From the Book of Revelation    181 

    The woman sitting on the scarlet beast is also the false prophet, a woman 

who assists the Antichrist in his evil works and who helps him exercise his 

authority. She encourages the world to worship the Antichrist. She is the 

antithesis of the Virgin Mary, who helps us worship Christ. 

    During Antichrist's reign, Rome will be attacked by Antichrist and his 

kingdom.  And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the 

harlot; they will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and 

burn her up with fire....  (Rev 17:16). Rome is attacked because, even at this 

time in the 25th century, Rome is the seat of the Holy See and the Pope. 

Nevertheless, Jerusalem (beginning sometime during the Forty Years) will 

be a Catholic Christian city and the site of one of the chief Churches in the 

world and one of the most important places in the world for the Catholic 

Church. 

    Yet, after this attack, Rome will become the center of that evil kingdom of 

the Antichrist.  And the woman that you saw is  the great city which has 

dominion over the kings of the earth.  (Rev 17:18). The followers of 

Antichrist will destroy the city of Rome with fire, perhaps with some kind of 

weapon of mass destruction. They will kill the Pope. Then they will use the 

city as  their capital, the center of Antichrist's kingdom. (There will be no 

Pope during the entire nearly seven years of the Antichrist's reign.) 

    Why will they attack Rome in the first place? Today, Rome is the center 

of the Catholic Church. When all the Protestant Churches unite with the 

Catholic Church, Rome will be the seat of the one Christian Church. Even 

in that future time (25th century A.D.), Rome will still be the capital city of 

the Church. Antichrist and his followers attack Rome as a way to attack the 

Church. 

    Notice that the city of Rome is called  the harlot,  even before it is 

attacked and taken over by Antichrist's kingdom (Rev 17:15 16). Therefore, 

the city of Rome will at that time have lost the Faith, even though it is the 

seat of the Church. (But the Church and the Magisterium never lose the 

Faith.) Holy Scripture is telling us how much sin there will be even among 

Christians in that time, so that even the city which is the head of the Church 

will be full of sins. And when the capital of a kingdom is full of evil deeds, 

so, too, is the rest of the kingdom. Thus, there will be very much sin among 

many Christians during that time. 

    Certainly, when God's plan reaches its fulfillment, Jerusalem will become 

the  one  center of the Christian faith. This occurs only after God destroys 

Antichrist and punishes his followers, when the holy Millennium begins. 

During the Millennium of holiness, Christianity will be the only faith on 

earth and Jerusalem will be the capital of the Faith and of the world.