Wings of Liberty • December 8, 2023
Censoring Free Speech: a Page From the Papal Playbook
Bible prophecy speaks of the lamb-like beast of Revelation 13 making an image to the first beast of Revelation. A beast in Bible prophecy represents a kingdom – see Daniel 7 – raising the question of which kingdoms are represented by these two beasts.
The first, or leopard-like beast of Revelation 13, represents the Roman papacy, especially during the 1260 period from 538 AD to 1798 - see, for example, John Wycliffe at:
The lamb-like beast of Revelation 13 represents primarily the United States – it is the only globally dominant kingdom with world-wide significance arising after the 1798 year period and the deadly wound to the papacy (the overthrow of the papal state by Napolean Bonaparte 1 and capture and exile of Pope Pius VI). The lamb-like beast is said to arise from the earth. The United States arose from the land of the New World. The lamb-like characteristics of civil and religious liberty, and the recognition of the individual rights bestowed by the Creator on every human being, are the secrets of America’s great strength. It is this which has secured the blessings of Providence.
But Revelation 13 describes a sad deterioration in the lamb-like beast, and states that it will make an image to the persecuting papal beast, and then force all the earth to worship it.
What then would an image to the papal beast look like? To answer this question we must analyze the papal beast. What is it? What does it do? How does it function?
The papacy is a church-state power. The Pope, the head of the church, is also the head of state. The church, therefore, influences and controls the state. Bible prophecy predicts that at its end, America will be controlled by a religious power. But there is more.
The papacy abhors individual rights. Popes for centuries have railed against the concept of individual rights, and specifically liberty of individual conscience. According to the papacy, there is literally nothing worse for a nation than state recognition of the right to one’s own thoughts and beliefs, and the ability to share them. Pope Pius IX in his Encyclical Letter of August 15, 1854, said: “The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience are a most pestilential error--a pest, of all others, most to be dreaded in a state.”
One of the primary ways the papacy made war against liberty of conscience was the suppression of any and all written material which encouraged individual liberty of conscience. First on that list was the Bible, which the people were prohibited from having in their own languages for many centuries. Next was censorship of the Reformers and suppression of their work.
The Inquisition maintained a list of books which it had banned for centuries, specifically from 1560 to 1966. The purpose of this book was to suppress so-called “heresy”, much of which consisted of Biblical truth, just criticism of tyrannical popes and their legions of institutional minions, and the philosophical doctrines of liberty which built the western world. Foremost among these is the doctrine of liberty of conscience.
Since the papacy was, and still is, a tyrannical censoring power, and the lamb-like beast makes an image to the first beast, would it be reasonable to suspect that the American government will begin to censor and suppress free speech? The answer is yes. The Bible prophesies this very thing.
It has been repeatedly evidenced that the White House was directly involved in the suppression of free speech on social media platforms, and that multiple federal agencies were involved in a national, and even global effort, to suppress the truth about lockdowns, Covid vaccines, and a number of other subjects. In other words, America has repeatedly taken concerted and intentional steps to overthrow the First Amendment free speech rights of its own citizens through collusion with social media companies.
It is expected that tyrannical powers like China and Venezuela will suppress the free speech of their citizens. These countries never have spoken like a lamb – they have always been tyrannical, and they will doubtless remain so. However, America was built on better and more noble and virtuous principles. And that is why its change from being a protector of liberty to an antagonist of liberty is worth sorrowing over, and notably prophetic.
The following video excerpts speak for themselves.
