While the founders of Operation Rescue may have intended only to
save the lives of the helpless children that are destroyed through abortion,
they now find themselves serving an entirely different purpose.
"I have never seen such an instrument for ecumenism
as Operation Rescue is," said Catholic priest Patrick Malone, head of St.
Mary Catholic Parish just outside Wichita. Malone explained that Operation
Rescue "has a very strong evangelical flavor nationwide, but the experience
here has been that the operations break down barriers that have separated
churches as we stand for the common cause of the unborn child."
Recognizing that the movement offers a tremendous opportunity to sweep millions
of Protestants under the guidance of the papacy, Catholic leaders are now
encouraging Roman Catholics to join Operation Rescue and shape its future
direction. It's already working. said Malone, "People I've demonstrated
with, attended rallies with and spent time in jail with--the evangelicals and
others--apologized again and again to me" for the views they had held of
the Catholic Church.
At Indianapolis 1990, Catholic priest Michael
Scanlan gave a testimony about being arrested during an Operation Rescue
demonstration. He spoke of the close fellowship between Catholics and
Protestants in the jail, and said many of the Protestants attended the masses
which were held there. He also said that after these ecumenical experiences,
some Protestants began reciting the rosary during
Operation Rescue demonstrations.
The National Catholic Register has
reported in at least two articles the news that Operation Rescue founder
Randall Terry is the latest Protestant pro-life activist to join the Roman
Catholic Church. In a Register interview, Terry was asked, "When did you first
take an interest in the Catholic Church?" His answer is: "It was during my work
in Operation Rescue that I first became interested in the Roman Catholic
Church."
Modern Christian Ecumenical Movements
Even a
cursory review of what has taken place in the Church during the last 25 years
will reveal a fierce underming of the faith. Precisely as the Bible warns,
today's most effective enemies of Christ are those who claim to be Christians
and call mankind not just to any old false religion but to a
counterfeit Christianity.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. - 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Modern Non-Christian Ecumenical Movements
Growing
alongside the Christian ecumenical movement are those non-Christian movements
with basically the same message: uniting the world into a one world religion
that is inclusive of all beliefs.
