Belgium Sends a Minister to the Vatican
THE Belgian government has appointed Baron Van den Heuvel to represent that nation at the Vatican. On March 17 he presented his credentials to Pope Benedict, “who received him in the throne room, surrounded by the papal court.” It has been but a few months since Protestant England sent a minister to the Vatican. Other nations have been considering doing the same thing, and Belgium has followed England’s example. Belgium has no state religion, and that very fact shows that there has been an agitation within her borders in favor of religious freedom. But the world is rapidly swinging back to the idea that we must have a religious hierarchy in order to hold the turbulent forces of men in check. And the most significant thing in connection with it is that the Protestant portion of the world is joining the papacy in this movement. We should keep our minds on the prophecies of the Bible that so clearly present the fact that nominal Protestantism and Catholicism will combine in a world-wide religious federation that will demand absolute obedience to its decrees. We may expect to see things move in that direction with awe-inspiring rapidity. The formation of this hierarchy is the very last link in the great chain of prophecy, and then Christ comes.