The Rise of an Empire – Part 2
TimeWatch Editorial
January 7, 2016
The fall of the Papacy was colossal. It lost the Papal States and global authority. In 1796, French Republican troops under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Ital y . The Papal army was defeated and General Berthier entered Rome, on February 10, 1798, and, demanded that the Pope renounce all his power. PiusVI refused to relinquish his authority. On February 20, 1798, he was arrested, and led from the Vatican where he was held. On August 29, 1799 Pius VI died. His body was embalmed and not buried until January 30, 1800. “The History of the World” Website describes the events following the death of Pius VI:
“The new pope, Pius VII, is at first conciliatory towards Napoleon. He travels to Paris in 1804 to officiate at Napoleon's imperial coronation . But by 1808 relations have deteriorated. The pope annoys Napoleon by refusing to sanction the annulment of his brother Jerome's marriage and, perhaps more significantly, by not bringing the ports of the papal states into the Continental System .”
Napoleon follows up these affronts by annexing in 1809 all that remains of the Papal States, including the city of Rome, and by announcing that the pope no longer has any form of temporal authority. Pius VII responds by an immediate use of his spiritual authority, excommunicating Napoleon himself and everyone else connected with this outrage. He is immediately arrested and removed to imprisonment in France.” The History of the World
But as Revelation 13 and verse 3 says, the deadly wound was healed. That healing process began with the “Congress of Vienna.” The Congress of Vienna was a meeting of ambassadors of European states held in Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815. The objective of the assembly was to make available an enduring peace for Europe by resolving significant issues caused by the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The objective was not merely to re-establish old boundaries but to redraw the main powers so they could remain at peace. “The History of the World” Website continues:
“The congress of Vienna restores the papacy, like other temporal powers, to its pre-Napoleonic territories. Pius VII returns from imprisonment in France to an ecstatic welcome in the Papal States. One of his first actions proves him in sympathy with the spirit of the times. Turning the clock back to the days before enlightenment and revolution, he restores in 1814 the Jesuit order.” The History of the World
Finally came the Lateran Treaty of 1929, which completely restored the Papacy. It was an agreement made in 1929 between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See . The Treaty recognized the full sovereignty of the Holy See in the State of Vatican City. Benito Mussolini, leader of the Government of Italy at this time decided that the Catholic Church would be a better asset than an enemy, and therefore decided to work with the Holy See.
The Papal States (the name given to land previously owned by the Roman Catholic Church in Italy) had lost all its land in the 1870 unification of Italy. The Roman Catholic Church received £30 million in compensation in 1929 and the Church was given 109 acres in Rome to create a new papal state – the Vatican. The pope was allowed a small army, police force, post office and rail station. The pope was also given a country retreat called Castel Gandolfo.
To gain credibility with the Roman Catholic Church, Mussolini had his children baptized in 1923. In 1926, he had a religious marriage ceremony to his wife Rachele. Their first marriage in 1915 had been a civil ceremony. Mussolini closed down many wine shops and night clubs. He also made swearing in public a crime.
One of the reasons why Mussolini pushed the idea that women should stay at home and look after the family while their husbands worked, was because this was an idea pushed by the Roman Catholic Church. Mussolini voiced his disapproval at the use of contraception – an identical stance to the Roman Catholic Church. Like the Roman Catholic Church, Mussolini also wanted divorce banned in Italy. By doing all of this, Mussolini was trying to bring the Roman Catholic Church onto his side to get its support and give added credibility to his government. C. N .Trueman "Mussolini and the Roman Catholic Church" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 25 May 2015.
So now the wound was healed. The once wounded head would now proceed to fulfill the prophecies of the Voice of God. We will continue in part 3.
Cameron A. Bowen
