[Matthew 17]
{17:1} And after six days, Jesus took Peter and James and his brother John, and he led them onto a lofty mountain separately.
{17:2} And he was transfigured before them. And his face shined brightly like the sun. And his garments were made white like snow.

The Warning is described, figuratively, in the above passage. The Warning will be very beneficial to those who are holy and to those who are willing to repent, and more persons from the Church will accept the Warning than from any other religion. The Warning will transfigure the Church, and Her face will shine brightly, like the sun, and Her garments (her clergy) will be made white as snow. (Of course, we know that the Church will always have some Judas’ in Her midst, and so even at the Warning, some of the clergy and some lay leaders will feign repentance in order to keep or gain power.)

{17:3} And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, speaking with him.
{17:4} And Peter responded by saying to Jesus: “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you are willing, let us make three tabernacles here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

Jesus, Moses, and Elijah represent Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. These three religions will have the most converts to holiness at the Warning. By the end of the first part of the tribulation, these three will be the only religions on earth with a substantial amount of adherents.

At the Warning, the Roman Pontiff (Peter) will respond by praying to Jesus before the world about the event. And then he will propose to the three religions three places of worship in Jerusalem, a major Basilica for Christianity, a new Temple of Jerusalem for Judaism, and a new Mosque for Islam.

I think that the Jews will respond to the Warning by beginning to build the Temple of Jerusalem, which will be its third rebuilding. The second Temple of Jerusalem was where Christ preached. They will remove the great Mosque of the Rock, so as to be able to build the Temple in its proper location.

The proposal of Pope Francis will include, in my speculative opinion, a teaching to accompany it: that a person can be saved without converting to Christianity, if he is in a state of invincible ignorance about what to believe on religion, and if he follows his conscience. This teaching will be one of the things which finally provokes the schismatics and heretics to depart from the true Catholic Church, just as the “Old Catholics” departed after Vatican I.

{17:5} And while he was still speaking, behold, a shining cloud overshadowed them. And behold, there was a voice from the cloud, saying: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
{17:6} And the disciples, hearing this, fell prone on their face, and they were very afraid.
{17:7} And Jesus drew near and touched them. And he said to them, “Rise up and do not be afraid.”
{17:8} And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Jesus alone.

The proposal of Pope Francis will not take place until after the first part of the tribulation. Instead, there will be conflict and war, with the Muslim extremists attacking the Christian nations and oppressing Jews in the conquered nations (but they will not conquer Israel). The Jews will remove the Mosque of the Rock, and will rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, which is the part of Pope Francis’ proposal which occurs first.

Notice that, though Peter suggests three places, when they lifted up their eyes, they saw only Jesus. Christianity is the sole Ark of Salvation. The members of other religions or of no religion who are saved without explicitly converting are only saved by implicit conversion to Christ, that is, to whatever of Christ they can understand and accept within their own limitations and conscience. After the first and second part of the tribulation, there will be only Catholic Christianity on earth.

{17:9} And as they were descending from the mountain, Jesus instructed them, saying, “Tell no one about the vision, until the Son of man has risen from the dead.”
{17:10} And his disciples questioned him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that it is necessary for Elijah to arrive first?”
{17:11} But in response, he said to them: “Elijah, indeed, shall arrive and restore all things.
{17:12} But I say to you, that Elijah has already arrived, and they did not recognize him, but they did whatever they wanted to him. So also shall the Son of man suffer from them.”
{17:13} Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

Elijah has already arrived, since John the Baptist was a type of Elijah. But then Jesus also says that Elijah will arrive and will restore all things. So the real Elijah, as one of the two prophets of Revelation, will arrive during the second part of the tribulation. And he shall be part of the restoration of all things, as Revelation describes.

The Pope Francis critics, or the papal accusers as I call them, most of them will not accept correction from God at the Warning. They receive too much money and power from opposing Pope Francis. Some of them have not been in a state of grace for a long time. They have such pride in themselves, they will not accept correction even from God. So when the Warning occurs, they are struck with fear and desperation, knowing that their time to oppose the Pope and to retain their following is short. Many of the supporters of the papal accusers will repent and support Pope Francis.

The papal accusers will depart from the Church, accusing Pope Francis of apostasy, heresy, and idolatry. They will claim that Francis is not a valid Roman Pontiff, and that his teachings are not of the Magisterium. But the body of Bishops will remain with the Pope. Those Bishops and few Cardinals who depart into schism will be a minority.

I still believe that Pope Francis will make two decisions that will cause the papal accusers to depart. The first is women deacons. The second is salvation for non-Christians without converting to Christianity or to belief in God.

After some time, Pope Francis will resign, and a new conservative Pope will take office. But he will not condemn Francis, nor will he please the papal accusers with his teachings.

Ronald L. Conte Jr.