The death of Pope Francis after his twelve-year pontificate initiated all the wheels of pageantry, intrigue and mystery of the process to select a new pope. Tens of thousands of social media pages and channels focused on Rome, waiting for the puff of white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Major news channels around the world offered free live coverage of the conclave. Breathless anchors analyzed every nuance from the Vatican. The global focus and elaborate ceremony is calculated to perpetrate the myth that popes, and the Papacy itself, are invested with some great authority and deserves honor and recognition from the world. The media charade is effective, wouldn’t you say? Revelation 13:3 says the world will wonder after the beast, and it certainly is. But the truth is that the pope is simply a man, just like Bill or Bob down the street. We now know the name of the man selected to be the next pope. His name is Robert Prevost, and he was born in Illinois in 1955. But a change of name is part of the mysteries of Rome, so “Robert Prevost” will be henceforth referred to as “Pope Leo XIV”, and “His Holiness”. According to the Vatican, Bob from Chicago is now the representative of Jesus Christ on earth. Since Jesus Christ is holy, now it is claimed that Bob is holy. It is said that he has the keys of heaven and earth, and is the successor to Peter (who the Papacy self-servingly claims was the first pope). All of this is blasphemy of the highest order, and is why the Bible unmistakably points to the papacy as “the man of sin”: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God – 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4. See also Daniel 7, and the little horn power described in verses 24, 25, and Revelation 13:5-8. Mr. Prevost’s election as pontiff was announced by the cardinals with the words, “habemus papum”, translated literally from the Latin, as “we have a father.” The word “pope”, in English, comes from the word, “papa”, in Latin. The word “papa” means “father. By this, the cardinals, who are the so-called princes of the church, are announcing to the world that it has a spiritual father once more. But Jesus warned us clearly not to refer to mere men as “father”, because we have a Father, and He is in heaven – Matthew 23:9. The throne of God is never vacant – He is the Everlasting Father, and He is our Father, not Mr. Prevost from Chicago. What does it take to draw the attention of the entire world at the same time, to the election of one fallible man for a religious position? What does it take to perpetrate a global fraud? It takes money. Coordination. An agenda. And a power from beneath. The dragon gave his power, seat and great authority to the Papacy – Revelation 13:2. So what can we expect from the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV? Nearly everything the Vatican does has some symbolic meaning, and the assumption of the name “Leo” by Robert Prevost is no different. The last time Leo was used as a papal name was when it was used by Leo XIII, in his pontificate spanning the years 1878-1903. Leo XIII wrote the encyclical Rerum Novarum, the infamous anti-capitalism treatise on unions and workers’ rights. Leo XIII was known as “the Pope of the Workers”, and it seems likely that Leo XIV will continue the narrative of qualifying and curtailing individual rights in favor of implementing what the Papacy decrees to be the “common good”. A connection to watch will be papal support for principles and aims of Project 2025, and the initiatives in that document to harness the political power of labor unions, including by enforcing a mandatory weekly day of rest on the papal Sabbath, commonly known as Sunday. It should be remembered that it was during the papacy of Leo XIII that America had its Sunday law crisis in 1888, where national legislation was introduced by Senator Blair to compel observance of the papal Sabbath. This effort, which ultimately failed, was the culmination of the work of the National Reform Movement to combine church and state in America, a work which is mirrored by today’s New Apostolic Reformation, and its efforts to take control of the so-called seven mountains of societal influence. It ought not to be forgotten that it was Leo X who excommunicated Martin Luther, and demanded to have him delivered to Rome to face the Inquisition. Conclusion: It has long been said that there never would be a pope from the United States because of the global influence America already has. This has now suddenly changed, and is a solemn indicator of some momentous push requiring maximum political and religious clout.
For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has fraudulently told the world that it holds the keys to salvation. It has even placed these keys, symbolizing its usurped authority over all things in heaven and in earth, on the Vatican flag. i And it has made merchandise of salvation, advertising that people can pay to enter the kingdom of heaven, selling forgiveness by issuing “indulgences” and relaxed punishments for sin. Catholicism teaches the unbiblical doctrine of eternal torment in hell, as well as the doctrine of purgatory, another place of punishment in addition to hell where a person must supposedly suffer for their sins and be refined before going to heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven”. i But (surprise, surprise!!) this process can be rapidly sped up, it is claimed, as long as the living are willing to pony up and pay for expedited cleansing of the dead. In the 15 th century, Johann