Apparitions of Mary have been appearing across the Muslim world in recent years. Mary has been one of the strongest symbols across the Middle East for unity among religions, tribes and nations. in December 2009, a light appeared over a Coptic Church in Giza, Egypt's third largest city. Over the following days, 200,000 people, Christian and Muslim, shared the observation and took it as a sign of difficult times to come. It turned out to be a timely warning. Soon after, a number of Christians were shot down in front of a church. Read more.

The Vatican offered indulgences, a reduction of time spent in Purgatory, to those who followed Pope Francis on Twitter during World Youth Day last month.  Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries, told Christian News Network that the entire concept of offering and granting indulgences is unbiblical. He said, "Purgatory denies the efficacy of the blood of Christ, because we read in 1 John 1:7 that the blood of Jesus Christ purifies us from all sin," he explained. "We also see in Hebrews 1:3 that when Jesus made purification for our sins, He sat down at the right hand of God in Heaven. So, if Catholics would only trust in the blood of Jesus, they would realize that Purgatory is a fraud." Read more of Mike's interview here.

The debate between Mike Gendron and a Catholic apologist last month was successful in the sense that God's Word accomplished its purpose. As the Word of God was proclaimed, it strengthened the faith of the Christians who were present but brought further condemnation for those who rejected it. Mike and Jason Hauser stayed focused on contrasting the supreme authority of God's Word with the fallible teachings and traditions of apostate Roman Catholicism. Yet, it was heartbreaking to see stubborn-hearted Catholics continue to reject the glorious Gospel of grace. Read a complete summary of the debate here.

Pope Francis said it is not his job to judge homosexual priests. He said, "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" "The problem is not having this orientation. We must be brothers," Francis continued. Mike Gendron of Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries, told Christian News Network that "Francis' words are at odds with both Scripture and the statements of the previous pope, Benedict XVI." "The pope is doing homosexual men a disservice by in essence giving them a license to continue in their sin," he explained. "The only way to seek the Lord if you're gay is to repent and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And it is not just homosexuals; anyone who is sexually immoral is living contrary to sound Biblical teaching." Read more of Mike's comments here.

Hello Mike, I appreciate being able to hear you more frequently through your weekly podcast. Although I don't come from a Catholic background, what I have appreciated most about your ministry is your exposure of the false gospel of Roman Catholicism, your examination of the apostasy, compromise, and ecumenism that seems rampant in the professing church in America, and your equipping of myself and others to be able to lovingly engage Catholics with the biblical gospel. I am continually disturbed by the number of professing Christians who consider Catholics to be "Christian" and who do not consider them to be in need of evangelism. There is, therefore, a great need for the education that you provide to the church at large. M.C. Auburn, WA

Mr. Gendron, Once again you prove you do not know Catholicism when you say it teaches that Christ is killed again and again in the mass. You are lying and misrepresenting the one true church. Anonymous

I only quote the official documents of the Catholic Church. On page 102 of Volume 1 of the Vatican Council II Conciliar and Postconciliar Documents, we read, "For in the sacrifice of the Mass Our Lord is immolated when he begins to be present sacramentally. " The word "immolate" means to kill or offer as a sacrifice. Sincerely, Mike

Dear Mike & Jane, Thank you for your ministering to our hearts and the hearts of so many others who attended your seminar in Green Bay; we were greatly blessed! We could hardly absorb it all! There was so much helpful material and we are better equipped to witness to Catholics. We "tested things out" this past weekend by handing out hundreds of tracts from your ministry at a Catholic Church before Saturday Mass. It was interesting, challenging, gratifying in the spirit as we were obedient to proclaim the gospel. Some of us gathered Sunday evening to share about our encounters and exchange names of people we witnessed to so that we could pray for them specifically. An angry Catholic called the police because we stood on church property after they knew why we were there! My wife gave her last tract to a priest whom she recognized from when she was in High School. So, again, thank you both for your love, material, & ministry. J.&B. Z., Green Bay, WI

Dear Mike and Jason, That was a great broadcast you did on the unity accords. You brought up so many good points and helped people to examine their own hearts as to how they are viewing the Roman Catholic religion, and how should Christians respond to these things. I believe all of this is truly needed in these days because believers are being led astray by the compromise and ignorance of those in leadership. You explored why Christians compromise. The typical evangelicals do not know church history, therefore they do not know what the Reformation was, if they have even heard of it. They are theologically weak. They are following leadership into error. And to a large extent, they have been influenced by the culture. Our culture teaches that we can hold diametrically opposed ideas in a sort of limbo in our minds and withhold judgment because "tolerance" is the only virtue that is acceptable these days. So Christians may try to do this with false doctrine. They likely have friends and family in RC that they care about and so to keep peace they look the other way. Maybe they tried to talk to them and came up against a brick wall. I was at one time fooled by Catholic friends that I held in great esteem because they seemed to really love the Lord. They were kind to others, they were committed to prayer, etc. As is often the case with false religions, the followers can seemingly be more visibly pious than true Christians. Because of my esteem for them, and because I was deceived by the compromisers, I was willing to overlook what I saw until the Lord Jesus Christ kindly opened my eyes to the truth. So I am thankful that you patiently and persistently keep telling us the truth!! Blessings on you and Jane! J. P., McKinney, TX 

Eyebrows were raised last week when Pope Francis made it illegal to report sex crimes against children. According to the new laws, revealing or receiving confidential Vatican information is now punishable by up to two years in prison, while newly defined sex crimes against children carry a sentence of up to twelve years. Read more.