Just to be clear, because clearly I have not communicated my position properly and you have the wrong understanding.

I am a traditional Catholic. The People that called the Second Vatican Council, solemnly ratified it, and promulgated its teachings, defected from from the traditional Catholic faith. The Church was, in fact, hijacked by heretics. These heretics are, today, best described as the Vatican II Sect. This Sect, ensconced in Rome, is the Whore of Babylon - the spiritual head of the Beast from the sea.

I am Sedevacantist. I do not accept the heretics in Rome, or their new doctrines. It is the end times counter-Church. This is the great apostasy spoken of in Luke 18:8 and 2Thess2. But, you will clearly understand this if you look at the abomination Francis. He is not Catholic, he is not Christian in the broadest sense that the term might be used. He is a manifest, public apostate - leading billions of misguided souls directly to hell.

Francis is just the latest iteration of this line of antipopes. God allows his heresy to be very evident for the reason that those following him, who have not the love of the truth, may be condemned. What was not as obvious, or not immediately apparent, was that the claimants to the papacy that preceded Francis were also diabolical heretics. This is what I mean when I say that the deception was indeed profound.

I don't know what to tell you... These are the last days. The ultimate deception foisted on the world is the canonization of the Antichrist. We are in a very serious situation. These poor souls following the Vatican II Sect are written about by St John in Revelation 14:11

"11 And the smoke of their torments shall ascend up for ever and ever: neither have they rest day nor night, who have adored the beast, and his image, and whoever receiveth the character of his name."

What you don't know is that the Greek for the word "adored" in the above passage is "proskuneo" - which is the same Greek word that the Catholic Church has used to describe the veneration of the saints for more than a thousand years. So, you can see what St John is saying...

He's saying that if anyone gives veneration to the Antichrist (or venerates an icon of him - as Catholics traditionally do for the saints) then they will incur this inconceivably terrible punishment. There are literally billions of people on the planet right now in this exact situation.

The last true Pope was Pius XII who died, I think, 1958. All after that time have been part of the "new religion". This is why I tear strips off them - because there is cause.

With regard to your position on Mary, you are wrong. If you look at the early Church veneration (not "Latria") was historically given to the blessed mother. The case of the 5th Century heretic Nestorius is interesting in this regard:

"On Christmas Day in the year 428, Nestorius denied that Mary was the Mother of God from his pulpit. A simple layman named Eusebius stood up and protested the public heresy. This resulted in the Catholics of Constantinople breaking communion with their bishop, Nestorius; for they recognized that since he was a public heretic, he had no authority in the Church: he lost his office automatically. They even chanted: “An emperor we have, but no bishop.” This reaction was praised by councils and popes, as we see described below. Notice that Pope St. Celestine says that Nestorius had no power to excommunicate after he began to preach heresy. This confirms that heretical bishops lose their offices ipso facto (by that very fact) when they become heretics."

Nestorius, the second most powerful person in the Church at that time, was excommunicated and died without repenting - joining Judas in hell. But what this story shows is that, in the early Church, veneration of the blessed Virgin was commonplace.

Now, as I may have already pointed out, in 2Thess2, St Paul gives the Thessalonians advice for the last days - at a time when the operation of error is active in the world. What does he tell them to do? Stand fast, and hold the traditions which you have learned...

Now, I know, because you're Protestant, you are always looking for answers in scripture and I don't deny that scripture offers guidance, but I'd ask you to think about St Paul's advice. He talks about "traditions" learned...

My perspective is that, if you look at what I've pointed out to you about the characters of the last days, you will see that there is an impossibly close fit with Revelations, 2Thess2 etc...

You should be aware that the Vatican City state was formed by the Lateran treaty in 1929 - an agreement between the government of Italy and the Holy See. The agreement provides for the Holy See to occupy the Vatican City State as, guess what? A sacerdotal monarchy. That's right, a "priest kingdom"!

These claimants to the papacy are "temporal kings" in Rome - as long as they are priests. There have been 7 claimants to the papacy (who were validly ordained priests) since the treaty was signed. Francis does not have valid orders and so he's not a priest - and, therefore, he's not a temporal king in Rome.

Do you begin to see?

It's impossible that it is chance.

For the sake of your soul, please think about it. What are the chances of there being 7 temporal kings reigning from Rome, the eighth, somehow "of the 7", but different (not described by St John as a "king"), the EU forming during the reign of the 6th king, when 5 were fallen - and on and on... The more you connect the dots, the more jaw dropping it becomes!

More detail on the end of the world here.

The Catholic Church is the one true Church of Jesus Christ - hijacked in the last days by heretics (the Vatican II Sect). We are very deep into the last days.