In bringing her messages to the world, Vassula Ryden, author of
Heaven is Real, But So Is Hell: An Eyewitness Account of What is to Come, has managed to meet two Roman Catholic Cardinals just prior to their ascension to the Papacy. The first meeting, recounted in Chapter 16 of her book, tells of her dealings with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger just ahead of his 2005 ascension when he ran the Vatican's Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF). The second was at a retreat in Argentina, 14 months ago, when she met Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis I and the first Jesuit Pope in history.
A member of the Greek Orthodox Church, Ryden has to be counted as one of the most unlikely of God's many messengers recruited over the millennia. Her dealings with Ratzinger as head of CDF and the Unity Office at the Vatican, while living in Rome, is a compelling part of her journey in bringing God's messages to the world. By 1998, when Ryden and her husband moved Rome for a six-year stint, her work had brought worldwide attention and the Vatican had taken notice of her writings in True Life in God, a book which chronicles all the written messages delivered to her by God with much to say about Church Unity. A Vatican Notification of 1995 was produced that shed doubt on her veracity and asked for clarification on five key questions.
First she was welcomed into the Vatican Unity Office and began to make inroads with her messages and seemed to gain a measure of acceptance in Rome, despite a wide range of vicious attacks from various Catholic and Orthodox sources. Then, in 2004, Ratzinger decided to open a dialogue with Vassula and the meetings with him proved productive after she provided sufficient answers to the five objections in the Notification. A feeling of genuine support from the future Pope grew as the following passages from
Heaven is Real, But So Is Hell would indicate.
"I would never have imagined that one day God would guide me into the heart of the Vatican, and that I would be speaking with the future Pope about matters concerning the Church. As Cardinal Ratzinger and I spoke, his simplicity and humility impressed me most. Twice during the course of our meeting he said, 'The Church sometimes makes mistakes but we ask God to forgive us.' I offered him the book True Life in God which contained the Messages in it and showed him that the new edition of the book now included my answers to the five questions, which he had requested I do. He said: 'Good, everybody should read this dialogue to find the truth in its light.'
"As a result of this meeting with Cardinal Ratzinger, many of my detractors were silenced and eclipsed for a while. None of them admitted their mistake, though, nor did they rejoice at this positive result. On the contrary, they were heard saying, 'This is the apostasy', meaning that the Vatican had apostatized! Before, the same people used to trumpet out loud, 'Rome has spoken!' and everybody trembled, taking it in the same way as if they were told God has spoken. Now that it does not suit them, they say, 'Rome has apostatized.' However, many thousands of people worldwide who believed in the Messages, including many priests, were celebrating Rome's discernment and change in attitude."
Following this encounter, she had a positive meeting with the Unity Office about a highly critical issue that God was most adamant about in terms of Church Unity: the dates of Easter being celebrated at different times by Catholic and Orthodox Churches. After a spirited discussion with the new head of the Unity Office, Cardinal Kasper, he agreed to take message to personally to John Paul II. Vassula felt triumphant, she had fought her way through and been able to deliver a key message to the top of the Church hierarchy. However, the world changed when John Paul passed and Cardinal Ratzinger became the Vicar of Christ and Bishop of Rome.
Her husband's contract in Rome was up and a new head of the CDF office in the Vatican turned his back and the Notification of 1995 was reissued. The winds were out of the sails as this "seemed to contradict all the positive rapport we had building with the CDF." Relations with the Vatican and her own Orthodox Church are "still in flux" as Church leaders reject her while bishops, priests and nuns continue to write her letters of support.
Vassula Ryden closed out the chapter with a sanguine tone that reiterated her commitment to continue the quest as tasked to her by God, a warrior fighting the Good Fight for all concerned, a faithful adherent to His Love and Devotion.
Part 1 of 2 of INSIGHT TV Show Interview of Vassula Ryden
Part 2 of 2 of INISGHT TV Show Interview of Vassula Ryden
About Vassula Ryden:
Vassula Ryden, author of Heaven is Real But So is Hell: An Eyewitness Account of What is to Come, is a Greek Orthodox Christian speaker and author who is known worldwide.
Born of Greek parents, Ryden grew up in Egypt, until her family moved to Switzerland when she was a teenager. Then in 1985, while she was living in Bangladesh, she had a spiritual encounter that changed her life, as well as many others. Ryden was working on a grocery list when she felt the presence of an angel. "My hand was taken as if by an invisible hand, and I let it go because I felt he wanted me to write something," she says.
At the time of the encounter, she had no relationship with God and hadn't received any religious training. Soon after that encounter, God allowed Ryden to experience a painful purification process. After experiencing this dark and lonely time when she did not hear from God, she made the decision to fully surrender to Him and put God first in her life.
Since then, she has had thousands of similar experiences, transcribing "messages" from God in a different style than her normal handwriting. The messages have been compiled in books, videos and other materials, which are promoted and distributed under the title, 'True Life in God' after Vassula was told by God in 1987, I have chosen you as a blank canvas to fill it up only with My Work which I will name: "True Life in God."
Ryden also has what she calls "interior visions" of heaven and the future and has foreseen three important events, which came to fruition:
• The destruction of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001;
• The Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004; and
• The fall of Communism in the former Soviet Union.
But such "doomsday" prophecies are not the focus of her ministry. God's messages to Ryden emphasize His love and desire that all people have an intimate relationship with Him. They also stress the need for unity among Christian denominations.
Although she is Greek Orthodox, Ryden has a large Catholic following. She has cordial relations with many Vatican officials and presented a copy of True Life in God to Pope Benedict XVI in 2008. Ryden lives in Greece with her husband, but she is a frequent traveler, having spoken in 79 countries.
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