Posted on 03/29/2003 4:45:31 AM PST by NYer
About the year A.D. 1139, Saint Malachy O'Morgair, Archbishop of Armagh, Ireland, wrote down a list of Popes. He listed 112 future Popes, each described by a phrase in Latin. [1] There has been increasing interest in this list among Roman Catholics, for two reasons. First, the descriptions of Popes #109 and #110 match the pontificates of Popes John Paul I and John Paul II to a tee. Second, there are only two more Popes on the list, and the last Pope on the list is given a long apocalyptic description, instead of a quaint and cryptic phrase.
Pope #109 on St. Malachy's list is given the phrase: “From the Half of the Moon.” [2] Pope John Paul I was elected on August 26 of 1978, when the moon was in its last quarter (i.e. half the moon was visible in the sky). He died on September 28, when the moon was again in its last quarter. [3] The length of his Pontificate was only 33 days, a little more than the length of one lunar cycle. St. Malachy's prophecy matches John Paul I's Pontificate well.
Pope #110 on St. Malachy's list is given the phrase: “From the Labor of the Sun.” [4] What kind of labor does the sun do? The sun's work is to travel around the earth, so to speak. (Yes, I know the earth revolves around the sun.) The sun constantly travels around the world. And so does Pope John Paul II. He is the most traveled Pope in history. His Pontificate is marked by his constant travels around the world. St. Malachy's phrase fits John Paul II's Pontificate precisely.
Pope #111 on St. Malachy's list is given the phrase: “From the Glory of the Olive.” This prophetic phrase has several meanings which correctly apply to this Pope.
a. What is the glory of the olive? The olive branch is a well-known symbol of peace. The glory of the olive is peace. The next Pope after John Paul II will be a man of great peace. Peace will be his banner, peace will be his work, peace will be his goal. He will seek peace among individuals, among nations, among Catholics, between Catholics and other Christians, and between Catholics and adherents of other religions. The next Pope after John Paul II will have a Pontificate distinguished for seeking Peace around the world. He is called the Pope of Peace.
I do not know which man will be elected as Pope after John Paul II. St. Malachy's prophecy about John Paul II only fit his Pontificate. Before being elected Pope, Karol Wojtyla did not distinguish himself by traveling constantly. The next Pope after John Paul II may not have distinguished himself yet in works of peace-making. Or, he may have distinguished himself in peace-making in God's eyes, but not yet in the eyes of the world.
b. Some say that this prediction of St. Malachy, “From the Glory of the Olive,” refers to the Order of St. Benedict, who are sometimes called 'Olivetans.' This is true. But it does not mean that this Pope will come from the Order of St. Benedict, but rather that he will take the name of Benedict and live in imitation of him.
c. He will take the name Pope Benedict XVI, in imitation also of Pope Benedict XV. Just as Pope Benedict XV was an emissary of peace, so will Pope Benedict XVI be an emissary of peace. Just as Pope Benedict sought peace and spoke of peace and wrote papal documents seeking peace, so will Pope Benedict XVI do also. Just as Pope Benedict XV failed to achieve peace in the world, so will Pope Benedict XVI fail to achieve peace in the world. Just as the Pontificate of Benedict XV began prior to World War I, so will the Pontificate of Benedict XVI occur prior to World War III. After the Pontificate of Benedict XVI, the Arab nations will invade and conquer Europe and much of Africa.
Pope #112 on St. Malachy's list is given this description: “In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there shall reign Peter the Roman who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the terrible judge will judge the people.” [6]
Why is he called Peter the Roman? The descriptions given for John Paul I and II were about their Pontificates, not about their lives before they were elected Pope. Will Peter the Roman be someone born in Rome or who grew up in Rome or who has spent most of his vocation in Rome? Perhaps. But I think it is more likely that the expression “Peter the Roman” refers to his Pontificate.
Perhaps he will take the name Peter: Pope Peter II. No Pope has chosen the name Peter since Christ gave that name to Simon bar-Jonah, who became Saint Peter, leader of the Apostles and of the Church. The choice of the name Peter by this modern Pope would reaffirm that the Pope is the Successor of Peter. On the other hand, he might not actually take the name “Peter.” It could be that “Peter the Roman” is merely an expression describing his Pontificate.
As a descriptive expression, “Peter the Roman” indicates that this Pope reaffirms the authority of the Pope over the Church, authority based on his place as a Successor of Peter. The expression also indicates that this Pope will reaffirm Rome as the proper seat of authority in the Church and require the faithful to acknowledge “the holy, Catholic, and apostolic Roman Church as the mother and teacher of all churches.” [7] His predecessor, the Pope of Peace, will emphasize the good in other faiths and the unity among all peoples. But Peter the Roman will emphasize the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Faith and the Roman Catholic Church above all other religions and denominations, and its authority over all Christians and all peoples of the world.
Some commentators say that Peter the Roman will be the last Pope ever and that the world will end during his Pontificate. No, not so! Peter the Roman is merely the last Pope on this list, not the last Pope ever. The time of Peter the Roman's Pontificate is described in Apocalyptic terms because His Pontificate will see the beginning of the events described in the Apocalypse (the Book of Revelation). But the events described in that last book of the Bible unfold over many years (more than 400 years).
The seven-hilled city is the city of Rome, which not only has seven hills, but also is divided into seven Roman Catholic dioceses. St. Malachy is predicting that the city of Rome will be destroyed during the Pontificate of the second Pope after John Paul II, the Pope called Peter the Roman. My own interpretation of the Bible places the destruction of Rome and Vatican City in July of A.D. 2013. [8]
My understanding is that Pope Benedict XVI, the Pope of Peace, will be elected sometime during 2003. His reign will be short. Peter the Roman will reign at the time that the events of the Book of Revelation begin, about the time of the end of this decade (the first decade of the 21st century). Therefore, the next Pope (after John Paul II) will die before the end of the same decade in which he is elected.
The next Pope after John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, will seek to make peace in the world, but he will not succeed. After his reign ends, during the reign of Peter the Roman, there will begin World War III. During this war, the Arab nations together will attack, invade, conquer, and occupy Europe and large portions of Africa. They will also attack, but neither invade nor conquer, the United States of America. This war begins in 2010 or 2011. (It is preceded by a small war among the Arab nations.)
One of these two Popes, either Pope Benedict XVI or Peter the Roman, will suggest that three places of worship be built in Jerusalem: for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, but it doesn't happen. In chapter one of my book The Bible and the Future of the World, in the section called “The Three Booths of the Transfiguration,” I say that it would probably be Peter the Roman who suggests the Three Booths (or three places for the three religions), but it could be the Pope just before him. Now I have changed my mind on that point. I now think that it will most probably be the Pope of Peace, Pope Benedict XVI, who will make this suggestion. This act seems to fit the Pontificate of the Pope of Peace more than that of Peter the Roman (because this is a type of peace-making between religions).
Pope Benedict XVI will be like Saint Benedict, who lived in the fifth and sixth centuries. He will be a man dedicated to Peace and holiness. But this Pope will also be like Saint Benedict the Black, il moro santo, who lived in the sixteenth century. I am not certain, but I think that Pope Benedict XVI will be black.
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very interesting
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