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the nations to abandon sovereignty to form a world government.”
From October 24 to 28, 1999, Pope John Paul II (1978- ) held an interfaith meeting at the
Vatican that included Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Shintoists, as well as representatives
from Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and evangelical churches. The Dalai Lama, a Buddhist,
Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, who Pope John called “a great spiritual leader,” was invited on
stage as the Pope spoke to the gathering.
On September 5, 2000, the Catholic Church issued a document called Dominus Iesus which
declared “the Roman Catholic Church to be the only ‘instrument for the salvation of all
humanity’.” Pope John Paul II said that “Rome must always be the center of all Christianity and
the pope must be the head.”
For two years, a group of eight Protestants, led by Charles Colson, the former Nixon aide
(echoing sentiments expressed in his book The Body), and seven Roman Catholics, led by Father
Richard John Neuhaus (former Lutheran, who denies the virgin birth of Christ, his miracles, and
his resurrection), worked on an 25-page, 8000-word document known as “Evangelicals and
Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium.” (or ECT) It calls for
Protestants and Catholics to discontinue their opposition in order to unite against enemies which
are common to both of their religious philosophies. In the November, 1994, issue of Christianity
Today (the magazine started by Billy Graham), an editorial by Colson was titled “Why Catholics
Are Our Allies.” This seems to be part of a campaign to bring the two religions closer together in
ideology. Since accepting the “Prize for Progress in Religion” (which included a $1 million gift),
from New Age leader John Templeton, at the 1993 Parliament of World’s Religions in Chicago;
and revelations of a United Nations connection to his Prison Fellowship ministry, Colson’s
motivations are highly suspect.
In addition to many Roman Catholic leaders, some major Protestant leaders have signed this
agreement, including Pat Robertson (700 Club), Bill Seiple (World Vision), Bill Bright (Campus
Crusade for Christ), J. I. Packer (a Senior Editor at Christianity Today magazine), Larry Lewis
(Home Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Convention), and Richard Land (Christian Life
Commission of the Southern Baptist Church).
Needless to say, the agreement came under heavy fire from many Evangelicals, and on
January 19, 1995, Colson, Bright, and Packer met with some of the ECT critics at the Coral
Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in a conciliatory meeting which
including its pastor D. James Kennedy, John MacArthur (pastor of the Grace Community Church
in Sun Valley, CA), R. C. Sproul (Lignonier Ministries), and John Ankerberg (evangelist).
Though the two groups were able to hammer out a five-point statement to clarify the support of
those Evangelical leaders that signed the agreement, it still retained the aura of religious unity. A
Catholic signer, Keith Fournier (author of Evangelical Catholics and A House United:
Evangelicals and Catholics Together), praised the results of the meeting, and said that it
represented the “true spirit of ecumenism.”
Besides signing the agreement, Pat Robertson had Colson on his show, and brought in
Neuhaus to be a keynote speaker at the Christian Coalition’s (700 Club’s political action group)
“1994– Road to Victory Conference” held in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Also in 1994, Pat
Robertson presented the Christian Coalition’s “Catholic Layman of the Year” Award to
Pennsylvania Governor Robert P. Casey, a Democrat who was very vocal in his stand against
abortion. Pat Robertson, in the eyes of some Christians, lost credibility, when he entered the
1992 Presidential campaign, saying God told him to run. Though he didn’t win, it gave him more
political clout and visibility in the Christian community, garnering some of the attention that had