte, North Carolina, crusade, “the monks of Belmont Abbey sent their ‘felicitations, good wishes and, more important, fervent prayers. ... We accept you as a friend, brother and alumnus” (John Pollock, Billy Graham, p. 129).
When Graham was invited in 1972 to conduct a crusade in Central Italy, “he learned from a very high source that the Vatican did not object” and that “his attitude was deeply appreciated” (Pollock, p. 130).
Billy Graham associate evangelist Ralph Bell conducted a crusade in Papua, New Guinea, in 1972, “strongly supported by the Roman Catholic archbishop as well as by all Protestant churches” (Pollock, p. 152). This Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusade ecumenical venture paved the way for a seminar in June 1976 that included Roman Catholics (Ibid.). One of the chief goals of Graham crusades is the promotion of ecumenical unity, and probably no other organization has had more influence in this realm.
Graham visited Ireland in 1972. He did not conduct a crusade in Ulster (Northern Ireland), but he visited Belfast and met with Catholic and Protestant church leaders. He had a private meeting in Armagh at the palace of Cardinal Conway, head of the Catholic Church in Northern Ireland. Protestant leaders were also present. Graham spoke to students at Queen’s University under the sponsorship of both Catholic and Protestant chaplains (Graham, Just As I Am, p. 429). In Dublin, in the Irish Republic, he met with “clergy from all denominations” at Milltown Park, the headquarters for the Jesuits.
1973
Graham was one of the leaders of the ecumenical Key ‘73 evangelistic crusade held across North America, and was involved in the decision to invite Catholics into the program. “Opening his ecumenical North American Key 73 Crusade, Graham commented on a biography of Pope John XXIII. Speaking of the book’s presentation of the Pope’s devotion to Mary and the saints, the evangelist called this ‘a classic in devotion’” (Wilson Ewin, The Chilling Significance of Pope John Paul’s October 22, 1996 Address: The One World Church, Quebec Baptist Mission, 1996, p. 14).
In Milwaukee on October 21, 1973, Graham said, “This past week I preached in a great Catholic Cathedral a funeral sermon for a close friend of mind who was a Catholic [publisher James Strohn Copley], and they had several bishops and archbishops to participate, and as I sat there going through the funeral Mass that was a very beautiful thing and certainly straight and clear in the gospel, I believe, there was a wonderful little priest that would tell me when to stand and when to kneel and what to do.” (Billy Graham, Church League of America, p. 84).
Billy Graham says that the Catholic Mass is clear about the gospel. Does he really think that a priest re-sacrificing Christ is the gospel? The Catholic Mass is not a memorial of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross; it is an alleged re-offering of that sacrifice. The Vatican II Council reaffirmed that the Mass is “a sacrifice in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated” and that through the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass Christ offers “himself to the Father for the world’s salvation through the ministry of priests” (Vatican II, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, Introduction, C 1,2, p. 108). This is not the gospel that Paul and the Apostles preached. They preached that Christ was “once offered to bear the sins of many” (Heb. 9:28). The biblical gospel is that “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3,4). The Bible gospel says Christ was sacrificed once, was buried once, and was resurrected once, and that one offering takes care of the believer’s sin. There is absolutely no instruction in the New Testament for the formation of a special priesthood in the churches (every believer is a priest, 1 Peter 2:5,9) or for the offering of a sacrifice. There is no need. Christ, our High Priest, has done that for us. In the Roman Catholic Church, Christ hangs on the cross perpetually in their crucifix. The Pope’s staff has a carving of Christ hanging on the cross. The symbolism of the crucifix is derived from Rome’s heretical view of the gospel. Instead of an empty cross depicting a once-for-all, completed sacrifice, they have a perpetually crucified Christ depicting their doctrine of the Mass.
At the end of October 1973, Graham held a crusade in St. Louis, Missouri. Catholic Archbishop John T. Byre said in the St. Louis Review, the Catholic Archdiocesan weekly: “St. Louis is fortunate to have the presence of the Rev. Billy Graham. During a Graham crusade, the participants are asked to make a decision for Christ. In Catholic circles this is referred to as a ‘commitment to Christ.’ Catholics have little reason to disagree with Dr. Graham as far as the theology of his crusade is concerned. He makes a determined effort to keep them non-sectarian and THUS AVOIDS THE MORE CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES OF THE SACRAMENTS AND THE CHURCH. Some 50 nuns served as counselors and others sang regularly in the choir” (Wilson Ewin, Evangelism: The Trojan Horse of the 1990s).
