Apostasy Alert: Pope Francis Declares Worship of Mary Is A “Requirement”

In the latest example of wildly heretical doctrine, Pope Francis announced in his 2019 New Years address that prayers to Mary are a requirement for all Christians and tweeted a prayer to Mary to protect her followers in the new year. The Pope continues to make statements that are not in line with Biblical doctrine and is leading many down paths of spiritual error and idolatry that are the hallmarks of the prophesied falling away of the church, the Bible predicted would occur in the final era before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

According to reports:

“Devotion to Mary is not spiritual etiquette; it is a requirement of the Christian life,” the Pope said Jan. 1. “The gift of the Mother, the gift of every mother and every woman, is most precious for the Church, for she too is mother and woman.” (source).

He pointed to the Salve Regina, also known as the “Hail, Holy Queen,” which refers to Mary as “our life.” He acknowledged that the words of the Marian tune might seem exaggerated because Christ is life, but said that Mary is “so closely united” to Christ and His people that “we can do no better than to put our hands in hers, and to acknowledge her as our life, our sweetness and our hope.”

“Hail, holy queen, mother of mercy/hail our life, our sweetness and our hope/to thee do we cry,” Catholics recite in the Salve Regina, which is also stated to be the last prayer in the rosary.

“Our lady is not optional; she has to be welcomed into our life,” Bergoglio said to those gathered. “She is the queen of peace, who triumphs over evil and leads us along paths of goodness.” (source).

While his sentiments may sound kind, this is extreme doctrinal error. Mary, the mother of Jesus was a normal woman given a miraculous role by God – to give birth to the Messiah, Jesus Christ:

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

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. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.” – Luke 1:26-38

There was nothing supernatural or divine about Mary. Just like Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Deborah, Jeremiah and many other believers in Scripture, Mary was called upon by God to take on a task. But hers would be to carry the Son of God in her womb.  This was fulfilling the prophecy from the book of Isaiah, written 700 years before the birth of Christ:

“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” – Isaiah 7:14

Mary – An Ordinary Woman With An Extraordinary Mission From God

 
During the earthly ministry of Jesus, an attempt was made to elevate Mary for her role:

“^AAnd it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.  But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” – Luke 11:27-28

Notice that while Jesus was preaching, a woman in the crowd tried to utter a praise to Mary for her “womb” and nursing of the infant Jesus. And Jesus immediately corrected her saying “rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” Yet Pope Francis says that Mary “so closely united” with Jesus she is basically “Queen of life” and that it is Mary who “triumphs over evil” and “leads us.”

This is blasphemy and has no Biblical support. At no point are Christians in the Bible ever taught that Mary “triumphs” or “leads us.” Mary is dead and has no active role in the life of a Christian. The Bible teaches that believers are not to communicate with the dead – a practice called necromancy:

“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.  Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.  For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” – Deuteronomy 18:10-12

Additionally, Mary does not intercede between humanity and God. That is a role specifically reserved for Jesus Christ:

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” – 1 Timothy 2:5

It is Jesus who came took on human form and now serves as the Mediator for humanity to God. Mary has no role in this at all and we are never to pray to anyone but God.

The Roman Catholic Church continues to preach the error of Marian worship despite this. The Bible predicted that much of the Church would fall victim to false doctrines and teachings:

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;  Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” – 1 Timothy 4:1-3

Notice that the Bible places full blame for the false teachings on the preachers – they are not merely making an error; their consciences are so seared they have no concern for the truth of the Bible. This is precisely what the Pope is doing in directing his millions of followers to worship and pray to Mary.  Interestingly, the Roman Catholic forbids its priests to marry and commands the entire Roman Catholic Church to abstain from meats for Lent. Thus, the entire passage confirms the grave spiritual error of their teachings. Beginning and End detailed Pope Francis previously calling Mary “The queen of Heaven” and even crowning a statue of her. He also invited a Muslim Iman to pray to Allah from a pulpit at the Vatican. And his predecessor Pope Benedict stated that if aliens came to Earth they could be baptized and accepted into the church.

Many, many people have followed the Catholic Church’s man-made doctrines of working your way to Heaven and purgatory – a fabricated “interim home for the dead” where a person who was condemned before God can potentially work their back into Heaven. None of these concepts have any Biblical support. Do not be deceived.

Pray for Repentance

If you are a born-again Christian, pray for the Pope to repent of these unbiblical teachings. Mary was given arguably the greatest honor to a human in the entire Bible – birth mother of the Messiah. However, she was in no way Divine, superhuman or god-like being that we today should be praying to and “venerating.” Pray for the Catholic Church to believe the Biblical Gospel of free forgiveness of sin, look to the Bible – and what it says in context to break free from the heretical teachings of Pope Francis. And that their hearts, minds and words will look to the true Messiah, Intercessor and God of Earth, Heaven and the universe, Jesus Christ.