Does 'VICARIUS FILII DEI' exist and can '666' be applied to it?

Here are some more things I have come across, first read this:

http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/endtimeissues/et_146.htm

Then notice how it is presented by Walter Veith as a 'title' of the Pope, which is more correct in Samuele Bacchiocchi veiw, in the following:


"....In Revelation 13, two beasts are described that will dominate world events at the end of time. The first arises out of the sea and the second out of the earth. Moreover, the second beast pays homage to the first beast by causing all that dwell upon the earth to worship the first beast and in so doing they receive the mark of the beast. Again, by applying the Biblical definitions to the symbols employed in this great prophecy, we can unravel its mysteries...."

"....The core symbols are beasts, heads, horns, sea, dragon and earth. A beast is a king or a kingdom (Daniel 7:17) and the two beasts of Revelation 13 thus represent two kingdoms or political powers that dominate world events in the last days. The first beast arose out of the sea, representing the nations, the multitudes, peoples, and kings as defined in Revelation 17:15 where the waters were said to symbolize the nations of the earth. In contrast, the second beast arises out of the earth thus representing the opposite of nations, multitudes and kingdoms; therefore, it must arise in areas of the world where nations, multitudes, and kings were not established.

The first beast has ten horns, which remind us of the fourth beast in Daniel 7 which referred to Rome with its ten horns. The seven heads of the first beast represent historic time periods, but the number seven is also the divine number thus indicating that this beast lays claim to deity. The attributes of the beast are further described, and the similarities with the little horn power of Daniel 7 are seen to be the same as those of this beast. They must be seen as one and the same and we are thus dealing with Rome in its papal form ..... This beast has leopard, bear and lion characteristics, which we recognize again from Daniel. The order in which these three beasts appear here in Revelation is the reverse seen in Daniel. This is because Daniel was looking ahead and John was looking back.

... and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat and great authority. Revelation 13:2

The dragon is identified as Satan in Revelation 12:9.

The little horn power of Daniel 7 had the following attributes in common with the first beast of Revelation 13:
-it spoke great things and blasphemies (Verse 5)
-it made war with the saints (Verse 7)
-it overcame the saints (Verse 7)
-it was more stout than its fellows, or authority was given him over every tribe, tongue and nation (Verse 7)
-it was given authority to continue forty-two months/1260 days (Verse 5)
John's vision parallels that of Daniel 7 and the imagery and attributes of the beast out of the sea link it directly with the little horn power. However, the imagery is enlarged, in that the beast also incorporates components of the lion, the bear, the leopard and the terrible ten-horned beast, which were symbols of the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. There is a distinct reason for this, as the Church of Rome has incorporated and refined many of the systems of worship and styles of governance of the kingdoms of antiquity into its own systems. The absolute power of the ruling monarch, the infallibility of his decrees, the total subservience of his officers, the hierarchy of its elite and the many secret organizations that make her power absolute are all inherited from the kingdoms of old. Rome also maintains many of the rites and vestments of the bear; the triple crown worn by the Pope, made of solid gold, is of Persian origin- 'King of Heaven, and of Earth, and of the Nether World,' as well as the rites and titles of Mithraism. The rites and ceremonies dating from the Grecian and Babylonian periods form the basis for most of the liturgies, festivals and grand ceremonies observed by the Roman Church. Even the titles used by presentday Popes are the same as those used in early pagan religions and by the monarchs who were seen as representatives of the gods and even as gods themselves.

As the power of pagan Rome declined, the power of papal Rome increased as the church accumulated more and more power and influence. When the emperor Constantine accepted the veneer of Christianity and Paganism and Christianity blended into one, Rome became the religious capital of the world.

Abbot's Roman History, p.236 declares:
The transfer of the emperor's residence to Constantinople was a sad blow to the prestige of Rome, and at the time one might have predicted her speedy decline. But the development of the Church, and the growing authority of the Bishop of Rome, or the pope, gave her a new lease on life, and made her again the capital � this time the religious capital � of the world.

