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The pope delivers his final audience in St. Peter's Square as he prepares to stand down.
ROME— Church bells are sounding the alarm for doomsayers and conspiracy theorists here as cardinals convene to elect a new leader for the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.
According to an ancient prediction, this next pope will be the last.
That theory dates back more than 900 years to when Malachy O’Morgair, the 12th century Archbishop of Ireland, had a vision.
Legend has it that St. Malachy, as he is now known, had a strange dream while on a visit to Rome. He “saw” all the names of the future popes – complete with identifying characteristics – who would rule the church until the end of time.
Malachy’s “Prophecy of the Popes,” as his vision is called, named Benedict XVI as the 111th – and penultimate – pope. The vision ended with the 112th pope.
Clairvoyant or crazy?
In his book, “Life of St. Malachy,” St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote that Malachy was respected as a clairvoyant who predicted the exact day and hour of his own death. At least one 20th century pope, Pius X, was convinced Malachy’s vision was divine, according to Rafael Merry del Val, his biographer.
But theologians and clerics argue there was never an authentic written manuscript. Malachy’s list was curiously discovered in 1590 in the Vatican archives, hundreds of years later.
“There is no historical foundation at all to St. Malachy’s list,” said Roberto Rusconi, professor of the History of Christianity at Rome’s University. “Malachy’s gift was to make other people believe in his predictions.”
Others have taken hold of Malachy’s list and compared it with history.
The first pope, according to the list, would be “from a castle on the Tiber” – for believers, that was clearly Pope Celestine II who was born on the shores of the Tiber River.
Pope Benedict was apparently described as “glory of the olives” and doomsayers point to his choice of the name Benedict, since the founder of the Benedictine Order was also known as Olivetans.
And in Malachy’s vision, the last pope – who will soon be elected – is described this way: “in extreme persecution, the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman…”
While none of the Italian Cardinals are called Peter, one favorite to become Pope is Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana.
Alessandro Di Meo / EPA file
Lighting strikes the basilica of St.Peter's dome in Vatican City during a storm on Feb.11, 2013, the same day Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation.
Nostradamus: a comet and a lightning bolt
If that was not enough to send shivers down a few spines, Nostradamus, the 16th century French astrologer and seer, predicted much the same as Malachy.
Nostradamus, a mild-mannered healer, was content to mix potions until the Italian-born French queen, Catherine de Medici, raised his profile from physician to prophet.
Nostradamus warned that the next-to-last pope would “flee Rome in December when the great comet is seen in the daytime.”
Taking into account the calendar months were different hundreds of years ago, Nostradamus wasn’t so far off. The Comet ISON, with its 40,000 mile-long tail, has been visible the past couple months as Benedict prepared to abdicate and leave Rome for his temporary home in Castel Gandolfo.
And for those well-versed in the language of brimstone and fire, the signs could not have been more transparent when just hours after Benedict announced he would abdicate, a bolt of lightning struck St. Peter’s Basilica, the very heart of Christianity. A few days later a shower of meteorites fell and devastated a village in Russia.
Cynics shrugged all this off as natural phenomena, while the doomsayers suffered from one more dose of existential angst.
In St. Paul Outside the Walls, another major cathedral in Rome, medallions line the walls with the names of every pope and the dates of his papacy. Legend says that when all the medallions are full, the world will finally end. On the walls of St. Paul’s, there are still some empty spaces.
Perhaps the end isn’t so near.
Related:
Riots, revenge and royal rigging: A history of controversial conclaves
Will Catholics embrace change? The view from one parish in Rome
Leave a Comment:
This age is coming to a end soon this is all in the bible, God will take his church away, God loves us all , become a christian today.
If you truly believe in God, you would know, he had said those that believe in me. will not believe in Prophets or Psychics. Only he himself knows, should that time come. Those that believe in predictions do not believe in Me. All these messengers who use fear, as a way of His coming back, is not spreading the correct message. Just that be prepared for that day. God and Jesus were never about fearing him but fearing his wrath, if you are not prepared. Many theories and dates have passed in which people feared the World would end as we know it, but they came and past. NO ONE not even Nostradamus, knows when that time comes for God kept that to himself.
That is not true. Isaiah, Daniel, and others were prophets. True, no one knows the "time", but Jesus warns us to beware of the signs. When the thief is in the neighborhood, we should not fall asleep on our watch. Well, the thief is in the neighborhood. Malachy was accurate on the Popes. Yet, the AntiChrist will not be Peter, although this Peter will (according to Malachy) "feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed..." Global warming, meteors exploding, comets and asteroids coming close, sinkholes opening up, people indiscriminately shooting people with guns, Christians persecuted in third world countries; yes, we are entering the Tribulation. When the Temple is rebuilt (also close by), then those who have been paying attention, will know.
Here We go Again.... Nosey Ramos should have stuck to bleeding "Bad Humors".
What the pope really dreamed of was that the child touching would stop, its funny how so many bad things have happened in the name of GOD, not because of the lord him self but because of us. Some of you will get pissed at this but the truth will do that to you.
Well, in my own personal opinion catholics must be the most ignorant people on the face of the earth. They worship the pope and all of those pedophile priests. If I had a choice between walking past a group of people of people that looke like thugs or walking past a bunch of priests. My judgement tells me to walk past the thugs.
