If ecumenism were simply a call for religious groups to stop the violence and hatred that has become much too common, then it would be a good thing. However, ecumenism is in fact a movement towards supremacy of the Papacy—the most violent religious body of all time.
Under the guise of “doing good”, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists director of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, Ganoune Diop, has recently involved himself in strange ways with the Papacy. Previous to his 2015 General Conference position, Diop was a liason between the United Nations and the International religious liberty association.
On October 12, 2016, Diop attended a meeting at the Vatican to meet the Pope. The discussion at that meeting centered on seeking unity, ecumenism and full communion between religions (2 Corinthians 6:14-17).
On April 25-27, 2018 Diop attended a meeting where Roman Catholic Bishop Brian Farrell called for an end to proselytizing. A letter from the Pope was read, calling for unity. Representing the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Diop posed for a picture with attendees.
In January of last year, the Catholicnews.com site reported—from Bishop Ferrell—that nearly all of Christianity is advancing towards understanding and solidarity.
Diop is not just an attendee at these meetings, but in some cases helping to organize them, as he did on January 29, 2019 at the United Nations Building.
Due to the easy access of information over the internet, these activities of Diop have come under scrutiny by faithful Seventh-day Adventists around the world. Many people are legitimately concerned about this man’s activities.
These concerns motivated Diop to defend his ecumenical actions in the pages of the Adventist Review in 2015, 2018, 2019, on stage at Annual Council 2019, and most recently the December 19, 2019 online Review.
I would like to give a fellow Seventh-day Adventist the benefit of the doubt, but none of these explanations satisfy me. When Diop is representing the Seventh-day Adventist Church in ecumenical meetings at the Vatican he is most definitely not representing me. I don’t know about you. When he organizes a meeting to promote the United Nations 2030 Agenda to religions —something that the Vatican is also doing — he is not representing me. He is likely not representing the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. James and Ellen White, JN Andrews, and Joseph Bates would have much to say against such misuse of our Church’s resources and mission. We should too.
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“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15).