From 538 A.D., when the emperor Justinian issued a decree, proclaiming the pope to be supreme in religious matters he assumed the garb of representative of Jesus Christ on earth. When Constantine moved his seat to Constantinople, the popes inherited the power of the Roman emperors - their prestige, and even their titles. The most significant of such titles was that of: 'Pontifex Maximus' a pagan title for 'Bridgebuilder between Heaven and Earth'. Moreover, the Roman clergy also wore the same vestments of the priests of Dagon, the fish-god. The fishhead mitre, worn by bishops and popes is also the same as the ancient mitre used by the priesthood of Babylon. The keys of the pagan female and male god figures have also become a symbol of the papacy, as are his staff, which is the symbol of the snake, and was carried by ancient emperors from Babylonian through Egyptian to Roman times. The keys became the 'keys of Peter' and the staff became a shepherd's staff, christianizing these pagan artifacts. The papacy is but the ghost of the Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon its grave. Stanley's History, page 40.

The symbol of the forty-two months that the beast power would have authority (Revelation 13:5) is the same time period as that of the little horn power in Daniel 12:7. The little horn would rule for a 'time, times and half a time.' Time, times and half a time, forty-two months, and 1260 days are the same time period written in different forms. This can be deduced from Hebrew parallelism. In Revelation 11:2,3 we have the parallelism of a pagan power that would tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months, but that God's witnesses would witness and prophecy during those 1260 days, thus equating forty-two months with 1260 days. A further example we find in Revelation 12:6 where the woman fled into the wilderness, and was taken care of for 1260 days. As the woman stands for a church, this represents the church being taken care of in the solitary places of the world, during the period of papal supremacy. The parallel text to this is found in Revelation 12:14 where again the woman flees into the wilderness to be taken care of for a time, times, and half a time, thus equating the 1260 days to a time, times, and half a time. The Bible mentions this prophetic period seven times and in each case it refers to the papacy. It began in 538 A.D. and ended in 1798 when the Papacy appeared to receive a deadly wound. Papal supremacy of the Middle Ages ended in the year 1798, exactly 1260 years after the establishment of the papacy as the supreme Christian power in 538 A.D. by Justinian's decree. In 1798, General Berthier, Napoleon's general, took the pope captive and put him into exile.

During its period of supremacy, the pope wielded more power than did even the emperors of Rome. The historian Gibbon said that Pope Innocent III was more supreme in the world than any Caesar that ruled the empire. Kings laid their crowns at the feet of the pope, and had him crown them. They kissed the pope's slipper to show their subjection. Any king who rebelled was dethroned. King John of England was one example, and he was excommunicated by the pope. The only way he could be reinstated was to lie a day and a night on a cold marble floor naked. The king complied. Henry the IV, emperor of Germany, had to stay four days in the rain and snow before the pope would grant him an audience. The pope was supreme over all nations and peoples.

And his deadly wound was healed and all the world wondered after the beast. Revelation 13:3

Since the papacy had apparently lost its political status after the pope's capture in 1798, the beast, which represents a kingdom or political system, was, for all intents and purposes, dead. It could only be resurrected as a beast if it regained its viable political status. In 1929, Mussolini and Gaspari signed an Accord whereby the Pope had to pledge his own political party's support to Mussolini in exchange for the return and acknowledgment of his papal seat and power. From 1929 onward, the political status of the Vatican was thus reinstated and the apparent wound could heal. Since then the power and influence of the papacy has again grown to worldwide proportions,

Papal Rome had always been an ecclesiastical as well as a secular power, combining church and state. It was also able to enforce any laws it wished. When she wielded power during the middle ages she claimed:
The Church may by Divine Right confiscate the property of heretics, imprison their persons, and condemn them to the flames.

This statement emphasizes the power which Rome wielded, and will once again wield upon the earth. In one of his encyclicals, Dies Domini, issued on May 7, 1998, Pope John Paul asked for civil legislation to support the observance of Sunday, although the sanctification of Sunday rests only on papal premises.

