The True Vicar of Christ The Holy Spirit is the true Vicar of Christ. Before His return to God the Father in Heaven, Jesus Christ promised His disciples another would come and serve as His substitute on earth to instruct them in all truth and remind them of all He had already taught them. The Lord Jesus Christ’s words were; “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”[4] Concerning this third Person of the Trinity who was to be His substitute, the Lord promised that, “when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”[5] The Holy Spirit convicts people of sin as He makes sinners realize their lost condition and their need for God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit brings a soul from a state of deadness and rebellion in sin to forgiveness and life in Christ. This is because our innate dispositions are prone to sin; nothing but divine power can bring about our salvation.[6] This miracle of grace is spoken of in Scripture as, “the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.”[7] In the believers’ lives, the Holy Spirit has full, immediate, and universal influence. The Scriptures teach that “now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”[8] The work of the Spirit is transforming; we are changed from one degree of glorious grace unto another, until by that same grace one day we will be perfect in Him in glory forever in heaven. How much therefore should we as Christians prize the full and complete ministry of the Holy Spirit! Francis’s Blasphemous Claim as the Vicar of Christ Even 500 years after the commencement of the Reformation, Rome has not backed down from its inflated assessment of the Papacy. Contrary to the words of Jesus, Rome insists that the head of her church is that substitute, or “Vicar”: “The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter’s successor, ‘is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.’ ‘For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise.”[9] Despite the clear teaching of Scripture on the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the Vatican still attempts to usurp His role. Rome dogmatically states: “The Pope enjoys, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls.”[10]It is impossible for a mortal man such as Pope Francis to enjoy such “supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls”! Such absurd claims would imply that the Pope were endowed with divine power! The Pope’s central authority, by which he judges all things, is officially called by the term “Holy See” rather than “the Vatican.” The term Holy See stands for the central authority of the Church, which encompasses the tiny sovereign State of Vatican City. However, the “universal” scope of the above citation also reveals Rome’s ambitions beyond Vatican City. Indeed, the Holy See claims to represent a worldwide community and not only the citizens of Vatican City. The Pope is the head of a sovereign state and at the same time a central authority to a worldwide community! Furthermore, Rome’s Code of Canon Law defines its view of the authority of the Holy See: “The First See is judged by no one.”[11] The Papacy declares itself to be supreme, accountable to no one! Only the Pope is the sole judge of what is right and wrong, while simultaneously demanding that no one can judge it. The audacity of the Holy See reaches its zenith in the civil and political arenas as it proclaims, “It is solely the right of the Roman Pontiff himself to judge…those who hold the highest civil office in a state….”[12] In other words, the Pope sits above all world leaders and has the right to judge those who govern nations! One should not be deceived by the small physical size of the Vatican State. While Vatican City by area is the smallest independent state in the world (108 acres), The Roman state has reemerged as one of the greatest in political intrigue. To quote Catholic historian Lord Acton, the Vatican is “the fiend skulking behind the Crucifix.”[13] This stems from the fact that Rome has been reestablished as a sovereign state with civil power, wielding much sway in national and international law, particularly in the nations in which she has papal nuncios as ambassadors. At present, she maintains civil relations with 174 countries at embassy level. According to the Catholic Almanac, “An apostolic nuncio has the diplomatic rank of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary…a nuncio has precedence among diplomats in the country to which he is accredited and serves as dean of the diplomatic corps on state occasions.”[14] Papal Rome’s history, i.e., her apparent demise in the past and her current resurgence in modern affairs, appear to parallel the description of the harlot of Babylon after whom the world marvels revealed in Revelation 17.