This is not to say that all ecclesiastics within the “Unholy See” are or have been morally “impaired.” However, we are obliged to face reality and concede that, overall, the Papacy and her seed have a history of moral decadence.

Although Pope John Paul II seemed to have been a moral leader, the Papacy’s history is riddled with corruption and immorality. Her moral depravity, eccentric doctrines, and idolatrous rituals began at an early age and continue to this day. With all due respect to my Roman Catholic friends and readers, if you will hear me out, I will confirm my charges.

No, I do not harbor hatred in my heart for those of the Catholic faith—or for those of the Protestant faith. I nurture a strong dislike for the sectarian systems and partisan religious institutions that have brainwashed and enslaved them. Most Catholic and Protestant laypersons are free from pretense and wish only to honor God. The sectarian institutions in which they are caught up have corrupted the way of the Lord and dragged them along with them.

Even our Protestant President, shortly after the Pope’s demise, made a big theological blunder when he said, “Pope John Paul II occupied the throne of St. Peter.” He knew better, for his Protestant upbringing taught him differently, but apparently he wanted to pacify his Catholic audience.

For your information, I am neither Protestant nor Catholic. I’m a free man in Messiah Jesus. No church, sect, cult, denomination, pope, self-proclaimed “Reverend,” priest, preacher, pastor, or minister has one bit of control over my life and my profession as a reformer.

I was brought up in and rigidly indoctrinated by one of the strictest of sects. But years ago, I laid down my sectarian armor and defected the institutional church in favor of freedom in Jesus. Being free, and not tethered to any of the numerous religious institutions, allows me to “speak my piece” about and “shoot straight from the hip” at the sinister blemishes and blotches of the religious establishment—both Protestant and Catholic.

In this feature, my research and remarks will largely be confined to the Catholic Hierarchy and her ecclesiastical offspring. I have other features on this Web site that address the evils of Protestantism. I would encourage you not to reach unwarranted conclusions about my research pertaining to the rampant spiritual and moral deformities of Roman Catholicism until you’ve heard me out.

Additionally, in Acts 2, on the birthday of the Christian community, where Peter is recorded to have spoken extensively about the risen Lord, not once does he refer to himself as pope or “Head of the Church.” I find this rather baffling, for all popes, since the office was formed in about the third or fourth century, have identified themselves as pope or pontiff in all of their documents.

At this junction, we must inquire: Why did Peter fail to interject himself as pope? The answer is obvious. He was neither pope nor “Head of the Church.”

But here is another matter all Catholics should seriously consider. The wise men who were led by God’s star to see the child Jesus “bowed down and worshipped Him” (Matthew 2:10-12). If God intended that Mary be venerated, why didn’t the wise men bow down and worship them instead of only Him? Why was Mary not bowed down to? Even the Catholic Bible has the wise men bowing down to Jesus only. Either the biblical testimony is wrong and the Catholic Hierarchy is right or the Catholic Hierarchy is wrong and the biblical evidence is right. It cannot be both ways.

Too, nowhere in scripture are we able to find one example of Mary, or even an image of Mary, being bowed down to and/or venerated. This cultic practice was invented centuries later by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, not by God. It is of the earth, not of heaven.

Also, about halfway through this essay, you will find, “Who Founded The Papacy—God Or The Forces Of Evil”? This segment is perhaps the most significant. Please give it your ear.

In my research, I have found the Vatican and her ecclesiastics vexed with all forms of spiritual and moral corruption. Even Satan must blush when he sees what goes on behind the secretive doors of the papacy. Below are a few of many facts relating to the “Holy See” of Roman Catholicism.

The data you are about to read will not be found in newspapers or spread across everyone’s TV screen. Even the Fox News channel, as newsworthy as they are, will not air the information which follows, for their news organization appears to be Catholic oriented—very much like The Des Moines (Iowa) Register and other avenues of communication that provide the public with news.