When, through the centuries, she has made laws concerning Sunday rest, (109) the Church has had in mind above all the work of servants and workers, certainly not because this work was any less worthy when compared to the spiritual requirements of Sunday observance, but rather because it needed greater regulation to lighten its burden and thus enable everyone to keep the Lord�s Day holy. In this matter, my predecessor Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical Rerum Novarum spoke of Sunday rest as a worker�s right which the State must guarantee ... Therefore, also in the particular circumstances of our own time, Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy. (DIES DOMINI)

In a further Apostolic letter,AD TUENDAM FIDEM, issued on May 18, 1998, the pope uses the term heretic for the first time since the healing of the wound and warned disobedient members of the flock that they will be punished if they do not accept papal authority in matters of doctrine.
Can. 1436 � 1. Whoever denies or places in doubt any truth that must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or repudiates the Christian faith as a whole, and does not come to his senses after having been legitimately warned, is to be punished as a heretic or as an apostate by major excommunication; a member of the clergy, furthermore, can be punished by other penalties, not excluding deposition. 2. Aside from such cases, whosoever rejects a doctrine proposed, as definitively to be held, by the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops exercising their authentic Magisterium, or else accepts a doctrine condemned by them as erroneous, and does not come to his senses after having been legitimately warned, is to be punished by an appropriate penalty. AD TUENDAM FIDEM
Imperceptibly and stealthfully, Rome is preparing to once again enforce her decrees, just as the Bible predicts. In the secret recesses of her grand buildings and in the legislative halls of the world's political powers the stage is being set for the final confrontation between those aligned with the Prince of Darkness and those who stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel.

In Daniel 7 and Revelation 13:5, it states that the beast power would be a blasphemous power. Pope Leo boasted:
We hold upon earth the place of God Almighty. God Himself is obliged to abide by the judgments of His priests on whether to pardon or not to pardon. The pronouncement of the priest precedes and God subscribes to it St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Dignities and Duties of the Priests, New York: Benziger Brothers, 1888, p. 27,28

Not one of these statements has been rescinded in recent years, even since Vatican II.
Know you not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are, to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. Romans 6:16
A final attribute of the sea beast is that it has a number, and this number is the number of a man.
Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred, threescore and six. (666) Revelation 13:18

Modern interpretations of this prophecy apply the 666 in many ways. The questions we need to ask ourselves are: Did this entity persecute the saints for 1260 years? Did it say it was God? and Does it claim to forgive sins? The text clearly states that it is a man�s number, but also that of the beast. Does the number 666 apply to the papacy, and is it the number of a man, bringing it in line with the 'man of sin' recorded in the Scriptures?

One of the official titles of the pope is VICARIUS FILII DEI "Vicar of the Son of God". This can be verified in the papal canons issued during the past years.
Latin letters have a numerical value and the title Vicarius Filii Dei adds up to 666. (V=5,I=l,C=100,U=5,L=50 and D=500). Greek letters also have numerical value. And if the official titles of the Roman Church in both her secular and religious capacity are examined, then the number 666 is again prominent. The title ITALIKA EKKLESIA (I=10,T=300,A=1,L=30,I=10,K=20,A=1,E=5,K=20,K=20,L=30,�=8,S=200,I=10,A=1) meaning "Italian Church" totals 666.The Greek title [SIZE=-1]HE LATINE BASILEIA[/SIZE](H=0,E=8,L=30,A=1,T=300,I=10,N=50,E=8,B=2,A=1,S=200,I=10,L=30,
E=5, I=10, A=1) meaning "The Latin Kingdom" also totals 666 as does the title "Dux Clerici" (D=500, U=5, X=10, C=100, L=50, E=0, R= 0, I=1) meaning "head of clergy", and "Lateinos" (L=30,A=1, T=300,E=5, I=10,N=50,O=70,S=200) meaning "latin speaking man"....." excerpts from 'Truth Matters' by Walter Veith.

Now check these facts that I came across:

* Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica da S. Pietro sino ai nostri giorni(Dictionary of Historical-Ecclesiastical Erudition from St. Peter to the Present), [SIZE=-1]by Gaetano Moroni[/SIZE], 103 volumes and 6 volumes of indexes printed in Venice by Tipografia Emiliana between 1840 and 1861. The title appears in volume 99, page 21, in the entry for VICARIO DI GESU' CRISTO [Vicar of Jesus Christ], where it states very briefly that the inscription Vicarius Filii Dei is to be found in the Vatican. [ Vol. 99 title page - Vol. 99 pg. 21, GIF format ]

"The title Vicarius Christi, as well as the title Vicarius Filii Dei is very common as the title of the Pope". [The Quasten document]