Jonathan Gray, author of the book Ark of the Covenant on, page 505 wrote the following:
"In 1994, the Vatican had signed an agreement with Israel to gain sovereignty over [holy sites in] Jerusalem. The city would stay in the capital of Israel, but would be administered by the Vatican. The city would have an Israeli mayor and a Palestinian mayor, both under orders from the Pope. Jerusalem would become a second Vatican."
This seemed a little extreme, so I did a little more research and turned up the following:
In a article looking at the relationship between the Jewish state and the Catholic church:
A year and a half of complicated negotiations culminated with the signing of the Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel on 30 December 1993. Then, in accordance with the Additional Protocol to the Fundamental Agreement, fully accredited ambassadors were exchanged in May 1994...
Peace Process Shimon Peres meets the Pope, 7/4/06 (http://www.prophecynews.co.uk/apr06.html#4-7-3, with information from http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/101620). Inset is quoting from the article:
Ex-Israeli Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, met with Pope Ratzinger today for a 40 minute session in which he discussed the situation in Israel. The Vatican's official stance on Jerusalem is that it should become an "international city", governed neither by Jew nor Arab, but by the Church of Rome.Quote: "Peres is reported, in 1994, to have promised the Vatican official status in Jerusalem. In February 2000, the Vatican and the Palestinian Authority signed an agreement calling for an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem. The agreement stated that a special statute would protect "equality before the law of the three monotheistic religions [in Jerusalem], the proper identity and sacred character of the city, [and] freedom of access" to the city's holy sites.
The Pope expressed his desire to visit Israel early next year. But the Vatican's interest in Jerusalem does not stem for a desire to see peace in the nation of Israel, but rather to gain a foothold in Jerusalem. The Vatican believes it must place a Pope in Jerusalem before the return of Christ, in order to show the Catholic Church is the true Church of Christ, and can claim an unbroken line from Peter, supposedly the first Pope to the Messiah.
Quote: "During his visit in 2000, Pope John Paul II conducted a prayer service in Bethlehem, and announced that the Vatican had always recognized the Palestinians' national rights to a homeland. Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, Dean of Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim, said in response that the Pope's goal was simply to obtain a foothold in Jerusalem for the Church, and that his visit was one way the Pope hoped to reach this goal.
I find it fascinating that Shimon Peres' surname means "division", and wonder whether he will be the one who will be instrumental in the break-up of Jerusalem, especially with this supposed promise to the Catholic Church. Peres is definitely one to keep your eyes on.
Further information can be found at http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/apr2009/jimmyl428.htm
Is it of significance that the agreement was signed in 1994, the same year as the 70th Jubilee since the Exodus? Could this agreement and its implementation in the future portend the fulfillment of Paul's prophecy in 2 Thessalonians?
"Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction [remember: The beast from the Abyss . . . will be revealed to the astonishment of those who rebel against God, and the beast is going to his destruction]. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. "Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way [remember the four angels holding back the four winds until God's people have been sealed?]. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." (2Ths. 2:1-12 NIV)
Note the quote: "The Vatican believes it must place a Pope in Jerusalem before the return of Christ..."
A number of restorationists believe that the original sanctuary implements, especially the Ark of the Covenant, must be found in order to build the temple and re-institute the sacrificial system. Jonathan Gray's book includes some thoughts about prior attempts to search for the Ark. Excerpting:
Some men led by Tom Croster of Winfield, Kansas claimed to have discovered the Ark of the Covenant in a cave under Mt. Pisgah. They took some color photographs, but did not touch the alleged ark. They informed the press, but refused to release the pictures.
"Croster said that God had instructed him to give them only to David Rothschild, the London banker - because Rothschild was a direct descendent of Jesus Christ. And Rothschild had been chosen by God to build the next Jewish Temple, where the Ark would be installed.
"With Rothschild declining to take delivery of the photos, Croster keeps them at home showing only selected visitors.
"One such visitor was Siegfried H. Horn, a well-known archaeologist. In 1982, he took time to closely examine the photographs"Sketches Horn made of the photographs showed a "nail with a modern style of head" protruding from the upper right hand corner of the box, with decorative strips obviously machine produced", i.e. not the genuine article. Ibid, p. 20.
It was interesting for me to find that the Rothschild clan has long held dominant positions in gold, running the London Bullion Marketing Association and setting prices for the precious metal around the globe. Speculation has it that the clan has substantial gold holding (perhaps in the hundreds of tons) in underground vaults throughout Europe. While no doubt most of it is held for wealth and business purposes, is a part of it to be held in reserve for the rebuilding of the temple?
The London Financial Times in its Thursday, January 30, 1997 edition, revealed the extent of the gold trading taking place daily through the London Bullion Marketing Association (LBMA). The LBMA is run predominantly by the house of N. M. Rothschild.
"Deals involving about 30 million troy ounces, or 930 tonnes, of gold valued at more than $10 billion are cleared every working day in London, the international settlement center for gold bullion."
"This is the first authoritative indication of the size of the global gold market, and was revealed yesterday by the London Bullion Market Association.
"The volume of gold cleared every day in London represented nearly twice the production from South African mines in a year, Mr. Alan Baker, chairman of the association, pointed out.
"The size of the gold market will surprise many observers, but traders insisted the association's statistics were only part of the picture because matched orders are cleared without appearing in the statistics. Mr. Jeffrey Rhodes, of Standard Bank, London, said the 30m ounces should be 'multiplied by three, and possibly five, to give the full scope of the global market'."
The editor continues with his own thoughts
"I think there is something much deeper going on here that extends beyond London but to a collusion of some of the most powerful European and American merchant banking interests that just so happen to be the primary shareholders (Class A boards of directors) on the Federal Reserve System/Federal Reserve Banks. These include the N.M. Rothschild and Sons who just happen to be one of five key players that fix the price of gold each day in London, and have since 1919 at the Rothschild office. I am of the opinion that either the Rothschilds, who have benefited as the gold bullion traders par-excellence in Europe for over 200 years, are positioning themselves (and the Bank of England, as you suggest, which they are also a big part of) for the ensuing meltdown of fiat/paper currencies (that will come) or they are part of an even grander oligarchy of merchant bankers that through their influence on the Fed are playing their part (as master bullion traders) and systematically orchestrating the collapse of the U.S. paper and stock market system (as some suggest occurred in 1929)."
"It would make sense for the Rothschilds, Rockefellers and other powerful merchant banking interests to manufacture a sentiment that gold is dead....it is in their interest to leave the masses believing that gold is no longer a store of value (thus currency) but rather a simple commodity. The fact is, a Rothschild, knows otherwise, from a history of gold trading in 200 years of European history. Why do you think N.M. Rothschild still lists as the primary business as the trading of gold bullion (and treasuries)...they are making oodles of money on each of the tremendous transactions noted in the Times article...you can imagine the transaction revenues that these folks have piled up over 200 years at the craft!!! A manufactured perception becomes reality!"
See http://www.gold-eagle.com/gold_digest/baron1007.html for additional details on the above quotes.
Interesting isn't it, the connection between Gold, a Temple and the Ark of the Covenant? See the discoveries section for information on the rediscovery of the real Ark of the Covenant.