The Last Pope

I could not resist discussing this somewhat esoteric conspiracy theory. It seems that that we are living in the end time because Pope Francis is the last pope.

My reaction to this was: Huh?"

This conspiracy has surfaced recently because of Saint Malachy, an Irish saint to which several miracles were attributed. He was the Archbishop of Armagh, a diocese that has one of the main Catholic churches in Ireland. He made an ominous prediction that there would only be 112 more popes and that the last pope would come after Pope Benedict. This was a typical doomsday prophecy, titled the Prophecy of the Popes, which he supposedly made in 1139. He died in 1148 and was canonized in 1590, adding validity to his prophecy.

Most people are more familiar with Saint Patrick, who is responsible for bringing the Christian faith to Ireland.

All Christian doomsday prophecies predict the coming of Christ and the Last Judgment.
Malachy's prophecy is titled in Latin: Prophetia Sancti Malachiae Archiepiscopi, de Summis Pontificibus. It has 112 cryptic Latin phrases that predict the Popes starting with Pope Celestine II. It was published by a Benedictine monk by the name of Amold Wion in 1595, who claimed it came from Saint Malachy.

The prophecy was brought up again when Pope Benedict resigned. Some thought that he was trying to force the end of times. The Prophecy is as follows:

'In the extreme persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations; and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed and the terrible judge will judge his people. The End.'

The city of seven hills is the Vatican.

The first thing that's wrong with this prophecy is that there are no Pietros (Petrus Romanus) among the living cardinals, and Pope Francis is definitely not a candidate. He's from Argentina. As a matter of fact, the successor list of popes is not correct.

The other problem is that there is no original manuscript of Malachy's prediction. Benedictine Arnold de Wylon discovered the version that has the above quote in 1590. Before this there was no mention of it. Most scholars consider it a hoax.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the Catholic Church doesn't affirm of deny this prediction. They ignore it because many other doomsday prophecies have proven to be wrong. Remember that Jesus told the apostles that only the Father in heaven knows the end time. Mathew 24:36.

Why anyone would think this is legitimate is beyond me. This is one for Dan Brown.

Thanks for reading.