Another unprecedented event will take place when Pope Francis visits the Waldensian church in northern Italy, because he will be the first pope to do so.
This is a huge thing for several reasons:
Science.
The pope’s visit is planned for June 21-22. June 21 so happens to be the day of the solstice, which is a term that literally means “sun-stopping” in the original Latin. It is the longest day of the year and marks the peak of the sun’s influence on the earth for the year. That is why it marks the beginning of the summer season in the northern hemisphere. It is definitely an important day for sun-worshipers!
The pope’s visit is on the first day of summer, but the solstice will not actually occur until the late afternoon or early evening in that location. That means it would be too late to celebrate the strength of the sun with his Waldensian friends on that day. The meeting had to be arranged the next day for it to be in the summer season. Note that the information release is said to say “first thing on Monday morning,” meaning that the meeting was scheduled as close to the solstice as was practical.
History.
You have to understand a little bit of Protestant history to appreciate the significance of a POPE visiting a WALDENSIAN church. Ellen G. White summarized this history as follows:
The persecutions visited for many centuries upon this God-fearing people were endured by them with a patience and constancy that honored their Redeemer. Notwithstanding the crusades against them, and the inhuman butchery to which they were subjected, they continued to send out their missionaries to scatter the precious truth. They were hunted to death; yet their blood watered the seed sown, and it failed not of yielding fruit. {GC 78.1}[1]
What she calls “inhuman butchery” does not come anywhere close to describing what the papacy did to the Waldensians, just for being good people. If you can stomach the graphic descriptions, read about the Piedmont Easter as recorded in History of the Waldenses by J. A. Wylie and compare it with the Jesuit Oath!
The root issues that led to the persecution have not changed. Catholicism still holds its unbiblical traditions, and the pope still seeks to wield universal sway over the minds and actions of all the people of the world. So, what does this symbolic visit really signify?
Is this a show of reconciliation to their posterity who no longer “protest” against Rome, or is it a fearful warning to the figurative “Waldensians” of today who still protest? Here we see the mixed message with a pleasing exoteric (outward) meaning, but also an esoteric (hidden) meaning, much like the signet of the Year of Saul (Paul)!
Prophecy.
Ellen G. White said “of those who resisted the encroachments of the papal power, the Waldenses stood foremost.”[2] In that sense, we could definitely say that the Waldensians prefigured whoever would become the most ardent Protestants of the world today, as I suggested in the point above. But who could that be?
I can assure you, it is not the organized Seventh-day Adventist Church. It has already hushed down to a whisper all the Protestant voices within its ranks. Don’t make me flatter myself by telling you what ministry exposes this pope the most forcefully with the weightiest evidence. Suffice it to say that this ministry is located in Paraguay, which the pope will promptly visit July 10-12, only about three weeks after the Waldensians.
The former half of that time will close with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, which will make “every quarter” of the country fulfill the type of Sodom, and the latter half of the time will be occupied by the self-absorbed, crisis-wrung General Conference Session of Seventh-day Adventists. Meanwhile, the sixth trumpet of Revelation will sound on July 8.
Yes, it is a time busy with events of prophetic proportions, but what does it all mean? For one thing, you can be sure that there will not be a conciliatory attitude between him and us, like there is between him and his Waldensian friends.
All of this will transpire within the same lunar month, proclaiming peace to the Waldensians on the one hand, and declaring war upon his enemies on the other. This lunar month corresponds almost exactly to the seventh commandment-month,[3] which is about the desecration of marriage on a couple of levels: literally through the gay marriage ruling, and spiritually through the union/marriage of Protestants (represented by the Waldensians) with Rome. (Watch yourself too, that you are personally living in compliance with the commandment: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”)
The last line of the Adventist Today article is the ultimate betrayal of Adventist roots:
It is another of many steps that Pope Francis has taken which are understood to symbolize changes of attitude on the part of the Roman Catholic leadership.
Are they calling Ellen G. White a liar!? Are they saying they would be ready to embrace this “change of attitude” like the Waldensian Church did!?
They should have concluded the article by quoting Ellen G. White at least once:
Rome never changes. Her principles have not altered in the least. She has not lessened the breach between herself and Protestants; they have done all the advancing. (ST February 19, 1894)[4]
For more information on the character and aims of the papacy, see: The Great Controversy, p. 563
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