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See how Daniel's prophecy is in play in world affairs:
It's been clear for some time that the European Union is in deep trouble. But now even its own leaders admit something shocking: The EU, and its currency the euro, may soon be a thing of the past.
The EU has had a troubled existence since the euro was first rolled out on Jan. 1, 1999. Sure, the EU has advantages—a single currency, one giant market, freedom of movement for a well-educated workforce, all benefits. Still, it's impossible to have an economic union based on rules no one follows. And that's exactly what's happened in the EU.
Under the 1993 Maastricht Treaty, no EU country was allowed to run a budget deficit of more than 3% of GDP or issue public debt in excess of 60% of GDP. This was to be the bedrock of the EU's financial stability.
In recent years, Greece, Ireland and Portugal have all run deficits over 10% of GDP. Worse, the debts of Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal and Spain average 112% of GDP. In short, the countries on the EU's periphery have used membership as a way to redistribute wealth from Europe's rich north to its poorer south.
For a while it worked. But now the debts are enormous, and the amounts needed to bail out the peripherals from their profligacy are so large that citizens in countries such as Germany are saying "no more." By some estimates, as much as $4 trillion will be needed—a number that would bankrupt the EU.
Sure, the poor EU countries deserve blame for running their economies into the ground. But the real problem is the EU itself.
Read several authors' thoughts on papal Rome's history.
This article highlights quotes from historical and Catholic sources proving the Papacy's aggressive nature.
An Italian mystic. A minister to a British king. An Augustine monk. A Swiss farmer's boy. What do these men have in common? They were used by God in powerful ways to bring about the Protestant Reformation. Enter into the lives of these ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Inspiration for these articles comes from Gideon and Hilda Hagstoz' Heroes of the Reformation