As both you readers know, the Pope resigned on February 11 and since then I’ve been doing extensive research into all things Pope-ish. One of the more fascinating things I’ve discovered is a prophecy that the next Pope to be elected will be the final Pope. This may turn out to be just like the Mayan calendar, but its an interesting topic for extensive research.
This prophecy was new to me — turns out that Saint Malachy was an Irish saint and Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and an alleged vision of 112 Popes later attributed to the apocalyptic list of Prophecy of the Popes.
It seems that in 1139 AD St. Malachy was visiting Pope Innocent II in Rome. He saw a vision of all the 112 Popes who would follow Innocent II. He wrote down a short sentence of cryptic words about each one as a means of describing them, making what today is called the Prophecy of the Popes. It’s interesting to note that Benedict is the 111th Pope after Innocent II, making the next one the last.
So if the next pope will be the last, some are convinced that Judgment Day is quickly approaching. The prophecy offers brief descriptions about each pope, and some of them appear to align with reality is some way — much like Nostradamus’ predictions. For example, St. Malachy described the 111th pope (Benedict) as the “glory of the olive,” and the Olivetans are affiliated with the Benedictine Order. He also described John Paul II (110th) as ‘from the labour of the sun.’ Turns out that Pope John Paul II was born the day of a solar eclipse and buried on the day of a solar eclipse 84 years later. Something to hang your hat on if you really want to believe….
The Prophecy of Popes stops at the 112th pope and ends with this cryptic warning of doomsday: “In the extreme persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit…Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations: and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the terrible judge will judge his people. The End.”
Wow! It turns out that Rome is known as the city of seven hills, and there don’t appear to be any Roman-born cardinals in the running to be be the next pope, but Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana bears the same name as the person mentioned in the prophecy.
You have to admit that God gave important visions to a number of highly dubious people down through the years, so maybe he did give the Prophecy of the Popes to the church through Malachy….
Even though this is fun to speculate about, the fact is there is no original manuscript of the prediction. Malachy’s “vision” was allegedly discovered and published by Benedictine Arnold de Wyon in 1590. Prior to then, there is no mention or record of it. Church historians and clerics have considered it a forgery since the 18th century. I guess you could say that Malachy’s prophecy is considered malarkey by the church. But — as they say, we shall see…..
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Even if it is a forgery, the predictions have been correct so to speak. The prediction is for the end of the world but could it be the end of the Catholic Church as we know it?
I’m not sure the prediction is necessarily for the end of the world. It ends with a separate, complete Sentence, “The End.” I actually took it to be directed more at the church than the “world.”