1974
In August 1974, Graham chaired the influential International Congress on World Evangelization at Lausanne, Switzerland. Bishop A. Jack Dain, chairman of the Congress Planning Committee, publicly acknowledged that “this Congress would have been impossible without Billy Graham.” Though all participants were supposed to be Evangelicals, they came from every sort of compromised and apostate denomination: Church of England, Free Methodist, Church of South India, etc., including many connected with the radical World Council of Churches. In addition, it was announced that five administrators of the World Council of Churches and three Roman Catholic priests had been invited to attend (F.E.A. News & Views, Jul.-Aug. 1974). The ecumenical spirit of the Lausanne congress was expressed in the Lausanne Covenant, which claimed that “a new missionary era has dawned” and that “a growing partnership of churches will develop and the universal character of Christ’s church will be more clearly exhibited.” This promotes the false idea of a universal “church” composed of all denominations.
1976
In March 1976, Graham appeared with Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph L. Bernardin before the U.S. Congress to say “every man, woman and child on earth has the right to a nutritionally adequate diet” (Chicago Sun-Times, March 29, 1976).
In September 1976, it was reported that the St. Madelaine Sophie Catholic parish of High Springs, Florida, purchased and refurbished a drive-in theater, and were under contract with Billy Graham’s World Wide Pictures to show religious films. Proceeds went to build up Roman Catholicism through the parish building fund (BFT #565, Hayes Minnick, Orlando, Florida).
In October 1976, Graham was quoted in the Southern Cross, a Catholic paper: “I think that Protestants, in reaction to the Catholic position, have made far too little of Mary. Mary was the most remarkable and most blessed of all women” (Minnick). By not condemning the Catholic heresies surrounding Mary, Graham plays right into the hands of the Catholic Church.
1977
During Graham’s crusade in Asheville, South Carolina, in early 1977, one of the overflow halls was St. Laurence Catholic Church.
Graham held a crusade on the campus of Roman Catholic Notre Dame University in May 1977. He said, “I have no qarrel with the Catholic Church” (William Martin, Prophet with Honor: The Billy Graham Story, p. 223). Christianity Today gave this report:
“Would Billy Graham conduct a crusade at the Vatican? If a place were made available and Christian leaders in Rome wanted him to, he might. No campaign in Catholicism’s capital is on the evangelist’s calendar now, but his five-day crusade last month on the Notre Dame University Campus proved he is not afraid to go deep into Roman Catholic territory. It also showed that many elements in the once hostile Catholic community are now receptive to Graham’s type of ministry. Graham’s sermons were of the type that audiences around the world have heard, with only a few more references to such Catholics as Bishop Fulton Sheen and Mother Teresa of Calcutta” (Christianity Today, June 3, 1977).
The invitation Graham gave at Notre Dame played right into the hands of the Catholic hierarchy. He said to the crowd, “Many of you want to come tonight and reconfirm your confirmation. You want to reconfirm the decision that you made when you joined the church” (Wilson Ewin, The Assimilation of Evangelist Billy Graham). His goal apparently is to make better Catholics of his listeners. It is no wonder that Graham is praised by Catholic leaders. A preacher who truly loves Roman Catholics will tell them plainly that Rome’s gospel is false and that the sacraments have absolutely nothing to do with biblical salvation.
In November 1977, Graham held a crusade in Manila, the Philippines. Christianity Today editor Harold Lindsell quoted the Graham team: “We didn’t know what to expect when we came here because the Protestant population in the Philippines is very small. But during the crusade we have seen some of the greatest unity among churches that we’ve ever experienced, and we have received marvelous support from the Catholic Church” (Christianity Today, Dec. 30, 1977).