Tetzel, one of these false hawkers of salvation, famously broadcast that, "As soon as a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs." This blasphemous and shameless exploitation of public ignorance and fear led Martin Luther in his 95 Thesis to proclaim that “They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory." ii Luther wrote that indulgences were sold by the papacy for the most vile crimes, so that even if a person had raped Jesus’ mother they could get forgiveness by paying money to the Pope. iv The practice of issuing indulgences is still practiced by the Papacy today. Pope Francis before his death offered indulgences for sin and escape from purgatory during the Jubilee year of 2025. v These indulgences can be obtained, according to the Catholic Church, by going on a pilgrimage to Rome. Another indication that the New Apostolic Reformation is among the daughters of the Roman Church of Revelation 17 is its obsession with the accumulation of filthy lucre. C. Peter Wagner, church growth specialist, self-styled “apostle”, and often-credited originator of the name, “New Apostolic Reformation”, declares that, “Prosperity is the will of God, while poverty is the will of Satan.vi Wagner claimed that the reason Christianity had not succeeded in the Gospel commission is because it did not have enough money, asserting that money is the key to societal transformation. vii NAR Apostle Bill Johnson claims that “poverty is demonic”. viii Wagner taught that the NAR apostles needed to enter spiritual warfare with the powerful demons that controlled the seven mountains of society, and that “we will not experience sustained societal reformation until we bind the spirit of poverty through the blood.” ix NAR apostle Lance Walnau claims that Christianity doesn’t need more conversions to shift the culture , what it needs is “more disciples in the right places, the high places.” x It seems to have eluded Mr. Walnau that the apostate kings of ancient Israels also went to the high places to practice their idolatry. xi According to the teachings of NAR apostles, these assertions aren’t just opinions, either. “While there are several things that distinguish apostles from other members of the Body of Christ, the major characteristic that stands out over the others is their exceptional authority.” vii Like mother like daughter: the claim to authority is also papal. So, is the problem with the advancement of the Gospel in this world due to a lack of funds? Is Jesus waiting for His people to get a big pot of money before He can send them out successfully to do His work? Is that biblical, or is it unbliblical? The test of all doctrine is the Scriptures. We are to compare the teachings of the NAR with the Bible: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” – Isaiah 8:20. The Pope claims to be the successor of Peter. He makes this boastful claim in regard to the same Apostle Peter who said to the lame man who looked to him for alms, “silver and gold have I none” – Acts 3:6. Jesus instructed the apostles to take “neither bread, neither money” (Luke 9:3) when they went out in ministry: they were to rely on the power and providence of God. But the Popes of Rome could hardly say that they have no silver or gold. The Vatican is full of both silver and gold, and all manner of costly riches in extraordinary abundance. When Simon Magus attempted to purchase salvation and the power to work miracles, Peter sternly denounced him, saying, “They money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money” – Acts 8:20. But Peter wasn’t finished. He continues: “Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God” – Acts 8:21. Simon had no lot or part in the Gospel ministry. The Bible says that “the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” – 1 Timothy 6:10. Who had the money bag during the time Jesus was with His apostles on earth? It wasn’t Peter – it was Judas. But Judas was a thief, and he was stealing from the money bag. Paula White Cain, another of the New Apostolic Reformation’s Apostles and official leader of the White House Faith office, recently also monetized the blessings of heaven by selling Passover cups to her followers, and promising them that if they donated more than $1000 they would receive a crystal cross and 7 blessings, including God’s assignment of an angel to them, prosperity, healing, long life, etc.
Bible prophecy warns us to expect powerful religious forces to hijack the American government and endorse and enforce a Roman Catholic institution as a condition of buying and selling. i This website has spoken ( here , here , here and here ) of the repeated papal and false Protestant efforts to seize control of civil power in the United States and reunite church and state. As Delilah the harlot sought to discover and eliminate the secret of Samson’s power, so the Papal harlot has unceasingly sought to find and eliminate the source of America’s power, and bring it to its knees. As Delilah sensed the moment of her triumph had come, the Papacy surely senses that the fall of the mighty is near. On behalf of apostate Protestantism, the harlot’s daughters, the New Apostolic Reformation believes in the subordination of the state to the church, and counts a number of prominent politicians and advisors in Washington D.C. as its followers. ii Catholic Integralism also maintains the church must control the state, and counts the Vice President as its follower, iii as well as multiple Cabinet members from the Opus Dei-influenced Heritage Foundation. iv Catholicism and