Since President Donald Trump shocked the world with his innovated plan to resettle the Palestinian population in Arab lands the world has been reeling with varied reactions. President Trump’s logic is similar to his motive behind the Abraham Accords, i.e. doing the same thing over and over expecting different results is insanity. A new way forward had to be found. 

The Vatican has presented a one-sided narrative, constantly condemning Israel, while remaining silent on the atrocities committed by Hamas, Hezbollah and the terrorist arms of the Palestinian Authority. November of last year, the Pope released a book entitled “Hope Never Disappoints: Pilgrims Toward a Better World” in which he stated:

"Some experts say what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide, we should investigate carefully to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies."

The deafening silence over the atrocities committed by Hamas that sparked the latest Gaza war, and the lack of a call for the hostages to be released peels back the curtain on these types of comments.

In December of last year, the Pope condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. The news agency EURACTIV.com reported:

"Yesterday, children were bombed," said the pope. "This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart."

The article continued:

Israel's foreign ministry said that Israel was defending itself against the cruelty exemplified by Hamas militants "hiding behind children while trying to murder Israeli children," holding 100 hostages and abusing them.

"Unfortunately, the Pope has chosen to ignore all of this," the ministry said, adding that the "death of any innocent person in a war is a tragedy."

"Israel makes extraordinary efforts to prevent harm to innocents, while Hamas makes extraordinary efforts to increase harm to Palestinian civilians," the ministry said.

Again, in January of this year, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops posted an article quoting the Pope:

"Both the Israelis and the Palestinians need clear signs of hope. I trust that the political authorities of both of them, with the help of the international community, may reach the right solution for the two states. May everyone be able to say: yes to dialogue, yes to reconciliation, yes to peace."

The same article went on to state:

Pope Francis also spoke about the ceasefire deal during an Italian television interview aired that evening, and specifically about the need for a two-state solution.

"The possibility exists! I also believe it is the only solution," he said.

This is a sharp contrast with Trump’s plan for Gaza. The Israeli government has embraced his plan. The reaction around the world has varied. The Vatican has been very clear on its position. On February 10, 2025, the Pope wrote a 10-point letter to the Bishops of the USA in which he stated:

“…all the Christian faithful and people of good will are called upon to consider the legitimacy of norms and public policies in the light of the dignity of the person and his or her fundamental rights, not vice versa.

I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of good will, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters. With charity and clarity we are all called to live in solidarity and fraternity, to build bridges that bring us ever closer together, to avoid walls of ignominy and to learn to give our lives as Jesus Christ gave his for the salvation of all.

Pope Francis’ call to civil disobedience, questioning the legitimacy of public policy, and asking people “not to give in to narratives that discriminate” is a direct affront to the United States government by the Vatican.

CRUX, a Catholic publication, identified the roots of some of his comments:

To this end, he quoted Pope Pius XII’s 1952 constitution on the care of migrants, Exul Familia, which stated that the Holy Family, as exiled refugees seeking to escape the wrath of a violent king, “are the model, the example and the consolation of emigrants and pilgrims of every age and country.”

They are a model, Pius XII said, for “all refugees of every condition who, beset by persecution or necessity, are forced to leave their homeland, beloved family and dear friends for foreign lands.”

Pius XII’s analogy of the holy family is a very hypocritical example to cite, considering his own background.

Pius XII, formerly Cardinal Pacelli, was also known as Hitler’s Pope. As the Papal Nuncio to Germany, (before becoming pope) he signed the concordat on behalf of the Vatican with German Vice-Chancellor Franz Von Papen on behalf of Nazi Germany in 1933, guaranteeing the safety of Catholics in exchange for the Church’s support of Hitler. In March of 1939 Pacelli became Pope Pius XII and would preside over the Vatican during WWII and its aftermath until 1958.

Pacelli was implicated in collusion with the Nazi regime in the books Hitler’s Pope and The Secret History of Pius XII written by John Cornwell.  Cornwell criticized Pope Pius XII for being antisemitic and not speaking out against the Holocaust.

Another author J.S. Conway in his book The Nazi Persecution of the Churches quoted Hitler’s claim:

As for the Jews, I am just carrying on with the same policy which the Catholic church has adopted for fifteen hundred years, when it has regarded the Jews as dangerous and pushed them into ghettos etc., because it knew what the Jews were like. I don't put race above religion, but I do see the danger in the representatives of this race for Church and State, and perhaps I am doing Christianity a great service."

Edmond Paris, in his books The Vatican against Europe and The Secret History of the Jesuits highlights the involvement of the Vatican in the persecution of the Jews. Paris quotes Francisco Franco, the Dictator of Spain (who established Catholicism as the State religion of Spain) as stating in the Spanish Press on May 3, 1945:

"Adolf Hitler, son of the Catholic Church, died while defending Christianity. It is therefore understandable that words cannot be found to lament over his death, when so many were found to exalt his life. Over his mortal remains stands his victorious figure. With the palm of the Martyr, God gives Hitler the laurels of Victory."