1978
For Graham’s Milwaukee crusade in August 1978, Roman Catholic Archbishop Rembert Weakland sent a letter to priests throughout his archdiocese telling them they could support the meetings. These gave Graham “some of the most loyal support,” not only in attendance but also as campaign workers. Christianity Today, September 7, reported, “Graham had these Catholic ... churchgoers in mind during his sermons ... At each meeting he repeated a recent statement attributed to Pope John Paul II, ‘The priority of the Church ought to be to evangelize those who have already been baptized.’ He followed this statement at the concluding service on Sunday with, ‘Perhaps many people need to come and reconfirm their confirmation’” (Ewin). To “reconfirm their confirmation” is not the gospel and is not biblical salvation. The Catholic Church teaches that salvation is a process that begins at baptism, is strengthened through confirmation, and is fed by the other sacraments throughout one’s life. For a Catholic to reconfirm his confirmation would mean he continues to trust in the Catholic sacraments for his eternal salvation, rather than repenting of those dead man-made works and trusting the finished work of Jesus Christ alone for salvation.
In October 1978, Graham held a crusade in Catholic Poland. It was an occasion for unprecedented ecumenical alliances. The Chicago Sun-Times for October 7, 1978, gave this report on his arrival in Warsaw: “American evangelist Billy Graham was welcomed Friday by the Roman Catholic Church, which is opening its doors for the first time to his Crusade for Christ. ‘We are happy that you will preach in several cities in Catholic churches, where the overwhelming majority of listeners will be Catholics,’ Bishop Wladyslaw Miziolek told Graham at Okecie Airport. Bishop Miziolek is chairman of the Committee on Ecumenism of the Polish Catholic Church.”
Bishop Miziolek welcomed Graham at the airport and brought greetings from the head of the Catholic Church in Poland, Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski. Graham replied that this adventure represented a new spirit of cooperation that was a constructive example for Christians in other nations (John Pollock, Billy Graham, p. 308).
Roman Catholic authorities allowed Graham to preach in their cathedrals. Four of the rallies were held in Catholic churches, with priests participating on the platform with Graham. Masses were conducted immediately before and after the rallies. In his remarks at Catholic churches, Graham praised the greatness of Pope Paul VI (Christianity Today, Nov. 3, 1978). Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, soon to be Pope John Paul II, offered his 700-year-old St. Anne’s Church in Cracow. Wojtyla had intended to meet Graham for tea, but as it turned out, just before Graham’s arrival in Poland, Wojtyla was unexpectedly called away to the conclave in Rome to meet with the College of Cardinals, and a few days later he was elected Pope. Wojtyla’s plane was at the end of the runway, ready to take off for Rome, as Graham’s plane touched down in Warsaw.
While in Poland Graham visited the Marian shrine of Jasna Gora (featuring an icon of the Black Madonna) in Czestochowa. A picture in Decision magazine for February 1979, shows Graham welcoming pilgrims to the shrine. In the minds of his Catholic observers, this ill-advised visit put Graham’s stamp of approval upon the idolatrous Catholic Mary veneration which is featured at this influential shrine. During his years as a child and, later, as a Catholic leader in Poland, Pope John Paul II visited this shrine frequently to venerate Mary and to pray to her. These blasphemous and heretical practices have no authority in the Word of God. In his book Crossing the Threshold of Hope, the Pope testifies that his personal devotion to Mary was developed at Marian sites “in my town, then in the shrine of Kalwaria, and finally at Jasna Gora” (p. 220). The Pope has “Totus Tuus” (All Yours) embroidered on his papal garments, designating his “abandonment to Mary” (Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 215). After the Pope was shot during an assassination attempt in May 1981, he attributed his subsequent recovery to Mary, and it was at shrines such as Jasna Gora and Fatima that he has expressed his thankfulness to the “Queen of Heaven.”
In an interview with McCall’s Magazine, Graham said: I’ve found that my beliefs are essentially the same as those of orthodox Roman Catholics ... we differ on some matters of later church tradition” (McCalls, January 1978).
1979
In May 1979, Graham held a crusade in Australia. Reporter Alan Nichols made the following observation in Christianity Today:
“Prior to the crusade, there had been a controversy over Roman Catholic involvement ... when the crusade executive committee announced that inquirers would be referred to participating Catholic churches. ... Finally, a compromise was reached: any Catholic inquirers would be directed to nondenominational nurture groups where they would be encouraged to make up their own minds about church membership” (Christianity Today, June 29, 1979).