apostate Protestantism, therefore, are in a position to exert substantial control over government, in effect uniting church and state in fulfilment of Bible prophecy. In another harbinger of the proximity of the crisis, on Wednesday, March 5, the White House held a Catholic mass on its grounds and issued a statement in celebration of the commencement of the Catholic festival of Lent on Ash Wednesday. The statement of the President and First Lady reads as follows: This Ash Wednesday, we join in prayer with the tens of millions of American Catholics and other Christians beginning the holy season of Lent—a time of spiritual anticipation of the passion, death, and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. During the Lenten season, Christians spend 40 days and 40 nights praying, fasting, and giving alms to deepen our faith and strengthen our belief in the Gospel. Today, followers of Christ wear crosses of ash on their foreheads—a sacred reminder of our mortality and our enduring need for Christ’s infinite mercy and redeeming love. As we solemnly contemplate Jesus Christ’s suffering and death on the cross this Lent, let us prepare our souls for the coming glory of the Easter miracle. We offer you our best wishes for a prayerful and enriching Lenten season. May Almighty God bless you, and may He continue to bless the United States of America. v The White House should not be hosting Catholic mass on government grounds. The White House is a government building, and it ought to be a neutral religious space, not a place to endorse the practices of any one religion, or denomination. So why are the President, the head of the Executive Branch, and the First Lady, issuing a statement on a government website with respect to Lent at all? Donald Trump and his wife Melania can celebrate Lent if they want, but they ought not to misuse the enormous power of the US government to encourage or endorse religious practices to Americans. The Bible says, “Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.” vi The point is that government leaders are welcome to observe Lent if they wish in their own personal lives, but they are out of their sphere of authority to use their influence to normalize Lent or any other religious observance. The White House statement then claims that Lent is a Christian practice, but is Lent biblical? Does the Bible talk about moping around with the sign of the cross drawn with ashes on your forehead? The Bible answer is a resounding ‘No’. Lent is not a biblical precept or festival any more than Sunday is the biblical Sabbath. Both are Roman Catholic traditions devoid of Scriptural origin. With respect to Sunday observance, Rome boasts of its change of the Sabbath, even issuing an unanswerable challenge to Protestants who bow in homage to her authority in honoring Sunday. We invite you to read “ Rome’s Challenge ” if you have never done so. vii Similarly, Lent is a Roman Catholic tradition. It is a merits-based exercise from start to finish devoid of the righteousness of Christ. The Reformer John Calvin called it “superstitious” and “wrongheaded zeal.” viii The Reformer Ulrich Zwingli declared the observance of Lent incongruous with the Christian gospel in a sermon on April 16, 1522. ix We would add that Lent is precisely the kind of public virtue signalling the Bible condemns x and right-wing conservatives dislike about their left-wing opponents. Think of it as the Catholic version of painting a rainbow on your face. Key Points of the White House Statement The endorsement and promotion of Lent by the White House is a violation of the spirit of the separation of church and state. It is a formal commendation by the civil power of the US government of a Roman Catholic religious festival. Consider the following. The Executive Branch of the US government has no business declaring its favor, participation in, or endorsement of a certain religion’s festivals The White House in its statement on the official government website refers to "the holy season of Lent". As discussed, there is nothing in the Holy Bible about Lent being a holy season. God never said anything about Lent at all, it is wholly an ordination of the Man of Sin. But apart from this, the Executive Branch of government should not be declaring festivals or feast days to be holy or unholy. That is not the proper role of any earthly government. When God delivered the Ten Commandments to Moses, they were written on two tables, thus evidencing the difference between humanity’s obligations to God, and humanity’s obligations to their fellow humanity. Christ declared in immortal words the principle of the separation of church and state when He stated, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” xi God is holy, and it is for the Lord to declare what is holy and what is not. Caesar is not holy, and has nothing to do with saying what is or is not holy. Any attempt to declare that something is holy when God has not said that it is holy is an intrusion on the exclusive territory of the Deity. 