Are Cardinal Eijk, Socci and Mazza saying that Francis may be Acting in the Spirit of the Antichrist?
On May 7, 2018, Netherlands Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk apparently implied that Francis may be acting in the spirit of the Antichrist. Eijk said: "Observing that the bishops and, above all, the Successor of Peter fail to maintain and transmit faithfully and in unity the deposit of faith... I cannot help but think of Article 675 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: 'The Church's ultimate trial Before Christ's second coming... will unveil the 'mystery of iniquity' in the form of religious deception... apostasy from the truth.'" (National Catholic Register, "Cardinal Eijk: Pope Francis Needed to Give Clarity on Intercommunion," May 7, 2017) Moreover, Dr. Ed Mazza in his argument that Pope Benedict XVI relinquished the power of the Bishop of Rome while remaining the pope (the Successor of Peter) is mirroring and quoting Antonio Socci's "opposition to the advance of the Antichrist" thesis . Mazz quotes