Note that the Graham team wanted to deliver inquirers over to the Catholic churches as is their normal mode of operation elsewhere, but they were somewhat stymied in this instance by some protests. It is possible that inquirers were turned over to individual Catholic counselors. A report in the Church Scene for March 8, 1979, stated that Graham was training Roman Catholics in follow-up techniques so that R.C. inquirers at the crusade may be referred to them” (reprinted in Evangelical Action, April-May 1979, p. 4).
At the Milwaukee Billy Graham Crusade in 1979, a Roman Catholic Mass was conducted as part of the follow-up for new converts (F.B.F. News Bulletin, May-June 1986).
In September 1979, The Christian Courier of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, published the following report on the Milwaukee Crusade:
“Sister Maureen Hopkins, Director of the Ecumenical and Interfaith Commission of the Milwaukee Roman Catholic Archdiocese, and a liaison member of the Crusade committee, reported that 120 people have volunteered within the Catholic community to help her with the task of contacting each of the 3,500 inquiries. Sr. Maureen received the names and telephone numbers from the Crusade Committee, based upon the inquirer’s indication of having a Catholic background on his inquiry card. ... All 3,500 were immediately invited to a Eucharistic celebration which was held on August 16 at St. Theresa’s Church in Milwaukee. The Mass was attended by more than 400 people. The primary purpose for the Mass was to remind the inquirers that their commitments to Christ should be nurtured within the sacramental framework of the church.”
Christianity Today for Sept. 7, 1979, pointed out that almost a year before the Crusade, Graham had sent a team member to conduct a seminar explaining the crusade enterprise for Milwaukee priests and lay workers. “It is a tragedy that 3,500 decision cards were turned over to the Roman Catholic Church, but it is a worse tragedy when you realize that it did not ‘just happen.’ It was planned by the world’s best-known evangelist” (John Ashbrook, New Neutralism II).
In October 1979, Pope John Paul II made his first visit to the United States. Time magazine gave Graham’s startling viewpoint on this:
“No other man in the world today could attract as much attention on moral and spiritual subjects as John Paul. He is articulating what Catholic and Protestant churches have traditionally held, the moral values from the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. The country is responding in a magnificent way. It shows there’s a great spiritual hunger. The Pope has reached millions of Protestants. The organized ecumenical movement seems to be on the back burner and ecumenicity is now taking place where Roman Catholics and Protestants share beliefs in matters like the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection of Christ” (Billy Graham, Time, October 15, 1979).
Graham appeared on the Phil Donahue show on October 11, 1979, and in discussing Pope Paul II’s visit to the U.S.A., said: “I think the American people are looking for a leader, a moral and spiritual leader that believes something. And the Pope does. He didn’t mince words on a single subject. As a matter of fact, his subject in Boston was really an evangelistic address in which he asked the people to come to Christ, to give their lives to Christ. I said, ‘Thank God, I’ve got somebody to quote now with some real authority’” (The Gospel Standard, Feb. 1986).
On December 9, 1979, popular Catholic Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen died. Sheen upheld Rome’s heretical dogmas. [See note under year 1950.] He was a staunch enemy of the New Testament faith. When questioned about Sheen’s death, Graham called it “a great loss to the nation and both the Catholic and Protestant churches. He broke down walls of prejudice between Catholics and Protestants ... I count it a privilege to have known him as a friend for over 35 years. I mourn his death and look forward to our reunion in heaven” (Religious News Service, Dec. 11, 1979). As noted under the comments for the year 1950, Sheen’s hope was in Mary, not in Christ’s completed atonement. Unless he repented and turned wholly to Christ on his deathbed, we have no biblical cause to believe Sheen will be in Heaven.
