On May 15, John Kerry, the first-ever U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, was granted a “private audience with Pope Francis,” the religiopolitical leader of the Roman Catholic Church. After the meeting, Kerry sat down to an interview with Vatican News reporter Christopher Wells on the reason for his visit.
“You’re on a very important mission here to Europe to speak with world leaders and especially European leaders about the climate crisis,” Wells began. “Why is it important for you to include a visit with the Pope?”
To Kerry, the answer was clear: The global reach the pontiff has established and continues to cultivate is beyond comparison. “The Holy Father is one of, if not the, … most powerful voices on the planet,” praised Kerry. His is a voice that Kerry believes “speaks with unique authority, compelling moral authority.” It is no matter that he is the sovereign of the world’s smallest country: “The Vatican may be a small entity, but the flock is enormous on a global basis and His Holiness, Pope Francis, has the ability to help galvanize action from countries.”
We’re All in This Together
Nicknamed “Climate Czar,” Kerry is a well-known climate activist and politician. Online environmental hub Green Matters reports that “since 1985, his voting record shows that he has almost always voted in the name of the environment.”
What is perhaps less known is that his current position, created under the executive office, also belongs to this administration’s “foreign policy and national security team.” In short, this unprecedented appointment defines climate change as a clear and present enemy of international import, right alongside “infectious disease” and “terrorism.”
And action, apparently, must be taken to stymie it. “Everybody has a responsibility to be part of the solution,” Kerry declared. “No nation has the right to say, we don’t have to do anything.” In other words, it is irresponsible, unthinkable, and morally repugnant to treat climate change as anything other than an imminent and universal threat.
Interestingly, the pope has been promoting this same slogan for years, especially since his 2015 encyclical Laudato si’. But it seems he is now taking a big step forward in making his ideology a reality. With details to be released on May 25, Francis’ call-to-action challenges people the world over to “seven jubilee years of concrete action” based on his encyclical’s tenets, to build “a massive movement” within communities. In short, Francis’ and Kerry’s goal is to unabashedly “reshape the world.”
The Sea Beast and the Land Beast
“All the leaders of the world need to come together,” insisted Kerry.
“Pope Francis has also spoken about the importance about getting everybody to the table,” Wells noted. “Your optimism … is an echo of what our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has said—that we can do this together,” he went on to say.
“I saw a beast rising up out of the sea. … And all the world marveled and followed the beast,” wrote John the Revelator (Revelation 13:1, 3). “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. … And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, … telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the [first] beast, … that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (vv. 11, 12, 14, 15).
This specific time is not yet upon us, but we can certainly see from these verses that these two prophetic beasts have a very special relationship that mirrors—or echoes—the other. In tandem, these beasts will influence the entire globe into a single system of worship, one without alternative. They are able to accomplish this due to their immense “authority”; the King James denotes it as their “power.”
Kerry and Wells spoke of power too, the “powerful” voice of the pope, “big, powerful nations, like the United States.” Here’s some food for thought: If these two powers can unite the world with the environment, do you think they could manage it with religion?
Let’s look at this first beast in Revelation. It’s a fascinating animal, described as “having seven heads and ten horns” (v. 1) and being an amalgamation of “a leopard,” “a bear,” and “a lion” (v. 2). Who’s ever seen a creature like that?
A student of the Bible has. The prophet Daniel recounted a beast that also “had ten horns” and “was different from all the beasts that were before it” (Daniel 7:7). Most intriguing about this beast is its little horn, for “in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words” (v. 8); it is its mouth that accomplishes great but terrible deeds. In fact, Daniel mentioned this little horn’s mouth several times more (vv. 11, 20, 25).
To learn about “The Last Little Big Horn,” try Pastor Doug Batchelor’s free presentation.
And if you’re curious about those beasts in Daniel and Revelation, complete our series of Study Guides on end-time prophecy, beginning with “Who Is the Antichrist?”
Kerry believes that the pope is the one “voice … more important than ever.” The Bible, however, will tell you that the voice for all ages is the living Word, Jesus Christ. “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel” (1 Thessalonians 4:16); with a voice that has the power to slay (Isaiah 11:4) and the power to create (Genesis 1); the voice that will at long last say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. … Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:23).
For more information and updates on the Papacy as it relates to the end times, visit our website, PapacyWatch.com.