The Mother Church

St. John Lateran Cathedral

Above is the inscription at the base of the columns on either side of the central entrance door of St. John Lateran, the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, the pope. It reads:

It translates to “Sacred Lateran Church, Universally for the City and the World, Supreme Mother of Churches”, a fulfillment of Revelation 17:5.

Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Here we are told that the woman of Rev 17, the apostate church, is the same entity as the great city of Babylon that reigns over the kings of the earth, found in Rev 18. There is only one church that history shows to have made the claim of authority over the kings of the earth. That church is the Roman Catholic Church, and Babylon is the code word for the city of Rome-

1 Pet 5:13 The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

This verse is widely recognized as meaning Rome, not Babylon. Roman Catholics have even acknowledged this association:

“Babylon,” from which Peter addresses his first Epistle, is understood by learned annotators, Protestant and Catholic, to refer to Rome – the word Babylon being symbolic of the corruption then prevailing in the city of the Caesars.

Source: Faith of Our Fathers, by James Cardinal Gibbons, 111th printing, Published by TAN Books and Publishers, INC., P.O. Box 424, Rockford, Illinois 61105, Copyright 1980, page 87.

Here is wisdom

There are two verses in Revelation that have a striking relationship, both calling for wisdom:

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

This is a clear linkage of the number 666 with the woman that sits on seven mountains. A woman is common symbology in the Bible for a church. Look in any encyclopedia and you will discover that Rome is the city of seven hills or mountains. It is very interesting to note that Vatican City and St. Peter’s Basilica of the Catholic Church were built upon what was called in Latin vaticanus mons or vaticanus collis, which when translated means “hill of prophecy”:

Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Pope Pius the 12th – 1958

Pope John the 23rd – 1959

CITTÁ DEL VATICANO – CITY OF PROPHECY

Pope Paul the 6th – 1963

Above are three 100 Lire coins minted by Vatican City, or the “City of Prophecy”. (Click on a coin for a closer look.) Vatican City is unwittingly declaring itself to be that woman of Revelation 17, the church that claims to rule over the kings of the earth, because the Catholic Church is portrayed on the coins as a woman (FIDES = FAITH) with a cup in her hand (a golden cup of the Mass with sunburst Eucharist host) as described in Rev 17:4:

Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

The cup the woman holds represents false doctrine; fornication or adulteration of the truth.

LEO XII Pontifex Maximus ANNO II SEDET SVPER VNIVERSVM

Above is a bronze papal medal (Mazio #585) of Pope Leo XII, minted to commemorate the second year of his reign, the jubilee year of 1825. Again the Roman Catholic Church is portrayed as a woman seated on the globe with a cup in her hand. The inscription on the reverse reads SEDET SUPER UNIVERSUM, declaring that her seat of authority is universal, i.e., over the entire globe.

Below are illustrations of two more coins (gold – 2 Zecchini) minted during the reign of Leo XII, which depict FIDES (the Catholic Faith) as a woman on the reverse side, also holding the golden cup of the Mass.

2 Zecchini, 22mm diam., 6.9g, .998 gold, Fr. 253, KM 1089
Pope Leo XII – 1825 (Anno III) Populis Expiatis

A gold Scudo minted during the reign of Pope Clement XI in 1718
(Anno XVIII) with a cup holding Fides on the reverse. (Berman 2363, KM 771)

The woman of Rev 17, holding a golden cup, is described in verse 6 as being drunk with the blood of martyrs of Jesus. There is only one Christian church responsible for the death of thousands and thousands of fellow Christians during prolonged periods of persecution – the Roman Catholic Church. This happened in what is called the Dark Ages of European history. Christians were burned at the stake for possessing a Bible, speaking verses in the common tongue rather than Latin, or contradicting the policies of the Papacy. Uncounted thousands were slaughtered during this persecution. Note the following:

(Rev 13:15) … And cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be put to death.

Christ does not do so, neither his Prophets or Apostles teach so, neither have the kings that are Christians received any such instructions to kill men, or to make them think that the worship of Christ is to be stained with blood; for the true God doth not desire any forced, but voluntary service. Wherefore by his mark especially will he make it evident to all that have any understanding, that indeed he is the Antichrist; that indeed he is not Christ, but, according to his name, opposite and contrary to Christ. He is Christ that sheds his own blood, he is Antichrist that sheds the blood of others. — Rupertus, Abbot of Tuits, in his 12th century commentary on Revelation, Apoc. lib. 3. cap. 13.

Source: Pierre Allix, Ecclesiastical History of Ancient Churches of the Piedmont, published in Oxford at the Clarendon Press in 1821, reprinted in USA in 1989 by Church History Research & Archives, P.O. Box 38, Dayton Ohio, 45449, p. 230

The woman of Revelation 17 also rides a beast, and in Bible prophecy a beast is symbolic of a political power or country. So the woman / church of Revelation 17 rides on the political power of the state. The Vatican is not only a city, but since the Lateran Treaty of 1929 signed with Mussolini it is again also a country, with diplomatic relations with nearly every other nation on earth, and the Pope is the head of state. On the left is the Vatican state flag.

She also bears the name of Mystery. Mystery is the term used by the Roman Catholic Church to refer to the Mass, specifically the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. It is a key part of Catholic dogma. These are the words of the priest in Latin or English (emphasis is mine):

HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI, NOVI ET AETERNI TESTAMENTI: MYSTERIUM FIDEI, QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN REMISSIONEM PECCATORUM.

FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL TESTAMENT, THE MYSTERY OF FAITH, WHICH FOR YOU AND FOR MANY SHALL BE SHED UNTO THE REMISSION OF SINS.

She is described in Revelation 17:3 as full of names of blasphemy. How does the Bible define blasphemy? Here is one biblical definition:

Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
Mark 2:6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
Mark 2:7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?

Only God has the power to forgive you your sins. Yet the Roman Catholic Church claims this power for it’s priests. In addition, for hundreds of years the Roman Catholic Church sold what it called indulgences. By contributing to the church, your sins could be forgiven. Indeed the Vatican itself was built by funds raised in this manner. Indulgences continue today in the form of penance. They claim there are works you can do that bear either partial remittance of sins or plenary (full) remittance of sins. So, with the blessing of the church, you can forgive your own sins by your own actions. As Mark 2:3-5 shows, these are examples of the blasphemy described in Rev 17:3.

Conclusions Evident with Additional Facts:

A. The Roman Catholic Church (Papal Rome) is the beast from the sea of Rev 13, the woman of Rev 17 and the Babylon of Rev 18.

B. The Papacy is the Antichrist of Rev 13, whose number is 666, and he is the little horn of Daniel 7 and 8.).

C. The power behind the Papacy of the Roman Catholic Church is none other than Satan. He first attempted to use Rome to kill the infant Jesus. He also used the Roman empire to try to exterminate the early Christians. This just forced Christianity underground, even in a literal sense, yet it still flourished. So Satan changed tactics and infiltrated the church through Pagan practices and began to persecute those who clung to true doctrine, by using the church itself as the exterminator. This era of papal power began in 538 A.D. and ended in 1798 a period of 1260 years. This is the period referred to as 1260 days, 42 months, and 3 1/2 times in the Bible.

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