Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 05/15/2025 11:31:06 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
With the election of a new pope, some have reexamined an alleged prophecy by a 12th century Irish saint who predicted the number of popes before the end of the world.
Saint Malachy of Armagh, a Roman Catholic bishop who died in 1148, reportedly had a vision while on a pilgrimage to Rome, where he claimed to have learned the exact number of popes who would reign from his time until Judgment Day.
Interest in the purported prophecy was high in 2013 with the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, as the prophecy indicated that the pontiff after him — which turned out to be Pope Francis — would be the final pope in history.
With the election of Pope Leo XIV, however, the prophecy might have been debunked. Or perchance, the prophecy was never valid to begin with.
Jonah McKeown, staff reporter for Catholic News Agency and an expert on the St. Malachy prophecy, told The Christian Post that while the saint was a documented historical figure, his prophecy has a more questionable authenticity.
McKeown noted that the “alleged prophecy” was “not an approved private revelation in the Catholic Church.” And while “supposedly written in the 1100s” was not discovered until the 1590s, “nearly 450 years after St. Malachy’s death.”
“It has been proposed by historians that the document was forged for contemporary (meaning 16th century) political purposes,” he explained.
“Part of the evidence that the document was written in the late 16th century and not the 1100s is that the mottoes assigned to the popes elected after 1590 are much harder to connect with the popes they allegedly represent, and often can be connected only in a contrived way. In contrast, most of the prior mottoes are easy to connect to pre-1590 popes.”
Commonly known as the “Prophecy of the Popes,” the alleged St. Malachy prophecy listed 110 popes that would reign until the End Times, with an 111th entry possibly added by an unknown party later on.
Each purported future pope was identified by a symbolic name, believed to allude to the figure’s actual name, birthplace, family, coat of arms, or some other form of identification.
After them, an individual called “Petrus Romanus,” or “Peter the Roman,” was identified as the final pope. According to the prophecy, “In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End.”
Regarding whether the election of Pope Leo XIV debunks the prophecy, McKeown told CP that it was “hard to say whether it definitively proves the prophecy one way or another, especially since it’s hard to prove a negative.”
McKeown noted that supporters “might try to keep the prophecy alive by arguing that even though the prophecy designates ‘Peter the Roman’ as the last pope, the prophecy does not say that no popes will intervene between him and his predecessor.”
“The prophecy merely says that Peter the Roman, whenever he shows up, will be the last pope,” he said. “But many people will doubtless see Pope Leo’s election (which was over and above several candidates named Peter) as evidence that the prophecy was never true and is perhaps akin to the Y2K situation, or the end of the Mayan calendar falling on 2012.”
Regarding whether this whole furor might endanger Malachy’s status as a canonized saint, McKeown told CP that, technically, a saint cannot be “uncanonized” by the Catholic Church.
“The canonization process is a recognition that the man or woman is with God in Heaven and therefore worthy of veneration by the faithful. The [Catholic] Church has no power to remove a saint from Heaven,” he added.
“However, a saint can be removed from the liturgical calendar, meaning they are no longer celebrated on a certain day of the year (usually their feast day, i.e., the day they died) throughout the universal Church.”
McKeown also noted that he was “not personally familiar with any popular effort to get St. Malachy removed from the liturgical calendar.”
“We can hardly penalize a saint who may well have had nothing to do with the alleged prophecies that carry his name,” McKeown added.
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
If he happened to get it right it was pure luck.
I have heard some Catholics call Francis an “anti-Pope” or a “false-Pope” since Benedict only relinquished part of his title and not all of it.
Perhaps the current Pope is the last Pope?
I’m not Catholic so I don’t know.
I’m a Catholic. And I’ve been to the church in Rome where theirs is depicted
My friends are certain about this prophecy
Oy. What is it about ‘beware of false prophets’ and ‘not even I [Jesus] know when the end is’ do people not get?
No. The Prophecy of Malachi was not from St Malachi. It was created centuries later. And there was never a suggestion in the text it was a complete list.
The demoted St. Christopher back in 1969.
I agree that Francis was an anti-Pope. But see #5.
Quite so. On examination, the supposed prophecy reeks of fraud.
“... perhaps akin to the Y2K situation, or the end of the Mayan calendar falling on 2012.”
Ding ding ding. We have a winner.
If the prophecy is accurate, the world will end in the next 20 years or so. If the prophecy is false, I will end in the next 20 years or so. Either way, I will find myself with the Lord. Therefore, when it comes to the prophecy, no me importa.
What a stupid article. If Francis wasn’t the last Poupe(said in Jacques Clouseau accent) then the prophecy is invalid. Duh.
He didn’t include anti-popes so hence no Francis. Mystery solved
I worked for TAN Books, and we actually published the “Prophecies of St. Malachy”. I don’t believe that there was ever a claim that the list is exhaustive (there could be gaps), so there could be popes in between. The possibility of anti-popes also can throw off the list.
There are lots of other prophecies, and between the numerous promises of a great French King (possibly interpretable as “leader”) and the Fatima promise of a “Period of Peace”, and numerous allusions to “Three Days of Darkness”, we have a little ways to go yet.
Just Love God and Neighbor, Avoid sin, Repent. Then you are good regardles.
Do you know how many of these doomsday predictions I’ve lived through?
And everyone still believes them.
I doubt that the vast majority of Catholics pay much attention to this prophecy. Those who do focus on non-Biblical prophecy are more likely to have an interest in Fatima.
There’s been a few that were iffy over the centuries, just like everywhere else.
“Do you know how many of these doomsday predictions I’ve lived through? And everyone still believes them.”
I think it’s human nature. The day will come.
People can tell something is “off”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.