Revelation 13:3 "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; ..."
This power would receive a deadly (mortal) wound, which would make it appear as though it was dead, but from which it would later fully recover.
The deadly wound was inflicted when Napoleon's general, Alexander Berthier, entered Rome and took Pope Pius VI captive in February of 1798. Napoleon decreed that at the death of the Pope, the Papacy would be discontinued. The Pope died in France in August of 1799. To all intents and purposes, the Papacy had ceased to exist.
"Half of Europe thought ... that without the Pope the Papacy was dead." Joseph Rickaby "The Modern Papacy" Lectures on the History of Religion, Lecture 24, (London Catholic Truth Society, 1910), p.1
Revelation 13:10 "He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword."
The Papacy had been the power that for 1,260 years had lead others into captivity, wielding the military might of other nations like a sword to do its bidding and killing millions of martyrs. This same sword that had been wielded by the Papacy was now turned against it to inflict a mortal wound.
Mark 10 - Deadly Wound Will Be Healed
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