When the War ended, “refugees” who Pius XII would help, included high-ranking Nazis who escaped Europe through the “Ratlines” including Ante Pavelic, Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele as is documented in Ratlines, a book by Mark Aarons and John Loftus.

The Church masterfully played both sides during the war, as it often does, so it can always claim to be on the side of the winner.

Pope Francis has openly criticize Trump’s government which includes prominent Catholics such as Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Trumps “border czar” Tom Homan, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kenedy Junior, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Ambassador to the United Nations Elise Stefanik, amongst others.

The Pope directly criticized Vice President Vance’s interpretation of the Catholic doctrine “ordo amoris” in his letter to the bishops. 

The position of the Catholic Church was also made clear with regards to Trump’s policy on Gaza. The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, stated during an Italy-Vatican meeting on February 13, 2025:

No deportations, and this is one of the fundamental points…. Whoever was born and has lived in Gaza must remain on their land. The solution in our opinion is that of two states because this also means giving hope to the population.

The reason the Church is so opposed to Israel, and constantly hampers peace in the Middle East, stoking the fires of unrest in the Gaza population, is a contest of religion.

When in 1904 Theodore Herzl’s requested the Vatican’s endorsement for a Jewish State in Palestine he received the following reply:

We cannot prevent the Jews from going to Jerusalem – but we could never sanction it. The ground of Jerusalem, if it were not always sacred, has been sanctified by the life of Jesus Christ. As the head of the Church, I cannot answer you otherwise. The Jews have not recognized Our Lord; therefore, we cannot recognize the Jewish people. (Pius X, January 10, 1904)

The late author Avro Manhattan in his book The Vatican Moscow Washington Alliance written in 1982 exposed the roots of the enmity the Vatican has to the state of Israel, the only Jewish state on the planet:

The spectre of the creation of such a theocracy (i.e. a Jewish state) has haunted the inner chambers of the Catholic Church from her earliest inception, and is still a dominant fear.  Hence her equivocal role in world affairs surrounding the birth and existence of the State of Israel.  Such a State was defined as a territorial entity erected upon racial and religious tenets…..

In Vatican eyes... the millenarian yearning for a global Hebrew theocracy represents a deadly threat to the eschatological teachings of the Catholic Church.  When translated into concrete political terms, such a view spells not only rivalry, but implacable enmity...

The Vatican fundamentally opposed a powerful Jewish theocracy, therefore, would become not only hostile to Zionism and consequently Israel; it would seek powerful allies to neutralize both…

The Vatican could not and would not tolerate the establishment of an Israel which claimed messianic privileges, or rather, messianic uniqueness and which, therefore, would compete with the Roman Catholic Church as the Centre of a future spiritual kingdom.

Quite simply put, the Vatican sees the state of Israel, and all it represents as a threat to its claim to be the “kingdom of God on earth”. In 2000, when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly known as the Sacred Congregation for the Inquisition), and before he would become Pope Benedict XVI, he wrote a publication called Dominus Iesus, in which he included the following statements:

68. The mission of the Church is “to proclaim and establish among all peoples the kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth, the seed and the beginning of that kingdom”....

69. She is therefore the sign and instrument of the kingdom; she is called to announce and to establish the kingdom....

70. She is therefore “the kingdom of Christ already present in mystery”

This is in keeping with the Catechism of the Catholic Church published earlier by John Paul II in 1994 which stated:

The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Reign of God, promised over the ages in the Scriptures.  To fulfill the Father’s will Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. The Church “is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery.” Article #763

Henceforward the Church… receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth the seed and beginning of that Kingdom.” Article #768

For thousands of years the church taught that she had replaced the Jews as God’s chosen people. It sees itself as the kingdom of God on Earth – replacing Israel. So on can see why it stands so opposed to Israel, even when such opposition is seemingly illogical based on the facts on the ground.

It ignored the words of the Apostle Paul:

“I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.”   (Romans 11:1–2 ESV)

Paul talked about a time when the branches of Israel would be grafted back into their own olive tree:

“And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?” (Romans 11:23–24)

This would take place at the close of the times of the Gentiles:

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” (Romans 11:25–27)

We live in this time. The Lord Jesus Christ tells us this in the Olivet Prophecy:

“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24)

The Jews would be scattered, and Jerusalem trodden down “until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

Bible Prophecy scholars have been looking forward to the restoration of Israel to the land based on these and other prophecies. Thomas Newton, writing in 1754 in his book Dissertations on the Prophecies stated:

Our Saviours’ words are very memorable, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the Times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” It is still trodden down by the Gentiles, and consequently the times of the Gentiles are not yet fulfilled. When the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, then the expression implies that the Jews shall be restored...  

His computations led him to the conclusion that this would take place around the year 1967:

I conceive they (the times of the gentiles) are to be computed from the vision of the he-goat, or Alexander’s invading Asia. Alexander invaded Asia in the year of the world 3670, and in the year before Christ 334. Two thousand three hundred years from that time will draw toward the conclusion of the sixth millennium of the world, and about that period…  great changes and revolutions are expected… Rome is to be overthrown and Jews are to be restored.”