The catholic church is such an evil abomination. They feed themselves upon their followers. They somehow have been able to convince people of the earth that they are the one and only church! The pope is infallible. The biggest thing with this unholy thing is they have turned people into rice christians. If you are a poor person in need of food then you need to get baptised into the catholic monstrosity just so you can get some rice. They have taught that Mary is the mother of god. Which a complete and total lie! They also teach their members to worship idols. They have violated every single one of the 10 commandments and continue to do so. They have been responsible for the murders of millions of people and still have the audacity to call themselves folowers of christ! This church would have probably taken great pleasure in nailing our messiah to the cross! Just a bunch of pedophiles and extremely unclean men that would have been chased out of the temples. Catholics really have to be the most ignorant people on the face of the planet. If someone tells me something I have to see it in the bible for me to believe it but you people just blindly believe what those cretins tell you to believe. I am hru talking. Just walk away that unholy monstrosity and seek out the truth for yourself. Or just spend the rest of your life slaving away so that you give those worthless bastards your earnings so that they can spend their lives doing absolutely nothing!
Great points, MrToad. Don't forget the time of the Black Death when poor Catholic followers lived in true horror that many of the town priests (the middle men) had left town, and as they lay dying, were worried about going to hell because the middle men had split, when all they needed to know was that Christ was the only middle man they needed. Yet, there are still some Catholics with good hearts although sadly, falsely lead.
<“...there was never an authentic written manuscript. Malachy’s list was curiously discovered in 1590 in the Vatican archives, hundreds of years later.”> Yet, these "old" predictions are accurate. Benedict was predicted to leave early and we thought it would be by assassination. So this Peter should either be one of the two candidates or will be named Peter by the church.
Sinead for pope!!
Christian religion, is based on the worship of the sun and religion in general became a tool
to organize people to preserve one’s group ways of life over another. No one achieved this better than the
Romans. Religion now has become nothing more than a business that still uses people and their money to preserve power and control for the ruling classes. It is kind of mindboggling how religious groups are able to deceive their followers to pay for their own religion to exercise power, control, division, and in/equality against them, while they rake up the profits and live lavish lifestyles. For all of these so-called religions to be so holy and divine they have spilled more blood than anything humanity has ever seen.
ya ya smoke another one ..You don't have clue what you're talking about .
I don't normally think this way...but I am siding with Nostradamus here. I have read though a lot of his predictions in the past and frankly too many of them ring with too much truth to just completely dismiss. That comet seen the daytime is pretty sinking close to the meteor in Russia and right when the pope stepped down. The December thing is a bit off, but on a 600 year future predictions being off by two months ain't bad. Though it should be also said for every one of his quatrains that is so similar to an historic event there is one that makes no sense...though who knows? Maybe those other events were not history book worthy so we don't know about them.
I will gladly see the the last pope...the end of the papal "leadership" will not be the end of the religion anyway. In a way it might be a beginning for it. They need to modify the religion for the modern age. It is an old religion that can be traced back to sun worshipers. If that means a whole doctrine change then that is what they have to do. It won't matter to me since I don't really buy into any of this, but so much of the world does that I have to care at least a little since I have friends and family involved.
Let's see - Priest's want to get married, some Priest's abuse little boy's, the church tries to cover it up until they get found out, the Vatican is huge, requiring lots of money to keep up, the Vatican has lots of money, Women are excluded from the Priest hood as if we are not good enough, when the going got rough the Pope jumps ship, etc etc etc. Let's see - I am supposed to trust my soul to organized religion? I think not, I am glad to be able to think for myself. I am a kind, loving, non violent person & I do not need some organized religion to guide me, when I am the opposite of what they are all about.
Wow, what a glowing resume of yourself, are you applying for the pope position?
All of the ones that predate the first publication of the prophecy.
Estimates are above eighty percent in terms of accuracy of all the predictions. If the Papal predictions was just about who would be the pope and identifying features of that Pope then I would say it was in danger of being a self fulfilling prophecy but the prophecies also predict events both natural and unnatural which could not have been known because they happened after the first publication.
The article states there are no Italian Cardinal called Peter. False, Tarcico Pietro Evasio Bertone. Pietro in Italian is Peter.
The article states there is no Italian Cardinal called Peter. False, Tarcisco Pietro Evasio Bertone. Pietro in Italian is Peter.
Maybe the end of the catholic church not the human race
sounds like a bunch of MALARKEY! ....i mean Malachy... same thing really, haha.
Wow!!! I'm glad that theatrical event is over. I just pray to God that "pope" Francis is a real Christian. If so, he will be a reformer of this convoluted ritualistic system called ROMAN catholicism and open the doors of the vatican to Jesus Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
If the prediction is true, it's welcome news. Perhaps the RC Church can then do some "bottoms up" overhauling.
I wonder if it was prophisied how many pedophiles the clergy would protect and reassign ?
Nostradamus didn't predict anything his predictions were so entirely vague, they could be twisted to fit nearly any circumstance, he's given way too much credibility...Nostradamus was one of the original civilized con-men
Nostradumass was as full of shiiite as a MUSLIM
Journalism!
Protestant reformation occurred. Author of this article says Church is based at the Vatican. Yes, The Catholic Church (in the city of seven hills) that believes that a man can be infallable. Not me.
When will we learn that the end can never be predicted ?
even IF we could "predict" the end, some jacka$$ politician would feel the need to capitalize on he concept and push the fast forward button just to see what happens...
I predict the end of the world as Americans know it, is when a muslum is in charge of our banking system. Oh, wait, never mind.
I'm so confused...where do people get the idea that the world is going to end? Nowhere in the bible does it say the world is going to end!!! It says and I quote "the world is without end" and goes on to say that "the life will change but not end"!!!