Ecumenicide
by Jackie Alnor

Publisher’s note: inadvertently an unedited early version of this opinion piece was placed "on line" that contained some information – and references – that did not belong in this final version. We took that version down in favor of this new one.

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As the Vatican produced video, Let There Be Peace: The Pope and Other Faiths, shows, the goal of Pope John Paul II has always been to be the bridge for all the world’s religions to come together under the banner of peace. His openness to ecumenical talks with the so-called "separated brethren" has won the favor of many of today’s beloved and not so beloved church leaders such as Billy Graham, Bill Bright, Paul Crouch, Jack Van Impe.

But what the Catholic church fails to tell all those wearing papal rose-colored glasses is that the unity can only be achieved by coming under his Holy "Roman" See. The pope seems quite willing to reinterpret Protestant doctrines to somehow sound like Catholic ones in order to justify the realignment of the religious planets. He refuses, however, to back down on his own pet doctrines, such as Mariology, Papal infallibility, and transubstantiation. Instead, he tries to make others think that those beliefs are acceptable, even if different, in the realm of historical Christianity.

Unfortunately, so many influential voices in the Evangelical church have bought the package and are using their influence to spread this corruption into all areas of Christendom. Some of the best known "counter-cult" ministries lead the pack on behalf of the pope and attack outspoken godly men, like Dave Hunt, who are sounding a much needed alarm for the rest of us.

Many pastors worldwide look toward the apologists in the church for guidance in determining what stand to take on controversial issues that arise. Some of the apologists have earned the trust of others as they have been perceived to have superior understanding of historical theological concepts. And as pastors submit to their decrees, they in turn pass those views to the flock entrusted to them.

There are hundreds of apologetics ministries in America and I thank God for them because the church has benefited by their gifts as they have provided us with useful information on cults and the occult. But they do not all necessarily agree with each other on every issue that arises. And with the Catholic issue there is much disagreement among the different ministries.

The common acceptance of Catholicism as just another orthodox Christian denomination is, I believe, the fruit of certain well-respected apologists. And they have friends who lead giant, mega-churches and who have eaten the forbidden fruit and scattered the seeds of compromise around the world. The list of ministries contributing to the ecumenical climate cannot be numbered, but some of the most substantial ones, such as CRI (Christian Research Institute) and renowned apologist, Norman Geisler, are soft on Romanism, choosing to look the other way on Rome’s devastating false gospel.

I was so surprised to see Watchman Fellowship’s Craig Branch, a personal friend of mine, on Mother Angelica’s EWTN (Eternal Word Network) recently speaking out against the New Age movement. The common bond of all of these apologists seems to be their friendship with Catholic apologist, Fr. Mitch Pacwa, a Jesuit priest from Loyola University in Chicago. His work in fighting back the progress of new age ideas in the Catholic Church has won him favor with Protestants with similar concerns.

These well-educated men must not intimidate us. We must not go along with their program for the sake of keeping peace. The scourge of what the late Walter Martin called "nonrockatheboatitis" seems to be pandemic in the church today. But, this sort of compromise could very well lead us into the "pax romana," the peace the pope is looking to preside over, a world-wide religion of falsehood.