Pope Francis looms large on the American scene. What he does and says reverberates across the socio-political spectrum. This is consistent with the prophecy of Rev. 13:12(b). Engineered by Roman Catholic activism and propaganda, apostate Protestantism, as a sufficiently large proportion of the second beast's electorate (Rev. 13:11, 14:b,) has empowered the first beast (Rev. 13:1-3,) so that its religio-political principles already prevail in America.

The Pope denies meddling in American politics; but this is recognized and/or challenged by those who feel that they are in the line of fire:-

After feuding with the pope, Donald Trump eases up

Thrusting himself into the heated American presidential campaign, Pope Francis declared Thursday that Donald Trump is "not Christian" if he wants to address illegal immigration only by building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump fired back ferociously, saying it was "disgraceful" for a religious leader to question a person's faith.

But later, Trump eased up, saying during a town hall event on CNN that he now believes the pope's remarks were "probably a little bit nicer" than first reported.

The rare back-and-forth between pontiff and presidential candidate was the latest astonishing development in an American election already roiled by Trump's free-wheeling rhetoric and controversial policy proposals, particularly on immigration. It also underscored the popular pope's willingness to needle U.S. politicians on hot-button issues. . .Francis, the first pope from Latin America, urged Congress during his visit to Washington last year to respond to immigrants "in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal." He irked Republicans on the same trip with his forceful call for international action to address climate change.

Immigration is among the most contentious issues in American politics. Republicans have moved toward hardline positions that emphasize law enforcement and border security, blocking comprehensive legislation in 2013 that would have included a path to citizenship for many of the 11 million people in the U.S. illegally. . .

However, the current GOP presidential primary has been dominated by increasingly tough rhetoric. Trump has insisted that Mexico will pay for his proposed border wall and has said some Mexicans entering the U.S. illegally are murderers and rapists.

While Trump's words have been among the most inflammatory, some of his rivals have staked out similar enforcement positions. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson are among those who have explicitly called for construction of a wall.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, one of the few GOP candidates proposing a path to legal status for people already in the U.S. illegally, said Thursday he supports "walls and fencing where it's appropriate." Bush said that while he gets his guidance "as a Catholic" from the pope, he doesn't take his cues from Francis on "economic or environmental policy."

Marco Rubio, another Catholic seeking the GOP nomination, said that Vatican City has a right to control its borders and so does the United States.

Rubio said he has "tremendous respect and admiration" for the pope, but he added, "There's no nation on Earth that's more compassionate on immigration than we are."

Cruz said he was steering clear of the dispute. "That's between Donald and the pope," he said. "I'm not going to get in the middle of them."

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, on the other hand, said he was staunchly "pro-Pope."

"We have a right to build a wall," Kasich said Thursday night. But he added: "We need bridges between us if we're going to fix the problems in Washington 'cause all they do is have walls." . .

Even before Thursday, Trump had been critical of Francis' visit to Mexico. He said last week that the pope's plans to pray at the border showed he was a political figure being exploited by the Mexican government.

Francis glossed over Trump's assertion that he was a pawn of Mexico, telling reporters on his plane that he would "leave that up to your judgment." But he seemed pleased to hear the candidate had called him a "political" figure, noting that Aristotle had described the human being as a "political animal."

That the Pope would be pleased to hear that he had been called a "political" figure and respond that Aristotle had described the human being as a "political animal" is a remarkable admission of the true nature of the papacy. It is a religio-political power in direct violation of the principles enunciated by Jesus Christ, It is a religion based more on philosophical than biblical principles, founded on the teachings of a false convert to Christianity and permeated with paganism.

This is how the Pope Francis-Donald Trump argument has played out

. . . POPE FRANCIS: After finishing his trip to the Mexican border, Francis told journalists:

“A person who thinks only about building walls — wherever they may be — and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel." . . .

The irony here is that Roman Catholicism has corrupted ". . . the gospel of God . . . concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh (Rom. 1:1-3.) There may an element of Christian principle in the Pope's stricture against "building walls;" but it is not the gospel of the Bible, and there is a strong hint of concern about ecumenical unity which is also not founded in true Christianity.

Roman Catholicism has become so respected and entrenched in the body politic of the United States, that Catholic opinion writers in major newspapers are not shy about defending the Pope's involvement in the politics of the nation:

Donald Trump is right. Pope Francis’s visit to the border is political.

The presence of the first Latin American pope at the border also symbolically puts the most influential religious leader on the global stage squarely in the middle of a fierce presidential election-year fight over immigration.

Donald Trump last week called the pope “a very political person” and implied Francis was being used by the Mexican government.

“I think Mexico got him to do it,” Trump sniffed, “because Mexico wants to keep the border just the way it is because they’re making a fortune and we’re losing.”

A pope who travels to the margins as a witness to God’s solidarity with the poor and vulnerable isn’t playing politics. He is following the Gospel. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus radically redefined the definition of neighbor beyond language, religion and border. . .

The hard work of governing requires practical and humane solutions to address the reality of an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country. Any nation has a right to protect its borders, but as the U.S. bishops’ conference, Jesuit Refugee Services, the Evangelical Immigration Table and other faith-based groups that advocate for immigrants make clear, enforcement-only solutions will never address the root causes of why migrants risk death to come here.

In Mexico, Pope Francis reminds us once again that politics does matter because people’s lives are on the line.

The popularity of Pope Francis in America as in the world at large is related to his individual persona and his outreach beyond the confines of the Roman Catholic Church. The ready acceptance of papal meddling in the politics of the United States has been developed assiduously by Roman Catholic activism and propaganda over a long period of time. Now the implementation of Roman Catholic principles of governance is being accomplished by the takeover of the Republican Party, that Rome has achieved, witnessed in this instance by how gingerly Republican presidential candidates are handling the Pope's criticism of the idea of building a wall along the Mexican border.

An interesting aspect of the issue is the fact that almost all of the Republican presidential candidates support the building of the wall. Why is this? While it is certainly in part because of the demands of the party's voter base, there is also the phenomenon that an extreme right-wing faction of the Roman Catholic Church is in the ascendancy in America. What will be the ultimate impact on the current flow of end- time events? Time will tell.