World News and Trends: Significance of 31 new Roman Catholic cardinals
Pope John Paul II is 83, now with seriously failing health.
He has recently appointed 31 new cardinals, mostly with clearly declared conservative views—particularly on those principles that he holds dear. Only one cardinal resides in the United States.
Some observers think one of these newly appointed cardinals could be the first black pope. Apparently Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria is being seriously considered for the top papal role. According to Times correspondent Richard Owen, reporting from Rome, some in the college of cardinals are leaning to an African in preference to a Latin American candidate.
Pope John Paul II has certainly been a very active Polish pope, putting his personal stamp on the Vatican. The world waits to see who his successor will be. And those with insight into biblical prophecy wonder if his coming reign will impact European and Middle Eastern events in a way that would propel us into the period heralding the second coming of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation indicates that religion will play as important a role in fulfilling end-time Bible prophecies as world politics. (Sources: The Times [London], USA Today, Atlantic edition.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: November - December 2003
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