• Pope John XXIII was worldly-minded, crafty, unscrupulous, and immoral (Catholic Ency., Vol. VIII, p. 434).
• Pope Innocent VIII had seven or eight illegitimate sons by different women. He sold Catholic offices to the highest bidders (Catholic Ency., Vol. VIII, pgs. 19-20).
• Pope Alexander VI is called the worst pope. He had eight illegitimate children by different women. Four of his children were brought to Rome with him when he became pope (Catholic Ency., Vol., VI, p. 213).
• Pope Sergius was father of Pope John XI by Morozia, one of the worst women in history. He declared as valid the fourth marriage of Leo VI, Greek Emperor (Catholic Ency., Vol. XIII, p. 729).
• Pope John X was made Archbishop when he was five years of age (Catholic Ency., Vol. VIII, p. 425).
• Pope John XI, son of Pope Sergius III, was made pope by his mother at twenty years of age (Catholic Ency., Vol. VIII, p. 426 & De Montor, Vol. I, p. 247).
• Pope John XVII had three sons (Catholic Ency., Vol. VIII, p. 429).
• Pope John XII is described as “a coarse, immoral man.” He was stricken with paralysis while committing adultery (Catholic Ency., Vol. VIII, p. 426).
• Pope Benedict IX was the nephew of two preceding popes and one succeeding one, and was made pope at 12 years of age. “He was a disgrace to the chair of Peter” (Catholic Ency., Vol. IV, p. 17, and Vol. II, p. 429).
• Pope Julius II was wicked and had three illegitimate daughters and bribed the Cardinals for the office (Catholic Ency., Vol. VIII, p. 562).

Numerous other popes, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and priests were wicked and immoral. History testifies to this fact. Yet these same men claimed to be successors of Peter and representatives of God. Instead, they were disciples of evil who practiced and promoted moral and spiritual corruption. Even in our generation, newscasts are informing us about homosexual and pedophile priests and bishops and their molestation and cover up of little boys.

• It was not until after the fifth century the Roman Church was completely organized. She did not have an Archbishop until the end of the fourth century, and it was centuries later before she had Cardinals and Popes (Catholic Ency., Vol. IX, p. 61, and Catholic Ency., Vol. IV, p. 44). Yet this “Holy See” claims that her Popes and Cardinals can be traced back to the first century A. D. and that Peter was the first Pope. This is Catholicism against itself.

• According to Ancient Civilizations, (2002, Times Books), between 327-750 A. D., Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria had Bishops who were major figures, but no pope yet. The Bishop of Rome claimed preeminence as the direct successor of Peter.

• “The religious use of incense was unknown in the primitive Church” (Cath. Dic., p. 437).

• “In the Middle Ages and in modern times various sects have repudiated infant baptism. It is difficult to give strict proof from Scripture in favor of it” (Catholic Dic., p. 61).

• Infants were not baptized during the early years of the Christian community. “There is no express mention of the baptizing of infants in the New Testament” (Question Box, p. 243).

• When the Catholic sect began to teach the doctrine of original sin in the fourth and fifth centuries, it became necessary to initiate infant baptism. “When in the fourth and fifth centuries the doctrine of original sin and consequently the necessity of baptism for all became better known, the practice of infant baptism progressed rapidly” (Legislation on the Sacraments in the New Code of Canon Law, p. 72).

• The use of “Holy Water” and incense was borrowed from the pagans. “Moreover, the use of holy water and incense was also no doubt suggested by similar customs amongst pagans around them” (Catholic Ency., Vol. III, p. 76).

• An image bowed its head to St. John Gaulbert while he kneeled and prayed before it (Butler’s Lives of the Saints, p. 247). Yet Catholics deny they bow before and pray to images, statues, and idols.

• Catholics deny worshipping the pope. Their own history testifies against them. Kissing of the pope’s foot was done as early as the eighth century and was done as an “act of reverence by which all the faithful do honor him as the Vicar of Christ” (Catholic Ency., Vol. XII, p 270).

Every pope in history has expected others to bow down to them, including Pope John Paul II—the exact opposite of what the apostle Peter told Cornelius. Catholics and their clerics dishonor the very Bible they claim to have written by rebelling against its teachings. They do the same by bowing to and worshipping images, statues, and idols. Based on this information, Catholicism resembles paganism more than it does Christianity. But here’s more:

• There were no statues in Catholic meeting structures prior to 325 A. D. “To avoid even the appearance of idolatry, no statues were placed in the early churches” (Short History of the Catholic Church, p. 65). This translates into the truth that idolatry is prevalent in Catholic Churches today, for statues and images abound.

• “Though the veneration of images was a gradual growth in the Church—owing to the prevalence of heathen idolatry and the caution required to prevent their use from being misunderstood by the pagans—sculptured memorials of the Blessed Mary are found as early as the third century” (Practical Preaching for Priest and People, pgs. 89-90).

“Veneration”? Isn’t that the same as “worship”? According to my dictionary, “veneration” is worship. Yet Catholics say they don’t worship images and statues. Their Catholic clerics disagree with them. But if this isn’t enough, they need to get a Catholic Encyclopedia and turn to Vol. VII, p. 667, which reads:

“The whole tradition of venerating holy images gradually and naturally developed.” Again, this was printed with the imprimatur (Latin for “let it be printed”) of Catholic authorities.

“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman” (Deut. 4:15-16).

