Fr. Ripperger: Mark of the beast will be the ‘inversion’ of baptism

(LifeSiteNews) — Exorcist Father Chad Ripperger shared in a recent interview that the Mark of the beast will be an “inversion of the Mark of Baptism.”

The priest explained to former U.S. Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan on his show that, through Baptism, “God infuses a quality in the person’s soul which is a mark.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that this spiritual mark, which is “indelible” (impossible to remove), “seals the Christian” with the character “of his belonging to Christ.”

Fr. Ripperger affirmed this, telling Ryan that during the Sacrament of Baptism in the Catholic Church, chrism is signed as a cross on the forehead “as an indicator that this person has been consecrated to Christ through his baptism.”

“The Mark of the Beast is going to be an inversion of that,” said Fr. Ripperger, suggesting that instead of signifying that one belongs to Jesus Christ, the Mark will signify that one belongs to the Antichrist and rejects Christ. He explained that, according to the Church Fathers, one will not be able to receive the Mark without “some type of renunciation of Christ.”

This means it will involve the acceptance of something they “know is contrary to the will of God and to the will of Christ,” he added.

The Book of Revelation says that the Antichrist will compel all to receive a mark “on their right hands or on their foreheads” and that no one will be able to “buy or sell” without that mark. 

Thus, Fr. Ripperger predicted that this mark will be a form of digital currency, “something in our bodies that will give us access” to goods, like an “RFID chip” that can be scanned at a store.

“We’re almost there,” the exorcist priest pointed out.

Chip implants that allow people to make purchases with a tap of the hand have already been developed. Thousands of people in Sweden have already been implanted with microchips to replace traditional forms of payment information, boarding passes, government identification, and key cards. 

In fact, plans for technology with all the pieces needed for the Mark of the Beast are in the works. Prominent German economist Richard Werner shared in 2023 that central banks plan to concretize central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the form of microchips implanted under the skin.

“I was taught by a central banker (that) the CBDCs look like a small grain of rice that they want to put under your skin,” said Werner, who devised the bank practice of quantitative easing, in a 2023 interview.

Central bank digital currencies, in contrast with other forms of digital currency used today, require that individuals open bank accounts directly with central banks such as the Federal Reserve, giving governments control over citizens’ access to money.

“You have to think of CDBCs as a control system (or a permit system), not a currency,” Werner explained.

Fr. Ripperger told Ryan that people must have to accept the removal of their purchasing power so as to avoid the Mark. They “have to be willing to sacrifice the lesser good in order to achieve the greater good,” he said.

However, he pointed out that God can help people survive without the mark.

“God will very often provide for people. If it’s His will that people survive that time frame, He’ll make it possible,” said Fr. Ripperger, although he noted that it is “going to be extraordinarily difficult to even be able to evade detection” given the current level of technology.