Instead of “the extreme place,” many translations insert the word Temple, which was not in the original text. The word in question, Kanaph, can mean Edge, Wing, or Extremity. But an extremity of what? Is it a place inside the Temple, or outside? The quote of Daniel by the Lord, as recorded in Matthew 24:15, is literally “holy place,” so the Lord did not specifically state that it meant the Temple in Jerusalem. Or is it a place far removed from Jerusalem, such as Rome? Should “extreme place” be taken to mean “very far away”?

Many people assume that the “he” in “he will make the abomination of desolation” refers to the Antichrist, but it is the King of the North who will enact it (Daniel 11:31). When applying the parallel interpretation to Daniel’s visions, it can be seen that the same events were described. It is perfectly reasonable to conclude that “the abomination of desolation” means the Papacy. What else would the Lord call a man who demands to be worshipped as God on Earth, while trapping people inside the labyrinth of Catholic doctrines? Once it is accepted that the “extremity” means the Vatican in Rome, we can clearly see why, in about the year 1200, the Roman Catholic Church took a nasty turn.

The majority of popes during the Dark Ages only concerned themselves with getting rich, repaying debts, silencing enemies, and ensuring that members of their family were destined to the same role. From the time of Hilderbrand of Tuscany (1015-1085), that all changed. As an advisor to four popes, Hildebrand saw the full potential of the papal chair. As Pope Gregory VII, he passed laws that said no one could judge the church or judge the pope, who was “unable to commit error.” Every prince was required to kiss the pope’s feet. Gregory VII put into law the celibacy of priests (as Paul said would happen in 1 Timothy 4:3), forcing many marriages to devolve. For passing that law, the pope was excommunicated by a council held at Pavia in 1076.

What is key to the history of the papacy is that Gregory VII was the first pope who learned how to control kings. He accused the young emperor Henry IV, the King of the Germans, of plotting against him, and then forced him to seek repentance, by standing barefoot in the snow for three days and nights, with no food. The humility he imposed on Henry IV ensured that no future king or prince would defy him, and that set the stage for the most powerful of all popes.

Innocent III (1161-1216) was the first pope to claim that he was the supreme ruler, both natural and spiritual, of the entire world and every living thing. He was the first major manifestation of Antichrist, in the “midst” of the 70th Week of Babylon.(50) Hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of his orders. Even Catholic priests called him the Antichrist, and the Catholic Church was called Babylon. Innocent III ascended the papal throne on 8 January 1198, which was 818 years after the Edict of Thessalonica. Was that date the beginning of the Great Tribulation, the prophetic 1,260 days, the 42 months, and the “time, times and half a time”? Or was the beginning at the middle of his reign, the year 1207, 827 years after the Edict? For now, that remains a mystery.

Although Innocent III was a physically weak man, with constant health problems and little education, his mind was ruthless and his heart was cruel. He stated that no one was allowed to judge the pope, “even if he command what is evil.” He condemned Magna Carta and excommunicated “anyone who should continue to maintain such treasonable and iniquitous pretensions.” He proclaimed that, “Pope’s are not the Vicar of St Peter, we are the successors of Peter,(51) but not his vicar nor any man’s nor any apostle’s. We are the Vicar of Jesus Christ before who, every knee shall bow.” He called himself the “Universal Bishop” and the “Foundation of All Christianity.”

In 1199 Innocent III banned “unauthorised” translations of the Bible, to stop anyone who could not read Latin from seeing the scriptures. If there was anything the Roman Catholic Church did not want, it was the people discovering that nothing that was done inside their churches was actually found in the Bible, aside from what was written about Babylon.

In 1202 Innocent III’s Fourth Crusade began. It had been his obsession for many years. Instead of freeing Jerusalem of the Muslims, the Catholic soldiers blessed by the pope, destroyed Constantinople, which at the time was the greatest city in the world, and under Christian control, not Muslim. They plundered the city, raped even the nuns, and murdered anyone they wanted. The Roman Catholic Church claims that the crusade did not follow Innocent III’s intention, but some historians argue that the destruction of Constantinople had been his plan all along. If it was, it would not have been out of character.

Because of Innocent III’s ongoing spat with John Lackland, England was placed under an interdict that lasted for over six years. Every English church was closed until 1214. No services were held, even for Christmas and Easter. There were no marriage ceremonies, no funerals, and no baptisms. It was only when Innocent III persuaded the king of France to invade England, did John finally appease the pope, and the interdict was lifted.

In 1209 Innocent III launched the Albigensian Crusade (also known as the Cathar Crusade) against “heretics” whose only “crime” was to oppose the superiority of the Roman Catholic Church. To them, not surprisingly, Rome was Babylon, and Innocent III was the Antichrist. It turned into a twenty-year genocide of southern France. In one day, the entire city of Beziers was razed to the ground, with a death toll of over 20,000. Because it was not obvious exactly who was a Catholic and who was a Cathar, the soldiers were instructed to kill everyone, since, “God will know who they are.” From little babies, to Catholic priests in the action of performing the Catholic mass, everyone was killed. On that one day, Innocent III was responsible for more Christian deaths than all the pagan Roman emperors combined.

In 1215 the Fourth Lateran Council was controlled by Innocent III with an iron grip, and he passed more laws than all the popes who preceded him, and no bishop was brave enough to offer up a debate. He officially introduced the blasphemous doctrine of transubstantiation (which became doctrine in 1220), the supposed power of priests to literally bring Christ down from heaven and transform him into a wafer, which is then eaten. To oppose this was considered the same as opposing Christ himself. Was this doctrine the “end of sacrifice and offering” prophecy of Daniel 9:27?

Also at the 1215 council, Innocent III made the Roman Catholic Church’s denouncement of the Waldensians officially correct, that they were indeed heretics. Their crime? That they had their own translations of the Bible and realised what the Roman Catholic Church really was. They were either founded by, or helped by, one Peter Waldo (which was probably not his actual name), who was a wealthy trader from Lyon, France. In about the year 1170, Waldo desired to understand the scriptures, so he paid for translations to be made. When he was able to read the Word of God, he was horrified that what he had previously learned from Catholic priests was far from the truth. Wanting to spread the actual truth of the Gospel to others, he became a fearless preacher, and he openly called the Roman Catholic Church the Harlot of Revelation. Soon he and his followers were known as the Poor of Lyon, since they condemned the excessive riches of the Roman Catholic Church, and sought to live godly lives. Seeking to begin a reformation of the religious power, Waldo and his followers went to Rome in 1179 to meet with pope Alexander III. The result of the visit was that in the Third Lateran Council the Waldensian teachings were condemned, and thirty-six years later, under Innocent III’s orders, they were hunted down and burned at the stake.

In 1216 the Dominican Order began, and they were given control over the Inquisition, murdering millions, and making the church richer by looting their victim’s possessions and confiscating their land. Innocent III died that same year, when he was planning yet another crusade of pillaging and murder. Many of the popes who succeeded him shared his sins by building on his blasphemy and arrogance, but none matched his boldness.

One would think that the actions of Innocent III in ordering the deaths of so many people would have been widely condemned from his day until our day, but the opposite is the case. Innocent III is remembered not as a tyrant mass murderer, but as a champion of Catholicism. He is one of only two popes commemorated inside the United States House of Representatives (the other is his relative Gregory IX, who began the Medieval Inquisition).(52)

Innocent III was as literal a fulfilment of the Antichrist as there has ever been. His was a rule of terror. No pope has ever had as much blood on his hands. His control was absolute, from the lowest of the laity, to every king; all lived in fear of what he might do. But it is important to understand that the Antichrist is a spiritual entity in control of such men.