Posted on 04/19/2005 10:31:35 PM PDT by Salvation
RATZINGER APPEARS TO FULFILL MALACHY PROPHECY
The moment was one only the Church could pull off: a massive crowd, the ultimate in suspense, fantastic pageantry to match the glory of God.
In fact, even a Fox News commentator commented that on a cloudy day, the sun uncannily erupted at the time of announcement and Rome embraced spring.
It was Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals, close confidant of John Paul II, celebrant of the last pope's funeral, and keeper of the flame who became the 265th pontiff.
He is a man who will maintain an accent on orthodoxy as well as on the Blessed Mother -- whom he mentioned right away in his first moments as pontiff.
Pope Benedict XVI is an elderly but strong pope who will bring both immense intellect and force with an unwavering way of presenting the Catholicism of John Paul II.
The name Benedict seemed a strong signal on many levels. It was St. Benedict who was noted for his strong power against the devil -- this important at a time of heightened spiritual warfare -- and the order Benedict founded, the Benedictines, is also known as the "Olivetans." St. Benedict prophesied that the last pope would be from that order.
And it was allegedly St. Malachy of Ireland who prophesied that the Pope after John Paul II ("Labor of the sun") would be "Glory of the Olives."
St. Malachy's list described a pope later identified as Leo XIII with the words lumen in caelo (light in the heavens), and in fact that pope's coat of arms included a shooting star. Benedict XV was supposedly religio depopulata -- "religion devastated" (he served during World War I); John XXIII, who had served in the port city of Venice, was pastor et nauta ("shepherd and sailor"); and Paul VI was flos florum, or flower of flowers, and his coat of arms indeed displayed the fleur-de-lis (a pattern of flowers). Pope John Paul I was depicted as de medietate lunae, which means "from half of the moon -- and the first two letters of his family name, Luciani, form half of the word "luna," while the current pope, John Paul II was de labore solis, from the labor of the sun (with no clear explanation, although perhaps there is a connection in that he was born the year of an eclipse, and also: his working devotion to the "woman clothed with the sun").
That left two popes on St. Malachy's alleged list. One was described as De gloria olivae (from the glory of the olive) and the last as Petrus Romanus (Peter the Roman). It is Peter the Roman who is said to reign during tribulations that will include the destruction of Rome.
Whatever the merits of such claims, the last pope named Benedict came during great Church disarray and just before the tumult of World War I. Meanwhile, Cardinal Ratzinger -- who is responsible for rescuing the apparition site of Medjugorje from rejection by a local bishop -- is known for a strong stance on family value and life. He is also a strict disciplinarian who may well address the priestly crisis in a new and stronger way.
[see also: Taking a close look at that alleged St. Malachy prophecy]
Do you think this means that there is this pope and then one more pope, and that then there will be no more popes?
What will they do...change organizational styles? Rule through a council of Cardinals? Break up the Catholic Church?
Seriously, what's being suggested here?
The Apocolypse.
If you would have gone over there, you would see that what they see is real. Were you to talk with the visionaries, and see their radiant faces, you would know that they talk with the Blessed Virgin.
I knew I liked Cardinal Ratzinger for many reasons, but this is just awesome. I have no doubt the apparitions in Medjugorje are real. The over 120 people I've went there with over the course of the past 15 years would all agree.
If you were there, praying with the visionaries at the time of the apparition, or even nearby, you could tell Mary is present.
Anyway I don't want to start a fight, but hope that you have investigated yourselves, talked and prayed with the visionaries before you decide to declare them fake.
I'm an outsider...a sincere one...but that strikes me as odd.
I thought we weren't supposed to set dates on such things.
??? puzzled.
>>Michael Brown is a bit on the conspiratorial side. Just look at the stuff he puts up.<<
I love reading SpiritDaily but I know to take it with a grain of salt.
Some people I have met take it as God's Word. It's a shame.
The Bishop of Mostar, Bishop Zanic, whose diocese includes Medjugorje, vehemently disagrees. And the Vatican has said there is no basis from which to conclude that the apparitions are genuine.
However, if they inspire prayer from you, that is a good thing.
Not saying it's not possible, just saying I'm not convinced.
"We're" not, and "we" don't.
Thanks, sinkspur. See my #21...
The dates are just one guys speculation and I put no stock in those at all. As to Malachy's list, well it looks awfully accurate, although I am a bit skeptical.
My Uncle, who is a retired Bishop has major doubts about those "seers". The Bishop of the area and all but two Bishops of the former Yugoslavia have stated that there is nothing supernatural going on there. The Vatican has stated that there is to be no veneration of that site and no tours should go there for veneration. Yet the disobedience goes on.
Believe what you want but JPII refused to go there when he was in the former Yugoslavia.
I would rather listen to the Vatican.
No. But, gloom-and-doomers are fascinated with "end times" nonsense. There's just no stopping it.
>>However, if they inspire prayer from you, that is a good thing.<<
I fully agree with you, but geez, hold your cash!
LOL!! Exactly! Otherwise, you just feed the "seers" cigarette habits!
If I was going to promote apparitions, I would start with ones approved by the Church. The link I provided cites many sources and investigations that throw serious suspicion, to say the least, on these "apparitions". If there is "other worldly" phenomena occurring at Medjugorje, that does not necessarily mean it is supernatural, it could be preternatural. Satan will often mimic Our Lord to lead people astray. Skepticism is prudent here.
It's too much for me.
Guess I'll just sit back and lurk for a while.
I think I'll just go into lurk mode. I appreciate your response.
I'm not Catholic so I probably don't deserve an opinion on these things.
Which poses a dilemma for us Jews who don't think the Messiah's made it yet.
Of course you do. Anybody with a level head deserves an opinion, and you are among the most level-headed here.
There is one indisputable fact: every single "prophet" who has predicted the end times has been wrong.
They don't have a good track record.
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