Common sense informs us that God is not talking about images and statues and sculptures of a political, historical, and social kind. The statue of Abraham Lincoln in Washington, D.C. is not the subject. Nor the statue of Devil Ance Hatfield, clan leader in the Hatfield-McCoy feud—in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia. Nor the image of Caesar on Roman coins, which Jesus spoke about 2,000 years ago (Matt. 22:15-22).

God is speaking of the images and statues and idols that are fashioned for religious purposes! When statues or idols of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the apostles or anyone else are made for religious purposes, spiritual corruption and idolatry are the result. So says the God of creation. Within the confines of Catholicism, and occasionally Protestantism, are found all of the above—plus more. If this is not idolatry, I’ve lost my senses. “You shall not bow down to them or worship them” (Gen.20:5).

I would ask my Catholic friends: What part of this don’t you understand? Even the Catholic Bible has God condemning images, statues, and idols that are made for religious purposes. Yet Catholics violate the same scriptures they claim to support. So do many Protestants.

One of my Catholic friends said, “There is no difference between what Catholics do and what Protestants do when they (Protestants) get down upon their knees to pray.” There’s a world of difference. Protestants bow and get down upon their knees to pray to a live and active God. Catholics bow, cross themselves, and pray to a lifeless, spiritless, and hollow piece of earthen material. Surely we can see the difference.

In 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verses 1-12, Paul addressed the “coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him.” He admonished believers “not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.”

Paul reminded them that that “day” will not come until the rebellion (apostasy) occurs and the “man of lawlessness is revealed.” This man will “oppose and exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.”

The system was already at work in Paul’s time, but the mighty Roman Empire was temporarily holding it back or preventing it from developing. At that time the lawless one—an apostate system—will have Satan behind him and will be able to display all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders.

Note the marks of this apostate system, as recorded in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, and then tell me which ecclesiastical institution bears these marks.

• He will exalt himself over God.
• He will set himself up in God’s place.
• He will claim to be God.
• He’ll do counterfeit miracles and every sort of evil.
• He’ll continue his dirty work until the Lord comes again.

No apostate system in history bears these marks except the Roman Papacy. Keep in mind there was no general apostasy from the Christian faith, and no widespread abandonment of heaven’s new arrangement, during the first century. This being the case, the counterfeit system Paul described—Roman Catholicism—still exists for Jesus has not returned and “overthrown it with the breath of his mouth and destroyed it by the splendor of his coming” (v. 8).

If I have established my claim that the “Holy See” and her popes compose the apostate system of which the Apostle Paul prophesied, and that Satan is behind it all, the photo below is not off-center, nor is it of the “bad taste” variety.

“That which was spoken of Christ...‘Thou hast subdued all things under His feet,’ may well seem verified in me. I have the authority of the King of kings. I am all in all and above all, so that God, Himself and I, the Vicar of God, have but one consistory, and I am able to do almost all that God can do. What therefore, can you make of me but God?” (The Bull Sanctum, Nov. 18, 1302, found in the registers of Boniface VIII in the Vatican archives, “Reg. Vatic.,” L, Fol. 387, The Catholic Encyclopedia, © 1913 by the Encyclopedia Press, Inc.)

There you have it! Pope Boniface VIII admitted he was God! All popes have occupied the same position since popery was established. That’s why they expect others to bow to them and kiss their ring. So I ask all my Catholic friends: Who will you serve, the God of creation or the god of the Vatican?

We now know without any question the “critter” the apostle Paul prophesied of when he said a religious system would arise that would “exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple [place], proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thess. 2:1-12). Again, there is no religion that has ever existed that fits this description except the Roman Papacy. About 300 years after the Christian community was ushered in, she rose her ugly head to deceive multitudes. She is still deceiving multitudes.

Catholics need to realize the term “Holy Father” is used only once in the scriptures, and it refers only to God the Father (John 17:11). Not even Jesus was called Holy Father. To apply this holy term to a mere man, such as the pope, is the worst kind of blasphemy. Again, no religious system in history fits the description Paul gives except Catholicism.

“The Spirit clearly says that in later [future] times some will abandon the faith [apostatize] and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons....They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:1-4)

Not long after Paul’s death the “holiness” of an unmarried life began to be taught in the Christian community and eventually resulted in a celibate clergy. The ascetic practice was later extended to foods. These descriptions and symptoms of an apostasy apply only to one religious order—the Catholic Papacy. And none of these practices materialized until two to three centuries after Jesus and His apostles ushered in the community of faith. It was at that time that an apostate system, Catholicism, made her formal entrance—as per the historical record.