1980
In an interview that appeared in the Jan.-Feb. 1980, issue of the Saturday Evening Post, Graham made the following comments about the Catholic Pope:
“Since his election, Pope John Paul II has emerged as the greatest religious leader of the modern world, and one of the greatest moral and spiritual leaders of this century. ... The Pope came [to America] as a statesman and a pastor, but I believe he also sees himself coming as an evangelist, forthrightly urging those who have perhaps given little thought to spiritual matters to realize the truth of the Christian message and commit their lives to Christ. ... The Pope sought to speak to the spiritual hunger of our age in the same way Christians throughout the centuries have spoken to the spiritual yearnings of every age—by pointing people to Christ. ... Also, in countless ways many evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics are discovering they share a common bond through their mutual commitment to the Christian faith. … Recently I learned that the word ‘pontiff,’ (a title by which the Pope is often known) comes from the Latin words which originally meant ‘bridge builder.’ During his visit to America, Pope John Paul II was indeed a bridge builder, and that is something our divided world desperately needs. In a world which often seems to have lost its way, his voice will continue to remind us of our responsibilities to each other—and to God” (Billy Graham, “The Pilgrim Pope: A Builder of Bridges,” The Saturday Evening Post, Jan.-Feb. 1980).
Historically, “pontiff” refers to the papal title of Pontifex Maximus, which was used by the high priests of ancient heathen religion in the Roman Empire and was adopted by the early popes (Webster’s Deluxe Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition, 1979). “The title of Supreme Pontiff was reserved in ancient Rome to the emperor, who as head of the principal college of priests in Rome was seen as the bridge or bridge-builder between men and the gods. The title was given to the Pope by Gratian in A.D. 375…” (Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic Encyclopedia, p. 758). The word “pontiff” in Latin and Italian means “bridge.” On the map of Rome that I purchased when I toured the Vatican several years ago, the word “pontiff” is used to describe the bridges over the river Tiber that flows through Rome. The term “pontiff” points to the Pope’s blasphemous claim to be a bridge between man and God.
1981
On January 13, 1981, Graham had his first audience with a Roman Pope. Graham gave the following account of his historic meeting with John Paul II: “I spent about a half-hour with the Pope in very private, intimate conversation. He was extremely warm and interested in our work. We discussed the Christian faith, both our agreements and some of our differences. When I was at the Vatican, I spoke at a vesper service at the North American College, which is a seminary for students from North America. I understand I was the first Protestant to speak there. It was a very inspirational and Christocentric service, with much contemporary music” (Christianity Today, July 17, 1981). Graham gave the Pope a wooden carving of a shepherd with his sheep, thus symbolically fortifying the false papal claim to be the shepherd of all Christians.
In July 1981, Graham’s Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization held a four-day American Festival of Evangelism in Kansas City, Missouri. Multitudes of Roman Catholics were among the 8,000 who attended. Wilson Ewin gives the following report on the ecumenical aspects of that meeting:
Any doubts regarding the Committee’s true attitude toward Roman Catholicism and the needs of its people were dispelled by facts emanating from this 1981 Missouri Festival.
Instead of presenting the need of Roman Catholics for evangelism and how to do this, the meetings stressed unity and cooperation with Roman Catholicism. The festival emphasized that Lausanne Committee participants no longer believe in the evangelism of Roman Catholics. Instead, they believe in Roman Catholicism’s own evangelization to produce Roman Catholics for the strengthening of the papacy. This was shown through the fact that several Roman Catholic workshops were included in the Festival. EVANGELICALS WERE SHOWN HOW TO BECOME AND HOW TO MAKE GOOD ROMAN CATHOLICS.
Reporting on the work by Roman Catholics at the Festival, the American Catholic Charismatics’ own New Covenant magazine, October 1981, stated, ‘Fr. Glenn C. Smith, evangelization officer for the diocese of Rockford, Illinois, told how Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Cary, Illinois, grew from 1,000 to 6,000 members in 10 years because of persistent efforts. Every Easter some 100 joined the church ... Fr. Kenneth Boyack, a Paulist priest from Greensville, South Carolina, said that plans to organize evangelism offices in dioceses and evangelism committees in parishes should provide a much greater number of converts by 1990.’
... the Lausanne Committee’s American Festival placed a stamp of absolute acceptance upon authentic, medieval and historic Roman Catholicism. By association and official participation in the Kansas City Festival, 150 RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS HAVE PROCLAIMED THEIR WILLINGNESS TO COOPERATE WITH AND ACCEPT ROMAN CATHOLICISM (Wilson Ewin, Charismatic Control).
