Most people at the present time have some knowledge of the Holocaust, the six years of unspeakable horror and suffering to which the Jewish people were subjected under Hitler and the Nazis during the Second World War. Few, however, are aware of the atrocities of systematized torture and murder of Bible-believing Christians and Jews that took place during the 605 years of the Inquisition.1

On October 8th, 2000, Pope John Paul II, under the assumed title of Vicar of Christ, consecrated the world and the new millennium to “Mary Most Holy.”1 This “Act of Entrustment to Mary Most Holy” of that which belongs to God alone is a mockery of the First Commandment. The Pope’s official and offensive act ought to warn Christians that while the Pope formally claims to be “the true vicar of Christ,”2 he in fact opposes Christ by false worship. What is equally serious is the title under which he performs.

“By asking Mary to pray for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be poor sinners and 

we address ourselves to the ‘Mother of Mercy,’ the All Holy One.”1
Such is the superlative praise and veneration that Catholic teaching gives to their Mary. The whole cycle of feasts of the Catholic Church is permeated with her festivals throughout each year.2 Pope John Paul II dedicated himself and his Pontificate to Mary.

For most Catholics the authority of the Pope as derived from Peter is the main cornerstone of their faith. The others it is the lifesaver to fall back on, when all else fails.

The Pope’s visit to Australia for World Youth Day '08 was highlighted with his arrival aboard a luxury motor yacht in Sydney Harbor, an indigenous dance welcome and the flames of countless torches borne aloft by young people well into the night.

Marriage is a creation ordinance, belonging to all mankind. As sovereign Lord over His creation, God instituted that male and female should at a proper time leave mother and father and be married, “therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”1 From the beginning both believers2 and non-believers3 married be­ cause the ordinance of marriage is for all mankind.

There is a common thread that runs throughout the experiences of former priests whose testimonies are in our book, Far from Rome, Near to God: The Testimonies of Fifty Former Catholic Priests. We had a great yearning to be different from those around us. We wanted to be more pure, nearer to God. We wanted to be free in conscience before God, and we sought the priesthood in which we thought we could administer salvation stage by stage to our fellow man.

Many Catholics are quite irate concerning child abuse by their Priests and call for the removal of corrupt Bishops, reform, and redress and compensation. There are many of such groups1, one of these demands, “that Corrupt Bishops must go!”2 While these concerns are quite commendable, they are just a genuine humanistic response to depraved behavior. It is necessary to see the whole crisis in the light of the Sovereignty of God, and to discern the roots causes of what has become a persistent agonizing, and revealing wound.

In mid the nineteenth century, Lord Acton one of the greatest Roman Catholic historians 

of described the Papacy as “the fiend skulking behind the Crucifix.”1 Acton, famous for his saying, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” clearly pinpointed Papal Rome as the academic and legal cause of the more than six hundred years of the Inquisition and other atrocities such as the St. Bartholomew’s Massacre, which began in Paris August 24 1572, and spread throughout France.

As Joseph Ratzinger is elected as the new Pope more relevant than ever is the question, “Who is the Vicar of Christ?” The article I have written not only answers this question but it shows how serious it is to attempt to substitute a man for the office distinctively that of the Holy Spirit.

Scott Hahn, a former Presbyterian pastor, is currently being touted as a hero in the Roman Catholic world. The text critiqued in this article is the transcript of his conversion story, “The Scott Hahn Conversion Story: Protestant Minister Becomes Catholic” as it appears in the Catholic Adult Education on Video Program, prominently featured on the Coming Home Network.