For those who are familiar with End Times prophecies, key institutions and prominent individuals have been observing the signs and pointing them out for some time.

The Catholic Church recently referred to this as "a time of wars and rumours of wars", a direct quote from the apocalyptic prophecies of the Christian scripture:

http://www.theinsider.org/mailing/article.asp?id=0064

To all those in this group who dismiss prophecy as childish nonsense, I would remind you that the US President, the most powerful man in the world, is a self-confessed believer, and openly looks forward to the end of the world when, he believes, Christ will descend to judge and rule forever.

As one commentator wrote at the turn of the millennium:

"You may not believe in gods or prophecy, but among the leaders of nations there are those who do." (T. Acheson, 1999)