1982
Graham prepared for the spring 1982 New England campaign in heavily Catholic territory by a visit to Boston’s Cardinal Medeiros. The Cardinal called the March meeting “a discussion of mutual interest and concerns.” This was followed by a strategy consultation on May 25. The Cardinal said, “I was delighted to receive Dr. Graham and a few of his colleagues into my home for dinner” (The Pilot, May 28, 1982). Reporting on this, Priest Conley, Coordinator of Communications for the Archdiocese stated, “The Crusade’s purpose is not proselytizing—or sheep stealing ... 100 PRIESTS, RELIGIOUS AND LAITY ARE BEING TRAINED TO FACILITATE THE FULL RECONCILIATION TO THE CHURCH [OF ROME] of those men and women who will have been moved by Dr. Graham’s preaching” (The Pilot, May 11, 1982).
“Each step of the campaign saw the evangelist engaged in consultation with the bishop of the individual state. Following the crusade, meetings took place between the Graham Association and Catholic clergy. PEOPLE WHO CAME FORWARD DURING THE CAMPAIGN WERE THEN TRANSFERRED BACK TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. One such occasion took place at Pope John XXIII Seminary in Weston, Mass. on the evening of June 9, 1982. Over 2,100 inquiries were given to priests and nuns” (Wilson Ewin, Evangelism: The Trojan Horse of the 1990s).
In May 1982, Graham made a six-day trip to the Soviet Union. He admitted that he had sought advice of Vatican officials on the most effective approach in dealing with the Soviets during his trip (Arkansas Democrat, May 24, 1982).
In August 1982, Graham held a crusade in Spokane, Washington. The Sept. 2, 1983, issue of The Florida Catholic notes the large Catholic response: “When the time came [the altar call], more than 1,700 Catholics rededicated themselves. And in Milwaukee, where the archbishop also allowed Catholic participation, more than 4,000 Catholics responded.” All of these people were turned over to Catholic parishes.
1983
In 1983, Graham held a crusade in Orlando, Florida. More than 600 names of those who came forward during the altar call were given by the Graham team to Roman Catholic churches for follow-up. This was reported in The Florida Catholic, a publication of the Roman Catholic Church. I have this periodical before me as I write:
“About 180,000 persons attended the Crusade and some 600 of the Catholics who attended went forward for Dr. Graham’s altar call and were counseled about their commitment to the Lord. ... Although the Orlando diocese was not a sponsor of the eight-day event, some 150 Catholic people and educators rallied to an April 20 meeting at St. James Cathedral offering their services in the follow-up. Names of Catholics who had made decisions for Christ were provided at that meeting by Rick Marshall of the Graham organization” (The Florida Catholic, Sept. 2, 1982).
1983 was also the year for Amsterdam ’83, Graham’s first meeting for itinerant evangelists. It was thoroughly ecumenical. Speaking at this meeting, Graham noted: “Those who came here were from over thirty religious denominations, including Reformed, Baptist, Methodist, Anglican, Lutheran, Orthodox, Pentecostal, and many other groups, including the Vatican and a very high level delegation from the Orthodox Churches of the Soviet Union, including two Metropolitans” (Foundation, Vol. IV, Iss. IV, 1983).
It was also in 1983 that Graham counseled American President Ronald Reagan to pursue formal diplomatic ties with the Vatican. The following account is taken from New Neutralism II by John Ashbrook:
A spokesman for Billy Graham confirms that the evangelist played a behind-the-scenes role in President Reagan’s decision to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Vatican, a newspaper reported yesterday.
Early in 1983, Graham was asked by the president and adviser William Clark to make informal, private inquiries among evangelical Protestant leaders about likely response to such an action, said Donald Baily, media director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in Minneapolis.
A copy of the seven-page letter that the Baptist evangelist sent to Clark was obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, which quoted Graham as saying, ‘If anyone can do it and get away with it, it is Mr. Reagan’ (“Graham’s Help on Vatican Ties,” Associated Press, Lake County News Herald, Feb. 9, 1984, quoted by Ashbrook).