2. The White House states that, During the Lenten season, “Christians spend 40 days and 40 nights praying”, and "Today, followers of Christ wear crosses of ash on their foreheads." It is not for the American government to declare what the followers of Christ do or do not do. This ill-conceived statement underscores the pitfalls of government wading into the religious realm to declare what is orthodox. First, and strictly factually speaking, it is the followers of the Papacy, and Pope Gregory specifically, who put ashes on their foreheads, xii it is not done pursuant to any decree of Christ. According to the Catholic Church, “the use of ashes is a survival from an ancient rite according to which converted sinners submitted themselves to canonical penance.” xiii Canonical penance is a form of works-based righteousness by which Catholics believe they accrue or accumulate personal merit to gain standing with God. Penance in Catholicism was declared by the Council of Trent xiv to be “at all times necessary for the remission of grievous sin.” xv The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the person who sins “must repent and as far as possible make reparation to Divine justice.” xvi But the Bible teaches that Christ has made reparation for humanity. He died “once for all”, xvii and that the “Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” xviii No additional reparations (works) can be added to the completed work of Christ in taking the sins of the world upon Himself. The Apostle Paul states, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” xix 3. The White House claims the penance of Lent “deepens our faith and strengthens our belief in the Gospel” Is this true? No, it is not. Works based righteousness, i.e. wearing ashes on one’s forehead to make reparations for sin, undermine and repudiate faith in the Gospel. They do not strengthen faith in the Gospel at all! Such acts of penance declare that a person places merit on their own acts of contrition, their own works, to commend themselves to God, and disbelieve the sufficiency of Christ’s payment for the sins of the world. xx 4. Jesus Christ never wore ashes on His forehead, nor did He command His followers to do any such thing, nor is there any example of any of His apostles doing this On what basis does the White House presume to declare that the followers of Christ do this? Do the mournful people following the Papacy’s Lent realize that Jesus specifically taught His followers not to fast in this way? The Lord declared, “When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast . Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” xxi Christ said the reward of the people with ashes prominently displayed on their foreheads is the notice of men, not the commendation of God. 5. The White House states that we should "... prepare our souls for the coming glory of the Easter miracle" by fasting for Lent. Should a neutral state on a government website be making this statement? Is it the place of the Executive Branch to offer spiritual advice to Americans? Why is the U.S. government promoting the Papal teaching that penance and fasting is required to prepare for Easter? Promoting papal teachings on Lent is a definite step toward promoting Papal teaching on the sacredness of Sunday. Since the White House has already declared that the Papal practice of Lent is “holy”, is it not reasonably foreseeable that the White House will one day declare that the Papal teaching of Sunday is also holy, and is the day that Christians rest from their labors? CONCLUSION The Bible teaches that religious forces will cause America to make an image to the Papal power, and enforce observance of the mark of Papal authority – the change of the fourth commandment to solemnize dia solis, the Day of the Sun – Sunday. Revelation 13 states that the Lamb-like Beast will cause everyone “to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads .” xxii Given the certainty of the prophetic warnings in Revelation 13, the White House’s endorsement of Papal ashes on the foreheads of Americans is uncomfortable foreshadowing. Lent has its origins in paganism and Babylonian myth. The word "Lent" comes from the Old English word for Spring, "Lencten". To read about the pagan origins of Lent, and the 40 day weeping for Tammuz referred to in Ezekiel 8:13, 14,..... click here . _______________________ i Revelation 13: 11-18 ii https://forward.com/culture/672745/christian-nationalist-guide-influence-trump-election/ ; NAR Apostle Paula White is the Senior Advisor of the newly created White House Faith Office. iii https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/j-d-vance-and-the-rise-of-the-postliberal-catholics.html iv https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/26/kevin-roberts-project-2025-opus-dei v https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/03/the-president-and-first-ladys-message-on-ash-wednesday-2025/ vi Romans 14 :22 vii https://www.romeschallenge.com/ viii https://heidelblog.net/2013/02/calvin-on-lent/ ix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affair_of_the_Sausages#:~:text=The%20Affair%20of%20the%20Sausages%20(1522)%20was,God%2C%20Huldrych%20Zwingli%27s%20Reformation%20took%20its%20start.%22 x Isaiah 58:4, 5 “ Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?”. xi Mark 12:17 xii https://www.dynamiccatholic.com/lent/ash-wednesday.html? srsltid=AfmBOopiIDBGnYFGsJhchQ4xtGbzxfWFN-JckjKMQbIAu_fMH_IUkgo- xiii https://www.ncregister.com/blog/9-things-to-know-and-share-about-ash-wednesday-oeeorfvu - penance is a Catholic concept of works-based merit to earn standing with God. xiv (Sess. XIV, c.i) xv https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11618b.htm xvi https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11618b.htm xvii Hebrews 10:10 xviii Isaiah 53:6 xix Romans 4:4,5 xx 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead: And that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Colosians 1:20, 21 For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled. xxi Matthew 6:16 xxii Revelation 13:16