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There are prophecies about the Catholic Church, and the succession of Popes. I'm no expert on this, but the prophecies were made by Malachy in the 1100s. He listed 112 Popes, with Benedict being the next to the last listed (he didn't name the names of the Popes, but had a quote about each of them. The quotes are general, but some, interestingly enough, do have a relationship to the Pope. John Paul I, for example, was listed as the Pope of the half moon, and reigned around one moon cycle (34 days).

Prior to the selection of Benedict, many people were saying he would be a member of the Benedictine order, because of the predictions made. He wasn't Benedictine, but selected Benedict as his name (either of which could have been self-fulfilling prophecies). The next (last) Pope is supposed to be Peter the Roman, who will reign when the city of seven hills (Rome) is destroyed, and the Lord will return.

I make no pretense to either accept or reject the prophecies, but have read a little about them.