• The Roman Catholic Church’s genesis cannot be traced back to the first century A. D.
• As an apostate system, she developed gradually and began to be seen as a visible entity in the second and third centuries A. D.
• She has a colorful history—one that is pregnant with immorality, sexual perversions, child molestations, and doctrinal corruptions.
• She is half paganistic and half Judaistic, and almost zero authentic true Christianity.
• She is the apostate system the apostle Paul predicted would develop and promote all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders.
• There is not, nor has ever been, any religious system in history that is pertinent to Paul’s prophesies except Roman Catholicism.
• There were no Popes, Cardinals, or Archbishops in the first century A. D.
• Peter is never referred to as a pope. He could not have been a pope because the apostle Paul “opposed him to his face” (Galatians 2:11-12).
• If Peter was pope, he should have been Paul’s superior. But it was Paul who opposed Peter. Even the Catholic Bible has Paul opposing Peter.
• The Catholic Church and her leaders violate the same scriptures they profess to have written.
• The new covenant scriptures were composed by the apostles and first century believers, not by Roman Catholics.
• The scriptures were composed two to three centuries prior to Catholicism’s birth.

“Buff, I just want to comment on the use of your Reformation Rumblings column at this time when most of us are mourning the loss of Pope John Paul II. I enjoy reading your Rumblings column and will continue to do so, but you must try to step back and see how it comes across at times. Just ease back at this time and let us work through the next 24 hours as the pope is buried. Then you can get back to promoting your reformation.”—Steve (London, England).

Instead of covering the story in a normal fashion, which would have been perfectly acceptable and expected, the liberal media actually promoted, publicized, preached, and rigidly advanced Catholicism. Even Charlie Gibson, Anchor man for ABC Evening News, announced from the Vatican that Peter was the first pope. This is Catholic evangelism and as false as false can be. For a news anchorman, His remark was totally inappropriate and unprofessional.

If listeners and viewers were so gullible as to not be able to see the difference between reporting the news and media evangelism, then I fear for our country. It is on a course that will take us back to the Dark Ages when the Roman Catholic’s “Holy See” dominated, repressed, ruled, and manipulated a large segment of the then-known world—during which time they persecuted and murdered hundreds of thousands of non-Catholics who refused to bow their knees to the Papacy in Rome.

This is history—plain, concise history. Go to your Public Library and research the history of the Roman Catholic Church and your doubts will soon vanish. Why in heaven’s name do you think Martin Luther fled for his life? The Roman Hierarchy wanted to kill him because he saw the truth about the “Unholy See” and began to oppose it. As you know, Luther became a Catholic defector.

When the day arrives that Catholicism becomes the predominant religion in America, as it is in South America, Spain, the Philippines, and other countries, that will be the day when Americans will regret having been so gullible, ignorant, unlearned, and “wet behind the ears.” But then it will be too late. Do you think for a moment the “Unholy See” in Rome would be any more tolerant toward us than they were toward non-Catholics during the Dark Ages, should they and their religion become the dominating influence in America?

Wake up, America! Get with it. Educate yourself in history. Do not be led around with a ring in your nose. Think independently of all earthen religions. Do not become enslaved by the forces of religious evil, whether they proceed from Rome or from Athens or from Nashville.

You know why? Because it seems the liberal, major media are composed of Roman Catholics—Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer, Peter Jennings, Bill O’Reilly, Brian Williams, Shepard Smith, and a host of others. The media is as lop-sided as lop-lop-sidedness can be. I will not be drawn into their web, as many millions were, considering all of the gullible people from all over the world who swept down upon Rome during the pope’s funeral to “pay their respects” and to be seen on camera, including our own President and two of his predecessors. Politics and politicians love and seek public recognition and “places of honor.”

Well, one thing for certain: Roman Catholicism received more free publicity over the past few days than she ever has. And that’s precisely what she wanted. The Cardinals and other Catholic ecclesiastics donned their best vestments for the occasion and flauted their ritualistic and paganistic religion all over the globe—thanks to the liberal Catholic media.

“The faithful” are those of the Catholic faith! Non-Catholics are not included. Only those whose allegiance has been given the pope are faithful. Since Protestants have not nor will not hand over their loyalty to the “Supreme Pontiff” of the “Holy See,” they are “the unfaithful.” This exclusivistic attitude breeds further animosity between Protestants and Catholics. I have never known a sect or cult that did not parrot the following slogan, either directly or subtly:

“We are what Jesus founded. We are the true children of God. You cannot serve God acceptably unless you surrender what you have and become one of us. We are the true church. All others are counterfeit. We are harbingers of the truth. All other churches are fraudulent copies.”