The 'New Rome" Is Still the Old Rome

Seemingly unrelated incidents continue to pop up testifying to the fact that Rome never fundamentally changes. Where they dominate the politics, persecution of believers emerges, especially if in some backwater area away from likely publicity. News continues to slip out of the Chiapas area of Mexico where Protestants are denied water and electricity for refusing to support a local Roman Catholic Festival. Converts were especially targeted with harassment and broken windows.

Another news item exposes Rome’s strange wafer worship. With the discovery of celiac disease, an immune disorder triggered by eating wheat gluten, the question rose about the recipe for the Catholic Eucharist. Since the wafer becomes the actual body and blood of Jesus when the priest “consecrates” it, Vatican rules specify only wheat flour. Since the worship of this wafer god is so central to Catholic ritual, changing the recipe became a big deal. A settlement was finally reached using wheat flower which had most of the gluten removed but still contained at least 20 parts per million of gluten.

Many “Evangelicals” have swallowed the deception that Roman Catholicism is “just another denomination with a slightly different worship style.” But when you probe to the core of that worship style you find a baptized pagan wafer god mysteriously called the “Eucharist.” With all the warm, fuzzy ecumenism, this practice of bowing to a sun-round wafer is far more reminiscent of the worship of Ra, the Egyptian sun god than anything resembling the Biblical concept of worship in “spirit and truth.”

But the power of the bondage of this ritual is well illustrated in the next story. In Canada, the Ottawa Archbishop is threatening to withhold the sacraments from Roman Catholics who participate or support euthanasia. In this case it is the Last Rites and a Catholic funeral that is in question if the person chooses assisted suicide. Of course, the eating of the wafer god is central to both of these “sacraments.”

This is no idle threat. All the rituals from infant baptism to last rites are designed to make the Roman Church the only source of grace and eternal life. Thus the threat to withhold “sacraments” presumes that the priest has the power of heaven or hell.

Several times in history, kings have been brought to their knees before the pope because they believed that he had such power.  This counterfeit “church” preaches a false gospel of works-based salvation, substitutes ritual for righteousness, cancelling out the notion of the indwelling of the Spirit and friendship with Jesus.

Few tools are available today for soul winners to bring biblical truth to the precious Roman Catholics caught in this web of counterfeit Christianity. Years ago, God challenged Jack Chick to provide witnessing tools that expose this Great Whore described in Revelation 17 and 18. Over the years, Chick Publications has consistently exposed this prostitute church, both in gospel tract and paperback form. Here you will find articles and information and a complete line of tracts and books on this subject.