Bill Wilson

Roman Catholic Church Attacks Theology of Jews & Christians :: By Bill Wilson

Published on: by RR10

On January 17, the Catholic-led Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem issued a statement declaring themselves the sole authority “in matters pertaining to Christian religious, communal, and pastoral life in the Holy Land.”

The statement went further, warning that other Christians advance “damaging ideologies, such as Christian Zionism,” which allegedly mislead the public and harm church unity. These churches view themselves as the rightful heirs of God’s promises, while Jews and Christians who affirm Israel’s enduring covenant are cast as theological disruptors. This Catholic and Vatican-led body includes Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopian, and Anglican churches in Jerusalem.

The Vatican-aligned InfoVaticana website defines Christian Zionism “as support for the State of Israel and the Zionist project as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, framed as a political and cultural agenda.” Yet for many evangelicals, Christian Zionism is simpler and older than modern geopolitics. It rests on the belief that God’s covenant with Israel is enduring and not revoked, and that Israel remains integral to the biblical narrative.

In contrast, Catholicism’s replacement theology was historically openly taught and enforced. Jews were portrayed as rejected, while the Catholic Church was presented as the sole heir of God’s promises, leaving little room for Israel’s ongoing covenantal dignity. That theology did not remain theoretical. It shaped sermons, laws, art, expulsions, and violence.

At Vatican II, the Catholic Church revised its tone without issuing a clear institutional confession that replacement theology was wrong and harmful. However, this statement by the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican (among others) clearly falls into the category of both replacement theology and denigrating protestants as harmful, misleading and damaging.

Guess what? They quoted Romans 12:5 to justify their position, “we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Which is the same single verse they use to claim sole authority of the “Church.” In other words, if you are not part of them, you are not of the body of Christ—this is, in and of itself, replacement theology by claiming authority over both Jews and non-Catholic Christians, echoing the very replacement logic the Church insists it has abandoned.

Israel365 News summarized the concern plainly, calling the statement the “Catholic Church’s most direct assault yet on the millions of evangelical Christians whose biblical interpretation leads them to support the Jewish state,” and condemning Christians who support the Jewish people’s return to their ancestral homeland. They also are calling the blessing of Israel a “damaging ideology.” If Romans is the battleground, one isolated verse should not be used.

Chapters 9-12 are a master class on God’s concept of unity. Gentiles were grafted into the Jewish root, not the other way around, and Paul issues a warning that should sober every institution claiming spiritual primacy: “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.”

Sources:

https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/announcements/a-statement-from-the-patriarchs-and-heads-of-the-churches-in-jerusalem-on-unity-and-representation-of-the-christian-communities-in-the-holy-land/

https://infovaticana.com/en/2026/01/19/patriarchs-of-jerusalem-warn-against-christian-zionism-and-its-political-agenda-in-the-holy-land/

https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/54159

https://israel365news.com/415473/catholic-church-condemns-christian-zionism-as-damaging-ideology-that-threatens-church-unity/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign

 

Light In the Line of Fire :: By Bill Wilson

Published on: by RR10

Christian persecution in West Africa is no longer a fringe concern; it is an accelerating crisis.

In recent reporting, President Donald Trump has again drawn global attention to Nigeria, warning that Christians there face what he described as an ”existential threat.” He pointed to repeated massacres, burned villages, and the targeting of believers by Islamist extremists, arguing that the world has grown numb to violence that is clearly religious in nature.

His comments followed years of warnings during his presidency, when Nigeria was designated a Country of Particular Concern for religious freedom abuses. Notwithstanding, the killing has not slowed. It has spread.

What makes Nigeria especially dangerous is that ideology, land, and power have fused. Boko Haram splinter groups and radicalized Fulani militants operate with overlapping goals, displacing Christian farming communities while asserting dominance through terror. Villages are attacked at night. Families are slaughtered in their homes. Churches are burned or abandoned.

While Nigeria’s government insists the violence is not religiously targeted, the pattern is unmistakable on the ground. Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and north-central regions continue to absorb the brunt of the bloodshed. These attacks are not isolated events but part of a sustained pressure campaign that has hollowed out entire regions once anchored by vibrant Christian life.

That same pressure has crossed borders into Ghana, including Bosuafise, where we have ministered alongside a sister church for nearly 30 years. There, persecution has taken a quieter but no less destructive form. Muslims have illegally seized all the land surrounding the church, right up to its walls, stripping away topsoil and selling it overseas. Every legal attempt to stop it has been stalled in courts tied up by political influence, where elected Muslim officials have appointed allies who ensure cases go nowhere.

When I have preached there, intimidation has been overt, with motorcycles roaring past the church and riders carrying machetes to make their presence known. This is Nigeria’s pattern, adapted for Ghana.

Yet persecution has not had the final word. I have watched the Bosuafise church grow from 30 to 60, fall back below 30 under aggressive Islamic pressure, then slowly rise again. In recent weeks, revival has broken out. People throughout the area are coming, 60, then 100, then 125, now nearing 200, seeking the Lord. What was meant to crush faith has refined it.

Genesis 50:20 speaks plainly to moments like this: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

May Bosuafise stand as a testimony that Christ’s light shines brightest under pressure. And may we pray for the persecuted church in Bosuafise and those like it around the world.

Islam is not a religion of peace, but rather an arm of Satan.

Sources: