LUIS PALAU AND ROME
Enlarged May 1, 2013
(updated May 7, 2002, first published April 24, 2009) (David Cloud,
Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI
48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about
subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information
paragraph at the end of the article) –
Evangelist
Luis Palau, who has been called “the Billy Graham of Latin America,”
follows Graham’s ecumenical model and has an uncritical relationship
with the Roman Catholic Church.
In
an April 24, 2001 interview with Ed Flynn of “Talk of the Town” on
radio station 1320 AM, promoters of the Palau festival in Waterbury,
Connecticut, said that the evangelist is “a uniter, not a divider,” that
he is “nondenominational” and sends his converts “right back to the
churches they come from.”
Christianity Today
for Dec. 19, 1975, reporting on Palau’s Managua, Nicaragua, crusade,
said: “It enjoyed the support of most of Managua’s 125 Protestant
churches and many Catholics. Catholic charismatic groups attended.”
While
covering Amsterdam ‘86, Fundamental Evangelistic Association reporter
Dennis Costella asked Luis Palau if he would cooperate with Roman
Catholics. Palau replied that he certainly would and admitted that it
was being done. He went on to mention specific plans for more extensive
Catholic involvement in his future crusades (Foundation, Jul.-Aug. 1986).
The
1987 Palau crusade in New Zealand was reportedly “the first time the
Catholic Church has ever backed a major evangelical Christian mission”
in that area. Catholic Bishop Dennis Browne of Auckland accepted an
invitation to join the mission’s advisory board along with leaders of
many other denominations (Challenge Weekly, April 18, 1986, reprinted in Australian Beacon, May 1986).
In 1992, the Arizona Republic gave the following description of Palau’s relationship with the Roman Catholic Church:
“Palau’s
form of worship presents such a broad Christian message that it appeals
to Protestants and Catholics alike ... But unlike other Evangelicals
who have actively tried to lure ... Catholics away from their churches, PALAU AIMS TO KEEP PEOPLE IN THEIR OWN CHRISTIAN CHURCHES—REGARDLESS OF DENOMINATION
... ‘on the core of Christianity, we are one,’ Palau said in a recent
interview. ... Palau represents a growing trend among religious groups
... that do not want to alienate Catholics... [Palau] CAREFULLY AVOIDS THE CONTROVERSIAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS. ... Protestants of Palau’s type have a message that does not require abandoning church membership. ... Bible
studies are deliberately held at times that would not conflict with
Masses and controversial subjects like the Virgin Mary are avoided. Instead there’s an attempt to find a common ground in the Bible” (The Arizona Republic, October 31, 1992).
Evangelist
Palau claims that “at the core of Christianity, we are one”; yet
Christian denominations have widely differing definitions of the gospel,
of biblical inspiration, of Christ’s atonement, of biblical miracles,
of God’s holiness, of Heaven and Hell, and many other core things.
Palau’s
1993 crusade in Kingston, Jamaica, included Catholic participation. The
Catholic Archbishop attended some of the meetings. The secretary of the
Office of the Archbishop stated that Palau “was not critical of any
religion” and was “not like those who criticize other religions” (Peter
Van Kleeck, “Wealthy Park Baptist Church and the Luis Palau Crusade,”
Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 6, 1994). A Jamaica newspaper ad on
January 31, 1993, stated: “The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston
gives wholehearted support in mobilizing its members to participate in
the National Crusade 1993. This venture is seen by us as an important
event in the spreading of the gospel in an ecumenical manner.”
Roman Catholic Churches participated in the West Michigan Palau Crusade in September 1994.
Palau’s
May 1995 crusade in Londonderry, Ireland, brought together Roman
Catholics and Protestants in an ecumenical worship service “on the bank
of the Foyle River, which divides Protestant and Catholic communities.”
Howard Lewis of the Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland said the
Palau crusade produced an ecumenical unity “we never dreamt would work
together.”
There
were Catholic priests involved in Palau’s April 1996 crusade in
Chicago, Illinois. More than 1,500 churches participated. Speakers
included Palau, E.V. Hill, Tony Evans, and Ron Hutchcraft.
On
May 6-9, 1998, Palau had a crusade at the Roman Catholic Saint Martin’s
College in Olympia, Washington (John Beardsley, “Palau Crusading at RC
College & Newsboys to be at Black Hills Crusade,” March 7, 1998,
jbeard@rapidnet.com). Saint Martin’s is operated by Saint Martin’s
Abbey, a Benedictine monastery.
Palau’s
July 2007 Festival in Omaha, Nebraska, was endorsed by Catholic
Archbishop Elden Curtiss. Not only did the Catholic archbishop address
the crowd personally, but the Catholics were allowed to put up a tent at
the entrance to the venue to distribute rosaries and Catholic material
and priests greeted the people as they entered the crusade grounds (Catholic Voice,
Archdiocese of Omaha, Aug. 10, 2007). Each participant filled out a
card indicating religions background, and all of the cards stating
Catholic were given to the Catholic churches for follow up (Catholic Voice, June 8, 2007).
Palau’s
July 2010 CityFest in Yakima, Washington, also had Catholic
participation. The bishop of the St. Paul Cathedral of Yakima, John
Ecker, enthusiastically urged his parishioners to participate, saying:
“Don’t
forget our ‘City Fest’ coming the weekend of July 16-17 at the Fair
Grounds, a chance to join our voices and prayers with many other
churches from our valley and city and to better our city as a place to
live for all of our people. I encourage your participation there this
month. You will find in this mailing an invitation to come and
participate. These cards are not only for you, but they are sent for you
to give to friends, neighbors, and family members to join you in this
all-city and valley celebration of faith. The more we come together to
emphasize through things that unite us as people of faith, the more we
grow in understanding and respect of others who also have a strong faith
in God and His teachings” (St. Paul Cathedral Newsletter, June 24,
2010).
Do
you really think the bishop would do this if he thought his people and
their friends would hear any warning that would make them doubt
Catholicism? This is a church that “reverences” Mary, believing her to
be the immaculate Queen of Heaven, a church that preaches a sacramental
gospel of faith plus works, a church that defines the new birth as being
baptized.
Upon
the election of Jorge Bergoglio to the papacy in March 2013 as Pope
Francis, Luis Palau said that he was a personal friend with Bergoglio
and praised him. He said that the new Pope “knows Jesus Christ” and is
“very spiritual” and “Bible-centered” and “centered on the Gospel” (“Why
It Matters that Pope Francis Drinks Matè with Evangelicals,” Christianity Today, Mar. 14, 2013).
This, of course, is patently ridiculous and only shows Palau’s frightful spiritual blindness.
Consider
that one of his first acts as “pontiff,” Pope Francis visited Saint
Mary Major basilica and “prayed to the Virgin, for the safekeeping of
all of Rome” (“New Pope Francis Visits St. Mary Major,” Vatican
Information Service, March 14, 2013). At the basilica, the Pope “left
the Virgin a bouquet of flowers” and prayed to her for about 10
minutes. St. Mary’s is one of four “patriarchal basilicas,” meaning
they are directly associated with the pope and have papal altars, and
nowhere is the deep apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church more evident.
Built in about 350 it was restored by Pope Sixtus III to commemorate the
declaration of Mary’s Divine Motherhood by the Council of Ephesus in
432, which declared that “Mary was the Mother of one person, and that as
he was God, as well as man, she was rightly to be called Mother of
God.”
The
mosaic in the apse depicts Mary sitting on the right hand of Jesus on
his throne and being crowned by him as Queen of Heaven. Another
prominent statue of Mary is titled “Mary Queen of Peace.” Outside of the
basilica, MARY IS EVEN HANGING ON THE CROSS WITH JESUS! A large
crucifix has Jesus hanging on one side and a crowned Mary holding a baby
on the other. These images depict Rome’s dogma that Mary is
co-redemptress with Christ and that she intercedes for men and aids in
their salvation. Note the following quotation from the Second Vatican
Council: “Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office
but BY HER MANIFOLD INTERCESSION CONTINUES TO BRING US THE GIFTS OF
ETERNAL SALVATION. ...
Therefore
the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of
ADVOCATE, HELPER, BENEFACTRESS, and MEDIATRIX” (Dogmatic Constitution on
the Church, chap. 8, II, 62, pp. 382-383). For photos of Mary on God’s
throne, Mary the Queen of Peace, and Mary hanging on the cross see the
following:
Like
Billy Graham before him, Luis Palau is at home with Rome, and the
evangelical world at large is silent in the face of this horrible
disobedience, which demonstrates evangelicalism’s unashamed apostasy.
Have
we really become so desensitized by apostasy and compromise that we
think that God will overlook willful disobedience in the pursuit of
“good”? He won’t, and the Billy Grahams and Luis Palaus of this age will
learn that in eternity.
Has
God not commanded us to mark and avoid those who teach false doctrine
(Romans 16:17), to turn away from those who have only a form of
godliness (2 Timothy 3:5), to be not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14)? Has God not warned us of false gospels
(2 Corinthians 11:3-4; Galatians 1:6-8)? How can you preach a pure
gospel when you are yoked with churches that preach a false one? This is
confusion of the highest degree, and only men drunk with end-time
apostasy could pretend that it could work.
____________________________
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