1984
October 14-21, 1984, found Graham conducting a crusade in Vancouver, British Columbia. David Cline of Bringhouse United Church, a vice-chairman of the organizing committee of the Graham Crusade, stated the policy regarding Catholic inquirers: “If Catholics step forward there will be no attempt to convert them and their names will be given to the Catholic church nearest their homes” (Vancouver Sun, October 5, 1984).
Catholic Archbishop James Carney asked his priests and congregations to offer prayers for Graham’s ministry in Vancouver. Priest Vincent Hawkswell of Holy Rosary Cathedral reminded his congregation that Billy Graham’s visit to Vancouver is important (The Sun, October 9, 1984).
Billy Graham came to Vancouver less than a month after the Pope had been there; thus, he had a wonderful opportunity to expose the Pope’s false gospel. Instead, Graham used Vancouver as a forum to endorse the Pope. Graham reported that during his trip to Russia he had been awakened early one morning by his son, Franklin, to hear the Pope’s message given at Vancouver. Billy Graham was quoted as saying, “I’ll tell you—that was just about as straight an evangelical address as I’ve ever heard. It was tremendous. Of course, I’m a great admirer of his. He gives moral guidance in a world that seems to have lost its way” (Foundation, Vol. V, Issue 5, 1984).
In 1983, Pastor Randal Gilmore wrote to the Graham organization and received the following answers to questions in regard to a showing of Graham film The Prodigal in his town:
Q. What do you intend to do with unchurched people who make a decision?
A. We will refer them back to the local committee. They in turn will refer them to a Bible-teaching church. They, of course, will not be referred to a church like the ‘Church of Scientology.’
Q. What about Roman Catholics who get saved? What will you do then?
A. We will tell the Father.
Q. Will you direct them into another church?
A. Definitely not!
Q. You mentioned the ‘Church of Scientology’ as an example of a church that does not teach the Bible. Do you consider the Roman Catholic Church to be a Bible-teaching church?
Q. Our philosophy is this: A new believer is like a live chick, and a live chick will not go to a dead hen.
Q. Are you trying to say your organization believes the Roman Catholic Church is a dead hen?
A. NOT AT ALL. A DEAD HEN COULD BE A FUNDAMENTAL CHURCH THAT TEACHES YOU HAVE TO WEAR YOUR HAIR A CERTAIN LENGTH. THAT’S WORKS SALVATION (Baptist Bulletin, June 1984).
Ecumenists are tolerant, positive, and non-judgmental toward almost everyone and everything except the dreaded Fundamentalist. The Graham organization calls good evil and evil good. The Roman Catholic Church, which teaches a works salvation (under the guise of an unscriptural definition and doctrine of “grace”), is considered a safe place to send a new Christian. On the other hand, the Fundamentalist church, which teaches that salvation is solely by the grace of Christ through faith, is considered dangerous, because it preaches that believers are under obligation to obey God’s Word (including 1 Corinthians 11), not in order to be saved but because we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-10)!
In May 1984, Graham pointed to Mother Teresa as a hero model for American youth (Calvary Contender, Nov. 15, 1985).
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This is part of a six-part series titled “Billy Graham and Rome” by David W. Cloud. It is excerpted from the book Evangelicals and Rome, copyright 1999, 2001, 2005, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061.
