I have in my hands a Catholic tome called Prophecies Of St. Columbkille. Within, it contains a chapter on the Prophesies Of St. Malachy. It lists the Popes up until the Second Coming. First by name, to Pius IX, then by Latin descriptor.
Frighteningly, the current pontiff appears to be the last. Should he die in late 2012 I’m afraid we’ll have a convergence of doomsday prophesies that can only be interpreted as inconveniently negative. Should I prepare the escape pod?
There are teams of scientists analyzing the Mayan problem; most recently declaring the Mayan calendar as having been incorrectly translated, giving us several hundred more years to mend our ways. But what has the church done for me lately?
The world is ending. Yes. Prophecy is valid.
To give yourself a better chance at non-earthly rewards, you can demonstrate your commitment to charity and benevolence by giving me all of your stuff.
I don’t mind helping you out, I’m selfless like that.
Turns out St. Malachy was the 12th century Bishop of Armagh. The prophecies themselves are probably a forgery created in the 16th centurty and attributed to Malachy, who supposedly visited Pope Innocence II. There’s no mention of the prophecy before 1590. Other notables who visited Innocence II, including Bernard of Clairvaux, made no mention of them.
The prophecies don’t really name the popes. Instead, they list 112 obscure little latin phrases and which people retroactively try to figure out how the Pope fits in. The current pope’s phrase is “Gloria olivae” and wiki lists half a dozen or so ways that the words “Glory of the Olives” applies to Benedict.
In other words, your standard prophetic bullshit.
Also, what happens after Benedict is unclear. Following "Gloria olivae, there’s a lengthier passage about how the church will now face it’s worst persecution under the guidance of a mope called Peter the Roman. After that, Rome would be destroyed and the terrible judge would be upon us. So even if we take it at face value, Benedict is the merely the penultimate pope.
Bottom line: if we’re going to wrap this shit up in the next two years someone’s going to have to get the lead out.
I know you’ve started off with “Forget the Mayans” but since you still stated concerns about a convergence of doomsday prophecies in 2012 I’d like to take the opportunity to link to the awesome Neil deGrasse Tyson and why you really shouldn’t worry about it.
And regarding the several hundred more years to get our act together; according to the new analysis, there’s also the possibility that the calendar has already ended without us even noticing. But people seem to omit that part.
It says nothign about the end of the world, on ly of the Catholic church, and Rome. Frankly, unleashing a terrible judge in Rome would be an excellent idea IMHO.
Cite? I think they are too busy with Nostradamus to worry about “the Mayan Problem”. A few of them are working on cancer though, as if *that *is more important.
My wager: after Benedict dies, Marc Ouellet will be elected pope and take the name Peter II. (Hey, if there’s someone who’s arrogant enough to do that, it’s got to be him.)
What this means about the fate of the Catholic Church and of the world, I have no idea.