Why has the pope been called the anti-Christ for hundreds of years?
The prefix “anti” means opposite or against. It can also mean “in place of”. The popes all blasphemously claim to take the place of God/Christ while here on the earth. Pope Leo XIII said this about the role of the Pope: “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.”xv Throughout the centuries of Rome’s existence, the popes have regularly claimed to be divine. As the supposed successor of Peter, the Pope claims infallibility, the position of God on Earth, and ability to judge and excommunicate angels. The Catholic Council of Trent in 1545 declared this: We define that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff hold primacy over the whole world.i In the same century, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine stated this: All names which in the Scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that he is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope.ii In 1895 an article from the Catholic National said this: The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Chri
