They said the same about JPII.
I doubt it. St. Malachy did not list him as the last in his series of popes. The last in the series - Peter the Roman - come after this one.
Most "scholars" referred to, are not people of faith. They don't believe anything until they see it. Personally, although not Catholic myself - there is something very eery about the correspondence between the attibutes of many of the Popes on Malachy's list and the Latin phrases he used.
St. Malachy repudely foretold the day of his death - accurattely. And he was Celtic and some of the Celts have "Second Sight".
They say it about all the Popes, don't they?