A “Catholic Pope” and a “Protestant Pope.” This verbal stunt can only be achieved if one has given up on oneself in the turmoil of the Roman Catholic Church’s sphere of influence. Former regional bishop Bedford-Strohm manages this feat with bravura.
Inhalt / Content
Everything in one pot
Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, the former Protestant regional bishop of Bavaria and former chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), has once again attracted media attention with some very unusual statements. In a quasi-eulogy to Pope Francis, who died on Easter, April 21, 2025, the former regional bishop describes the pontiff as an “evangelical pope” (Source). According to Bedford-Strohm, Francis preached the Gospel tirelessly and courageously in word and deed. At the same time, Francis was also a “Catholic Pope.”
The death of Pope Francis is a turning point “not only for the Catholic Church, but for the entire Church of Jesus Christ worldwide,” said the former regional bishop. Under Francis’s leadership, the Church has gained visibility, radiating what it speaks about.
Empty words nevertheless revealing
One would have to come up with the idea of speaking of a “Catholic Pope,” as if there had ever been a “Pope” of other faiths. Be that as it may. The Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, also offers such empty phrases. The former Protestant regional bishop unmistakably reveals his ecumenical, indeed thoroughly submissive, stance toward the Church of Rome. Bedford-Strohm had long wanted to recognize “numerous connections” between the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran Churches and expressed his eagerness to celebrate the Eucharist together (Info).
Forgetting History?
Apparently, the former regional bishop of Bavaria has completely forgotten that Pope Francis was a Jesuit. The (militarily organized) order, founded in 1534 by Ignatius of Loyola and launched in 1540, had set itself the highest goal of fighting and destroying Protestantism by all possible and previously unimaginable means and restoring the monopoly power of the Church of Rome. It is already mysterious to even remotely describe a pope as “evangelical.” It becomes even more puzzling when this pontiff comes from the ranks of the Loyola Brothers.
Denial of original identity
Bedford-Strohm and his words essentially reflect what Protestantism has actually become. A completely meaningless, empty shell of what Hus, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Tyndale, and numerous other reformers (Info) once struggled for, and many of them gave their lives. Most Protestant churches have left nothing of their former zeal for reform according to the written word (Info).
The (ultimate) original trigger of the Reformation was the unspeakable business dealings of the papacy with its own heresy about purgatory and indulgences. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg because of the extremely lucrative Roman Catholic trade in indulgences, which was completely unknown to the Gospel. A regional bishop can surely remember this. The protest began, and the Lutherans received their designation “Protestants” in Augsburg in 1530 (“Augsburg Confession”)..
Papacy continues to push ahead
On May 13, 2024, Pope Francis issued a decree granting indulgences to the faithful on the occasion of the “Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025.” Under certain conditions, Catholics can claim an indulgence from the time in purgatory for themselves and for deceased relatives. (Source).
Participants in the World Meeting of Families in June 2018 also received a kind of “watering can indulgence” by the grace of the Pope (Source). After all, only the Pontiff has access to the treasure chest of good works by Jesus, Mary, and the saints.
Protest from the Protestants? None. All “forgiven and forgotten,” and above all, in the humblest self-purification for the great sin of causing such anxiety to the great Mother Church. A disgrace for those who call themselves Evangelical Lutherans and refer to the “universal Church of Rome” as the “Church of Christ.” The recognition of the Mother Church of Rome was, in principle, achieved with the “Charta Oecumenica,” to which other organizations or umbrella associations of the numerous churches are affiliated. (Info).
Sola Scriptura is demonized
Standing on the foundation of the Bible, the written Word of God, has long since become taboo even in the circles of the former Evangelical Lutheran congregations. Standing on the pedestal of the Gospel is equated with “fundamentalism.” Pope Francis also had something to say about this.
“A fundamentalist group is violent even if it doesn’t kill or beat anyone. The mental structure of fundamentalism is violence in the name of God.” (Interview with “La Vanguardia” from June 13, 2014, Source)
Auf dem Rückflug nach dem Weltjugendtag im Jahr 2013 setzte der Papst in seinem noch jungen Pontifikat klare Kante, was seine eigene Position betrifft:
“Der Papst ist Bischof, Bischof von Rom, und deshalb ist er Nachfolger des Petrus und Stellvertreter Christi“
At an audience on March 22, 2013, Francis also let humanity know who he really was:
“One of the titles of the Bishop of Rome is Pontifex, which means bridge builder – bridges to God and between people.“
Rome is as before – Protestantism is dead
Nothing, absolutely nothing, has changed in the Church of Rome. Its self-image remains today as it was in the Dark Ages. All that was missing was the last bit of freedom of action, and the same conditions would have been created as they once were, only with a “postmodern” veneer. (Info).
“Separate yourselves” from all that is unclean, is Paul’s call to the church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 6:17). “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.“, the final call in Revelation 18:4. A clear call to remove oneself from the sphere of influence of the great whore and thus also to withdraw from the required collective (Info). Today described as “common good, fraternity and human family” (Info).
The daughter sings her mother’s song
It is not without reason that the Pope, who, according to Bedford-Strohm, is virtually “Evangelical-Catholic,” has demonized individualism. (Info). The apostate daughter of Rome naturally sings the same song as her mother (Info).
““The divisions among us Christians are a scandal. There is no other word: a scandal,” said Pope Francis at the general audience on January 22, 2014. Well, this scandal of division, as Francis called it, was officially triggered by Jesus Christ. The “bridge builder” should really know that, Matthew 10:34-35:
“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.“
The separation between those who believe the true gospel according to the written Word of God and those who seek to impose their own “theologies” on humanity as a unified family. This is in the genes of the Church of Rome, and “daughter representatives” like Bedford-Strohm are very passionate about it.
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Revelation 17:4-5
Bible verses from King James Version (1611)
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