Many around the world watched with anticipation as Pope Francis (formerly Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio) greeted the world for the first time as Pope Benedict’s successor Wednesday.
There were some, however, who may have watched the recent papal conclave with a bit of trepidation. That’s because of a nearly thousand year-old church prophecy, one that predicts the most recent papal election would bring about the end of the world.
The “Prophecy of the Popes” was first “revealed” by Arnold Wion, a Benedictine monk, in 1595 AD. He claimed the writing actually dated back to the 12th century, the result of a vision from St. Malachy, Patron Saint of the Archdiocese of Armagh and one of the most venerated figures in the Irish Catholic cannon.
The story goes like this: While on a trip to Rome, Malachy experienced a vision in which he purportedly was given insight into Popes past, present, and future. He recorded this vision as a series of cryptic verses, which were sealed in the Vatican’s Secret Archives. Centuries later, they were unearthed by Arnold Wion just in time for an upcoming papal conclave, near the turn of the 16th century.
Here’s the catch: Malachy’s vision predicted 112 Popes, starting with Celestine II in 1143 AD and ending with the final Pope – called “Peter the Roman” in the verses – bringing about the end times.
And wouldn’t you know it – the election of Pope Francis corresponds to the 112th Pope in Malachy’s vision.
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“It is attributed to Malachy, but we are not sure whether he actually wrote it.”
The veracity of St. Malachy’s vision has been debated by theological historians for centuries. Part of the problem with the vision is it seems to accurately predict the first 74 Popes – that is, all the listed Popes prior to the vision’s unearthing in 1595.
The next 38 Popes – which take us from 1595 to present day – are much less clearly defined, as well as wildly inconsistent.
For instance, the line supposedly corresponding to Pope John Paul II reads “From the labour of the sun.” Proponents of the theory suggest this could correspond to the solar eclipses that occurred on both John Paul’s birthday, and the day of his death.
On the other hand, the line corresponding to Pope Benedict XVI’s reign reads “Glory of the Olive”. Proponents of the theory contend that this could be in reference to Benedict’s efforts to reconcile various parts of the church – to “extend an olive branch,” so to speak.
Most Catholic scholars, however, remain unconvinced.
“Future Popes were predicted in very vague terms,” said Josh Canning, Director of Chaplaincy at the Newman Centre in Toronto, also a contributor to Global’s papal live blog.
“A lot are really reaching, trying to connect them in this aspect. Most Catholic experts see it as kind of a hoax.”
Then there’s the matter of the final Pope, whom the prophecy refers to as “Peter the Roman.” Seeing as Pope Francis was not originally named Peter, nor took the papal name Peter, the connection to the prophecy seems uncertain at best.
“I don’t know how you can connect Peter the Roman with Pope Francis,” Canning said.
According to Canning, the prophecy was more than likely a hoax, designed to influence the outcome of a papal conclave circa 1595.
After all, a document which purports to predict the future of the papacy could have a swaying effect on the outcome of a papal vote (in any regard, it didn’t work: the prophecy predicted that Cardinal Girolamo Simoncelli would rise to the papacy. Instead, it was Niccolo Sfondrati, who took the name Gregory XIV).
“The prophecy of ‘Peter the Roman’ is a total fallacy,” Guruge said.
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