EVANGELICALS AND ROME. EVANGELICALS AND ROME: THE ECUMENICAL ONE-WORLD “CHURCH” (D.W. CLOUD) [ISBN 1-58318-058-3] Nothing more plainly demonstrates the ongoing fulfillment of prophecies pertaining to end-time apostasy and the formation of a world-world harlot “church,” and this volume documents evangelicalism’s flirtation with Rome over the past half century. The introduction documents the history and apostasy of evangelicalism since the 1940s. Part 1 answers the question “Is the Roman Catholic Church Changing?” It includes a study from official Vatican II documents as well as from the New Catholic Catechism proving that the RCC has not changed its heretical position on such things as the mass, the papacy, Mary, purgatory, the priesthood, prayers to the dead, and the sacraments. The author also shows that Vatican II and the New Catechism affirm the blasphemous declarations of the Council of Trent. Part II covers “Billy Graham and Rome,” documenting Billy Graham's relationship with the Roman Catholic Church from 1950 to present. Part III covers “Other Influential Evangelical Leaders and Organizations and Rome,” covering dozens of popular evangelical leaders and organizations, including Bill Bright and Campus Crusade, Tony Campolo, Christianity Today, Christian Research Institute, James Dobson, Chuck Colson, Elizabeth Elliot, Jerry Falwell, Fuller Seminary, Franklin Graham, Carl Henry, Bill Hybels, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, D. James Kennedy, J.I. Packer, Luis Palau, Robert Schuller, John R. Stott, Thomas Nelson, United Bible Societies, Jack Van Impe, Wheaton College, World Magazine, World Vision, Wycliffe Bible Translators, and Youth for Christ. Part IV deals with “The Southern Baptist Convention and Rome.” Part V deals with “The Charismatics and Rome.” Dozens of influential Charismatic leaders and organizations are documented, including 100 Huntley Street, 700 Club, AGLOW, Assemblies of God, Jamie Buckingham, Morris Cerullo, David Yonggi Cho, Paul Crouch, Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship, Kenneth Hagin, Michael Harper, Jack Hayford, Benny Hinn, Rodney Howard-Browne, Rex Humbard, Kathryn Kuhlman, David Mainse, Melodyland Christian Center, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, James Robison, Vinson Synan, Trinity Broadcasting Network, Ralph Wilkerson, John Wimber, and Youth with a Mission. Part VI deals with “Promise Keepers and Rome” and Part VII with “Contemporary Christian Music and Rome.”’ Part VIII deals with the subject of “Evangelical Catholics” and looks at the phenomenon of so-called evangelical Catholicism and charismatic Catholics. The book “Evangelical Catholics” by Keith Fournier (foreword by Chuck Colson) is reviewed and refuted from Scripture. Part IX looks at the many ways “Rome Denies Salvation by Grace Alone.” Part X deals with the agreement between “Lutherans and Catholics on the Doctrine of Salvation by Grace.” Part XI looks at Evangelicals and Catholics Together II. Part XII answers the question “Was Mother Teresa a True Christian?” Did she teach the people under her care the true Gospel? This study contains an interview with a nun who works with Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity. Read this amazing interview and learn what this Calcutta-trained nun does to prepare Hindus for death. Part XIII examines the charge that we don’t understand the Catholic Church. 2nd edition August 2001, 371 pages, 7X8, perfect bound. $19.95
ROME AND THE BIBLE: TRACING THE HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND ITS PERSECUTION OF THE BIBLE AND OF BIBLE BELIEVERS (D.W. CLOUD) [ISBN 1-58318-003-6] To our knowledge, this is the first history ever published which details the Roman Catholic Church’s relationship to the Bible from the first millennium to the present. The book could also be titled “The Bible Through the Centuries.” The author has spent thousands of dollars obtaining rare documents relevant to this history (such as a 1641 edition of Foxe’s unabridged Acts and Monuments) and researched the topic in important theological libraries in Canada, America, and England, including the British Library. The book covers the Roman Catholic Inquisition from the 11th to the 19th centuries, particularly the role played by the Inquisition to keep translations of the Bible out of the hands of the common people. It contains the history of ancient separated Christians, including the Waldensians and the Lollards. It gives the history of the English Bible from John Wycliffe to William Tyndale, and the history of the Spanish, German, French, and Italian Bibles. It contains amazing biographies of royal queens who loved the Bible. It gives the decade-by-decade details of papal condemnations of 19th-century Bible societies and of Roman Catholic persecution in the 19th century. It describes the 20th-century phenomenon of Rome changing tactics and joining hands with the Bible societies. It documents the similarities between the Latin Vulgate and the modern versions. It answers the question: Has the Roman Catholic Church changed? The book contains 95 illustrations from rare out-of-print books. Dr. Ian Paisley, Martyrs Memorial Presbyterian Church, Belfast, Northern Ireland, commended us for Rome and the Bible and showed us his copy in which he had written the following words: “Brother Cloud is not beclouded!” Fourth edition revised and enlarged, September 2001, 331 pages, 7X8, perfect bound. $19.95
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