It was in 1967 that Jerusalem was restored to Jewish hands during The Six Day War, fulfilling the words of Joel:

“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem…” (Joel 3:1)

For thousands of years the church has tried to suppress the Bible, burning it, or burning those who published and printed it such as William Tyndale. The message is a direct threat to the authority it has usurped.

In response to Pope Francis letter, Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz who is a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel wrote an open letter that was published in Arutz Sheva, (Israel National News). Here is a portion of his letter:

"Your words and actions regarding the State of Israel are not merely disappointing – they represent a historic danger. Through modern communications, your voice reaches billions instantly, making your influence far greater than any pope before you. This unprecedented reach demands unprecedented responsibility, yet your statements have instead revived the darkest patterns of Catholic Church history – patterns that for centuries transformed false accusations into violence against the Jewish people….

Through your vast digital pulpit, the Church has become a global megaphone for those who weaponize antisemitism under the guise of supporting the oppressed….

"Your reimagining of Jesus as a Palestinian symbol of resistance, broadcast to billions, isn't merely historically inaccurate – it's a deliberate distortion that serves to delegitimize Jewish connection to our ancestral homeland. In an age where images and messages circle the globe in seconds, depicting Jesus in a keffiyeh and Israeli soldiers as Herod's men isn't just bad theology – it's dangerous incitement with immediate, worldwide impact."

"The Jewish people have transcended the role of history's victims. Israel's existence represents not just survival, but revival – a living refutation of the notion that Jews must accept persecution as their fate. Yet your words, amplified by modern technology, threaten this hard-won sovereignty with unprecedented reach and influence."

"Your accusations against Israel reverberate instantaneously across continents. In this interconnected world, your statements embolden those who attack Jewish communities worldwide with an immediacy and breadth of influence no previous pope has wielded. The dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents globally since October 7th bears witness to how your words can spark violence at the speed of digital transmission."

This brings to light the great struggle that has been going on throughout the ages. The struggle that was outlined beginning in Genesis 3:15:

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

These two seeds developed into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Men and the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God existed in the past in Israel, headquarted in Jerusalem with the Temple as its center. The destiny of Jesus Christ is to rule this kingdom, as Gabriel told Mary:

“And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” (Luke 1:31–33)

Christ’s kingdom is not the Church, it never was. It is future, and the Lord taught his disciples to pray for it:

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9–10)

The kingdom did not exist during Christ’s first ministry. The last king had been removed by the Babylon:

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.” (Ezekiel 21:26–27)

The king would be the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle had asked him before he ascended to heaven:

“When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6)

The Lord responded:

“And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:7–8)

Once they received the Holy Spirit, the Apostles were given insight. Peter tell us when the Lord would come and establish the kingdom:

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:19–21)

What we are seeing today is the nucleus of that kingdom restored in Israel. This has been going on since the Jews began to the return to the land in the 1800’s, with an ensign being raised in the land when the State was proclaimed in 1948. In 1967 Judea and Samaria were restored to Israel’s control and may well be recognized by America as the sovereign territory of Israel in the next few months.

The Catholic Church is pulling out every stop to prevent the trajectory of Israel’s restoration. It sits in the political heavens and positions itself as Israel’s replacement:

“Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4)

However, its efforts, although they will eventually result in “all nations coming against Jerusalem” will be fruitless in the end, as Paul continues in Thessalonians, giving us the end result:

“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:” (2 Thessalonians 2:8)

The trajectory of Israel has been set by the prophets. Israel is the little stone, soon to be led by the Lord Jesus Christ and the saints, that is going to strike the Kingdom of Men and grind it to powder:

“Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:34–35)

The kingdom of men, manifested in the empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and the European Union today have a long history, but a finite one. They are going to be replaced by the kingdom of God:

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” (Daniel 2:44)

Try as it might to prevent Israel’s rebirth, God has set the nation on a course that is irreversible.

The final rebellion is depicted in the book of Revelation when the woman (the Catholic Church) who rides the beast (Europe) spurs it into rebellion against Christ upon his return:

“These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:13–14)

The kingdom of God will be established, and Israel will be at the center. The revived nation will have the word of God breathed into it once again (Ezekiel 37:14) and become one under their king:

“And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:” (Ezekiel 37:22)

The destiny of Jerusalem is to become the center of the kingdom of God, and the center of worship in the entire world:

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2:2–4)

Conversely, the destiny of the Vatican, the successor of Rome and Babylon is also written:

“And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all... And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.” (Revelation 18:21, 24)

We watch today the birth-pangs of the Zion. It is a painful birth, and we watch the nation writhe in agony during this stage. However, the prophets have spoken and the outcome is inevitable:

“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” (Isaiah 55:10–13)

For the Bible in the News this has been Jonathan Bowen joining you.