prophecy of the popes

The Prophecy of the Popes is a list of 112 short Latin phrases purported to describe each of the Roman Catholic popes (as well as a few antipopes), beginning with Pope Celestine II (elected in 1143) and concluding with a future pope described in the prophecy as "Peter the Roman," whose pontificate will end in the destruction of the city of Rome and the Last Judgment. The prophecy is purportedly based on a revelation experienced by Saint Malachy, a 12th century bishop of Armagh in Ireland. According to those who support the prophecy's authenticity, Malachy was summoned to Rome in 1139 by Pope Innocent II. While there, he experienced a vision of many future popes, which he recorded in a sequence of cryptic phrases. This manuscript was allegedly deposited in the Roman Archive by Innocent, and thereafter forgotten. They were discovered in the Roman Archives in 1590.

Interpretation

Interpretation of the mottos has generally relied on finding correspondences between the mottos and the popes' birthplaces, their personal arms, and the events of their pontificates. For example, the first motto, Ex castro Tiberis (From a castle on the Tiber), fits Pope Celestine II's birthplace in Citta di Castello, on the Tiber. Pope Clement XIII, whose used a rose as his personal emblem, is called in the prophecy Rosa Umbriae, the rose of Umbria. In recent times, some interpreters of prophetic literature have drawn attention to the prophecies, both because of their success in finding correspondences between the prophecies and recent popes, and because of the prophecies' imminent conclusion. Pope Paul VI, who reigned from 1963 - 1978, is described in the prophecies as Flos florum (flower of flowers). His personal arms bore three fleurs-de-lis. However, this disregards all the other papal arms that had flowers on them as well. His successor, Pope John Paul I, corresponds to the prophetic motto De medietate Lunae (Of the half-moon). It could also be interpreted as de media aetate lunae, meaning of the average age of the moon. He was elected on August 26, 1978, the day after the moon reached its last quarter (Note: the moon at this point was waning, it was not a half moon), and reigned for just over one calendar month (33 days... where a lunar cycle is 28 days). At the death of Pope John Paul I, it was the day before the new moon. However, a much simpler explanation might be that he was born on the day of the half moon; on October 17, 1912, the moon was in its first quarter. The last reigning pontiff, Pope John Paul II, prophetic's motto is De labore Solis, which literally means "Of the labor of the sun"; however, "labores solis" also means solar eclipse. Pope John Paul II was born on May 18, 1920, the day of a solar eclipse (a partial solar eclipse over the Indian Ocean), and buried on April 8, 2005, the day of another solar eclipse (another partial eclipse over the southwestern Pacific and South America). It has also been suggested that the associated Latin phrase could also be a cryptic term for de borealis sol, of the northern sun, being a luminary coming from Poland to the north. It has also so happened that an abnormally high number of sunspots have been recorded throughout all the many years of his pontificate. Following John Paul II, only two popes remain in the prophecy. The next motto is Gloria Olivae, the glory of the olive. This motto has led to speculation that the next pontiff will be from the Order of Saint Benedict or will at least choose Benedict as his papal name. Others think that "olive" may mean that the new pope is somehow connected to Israel, because St. Malachy is known to have used the name "Olive" for that region. Also, Our Lady of Guadaloupe is described as being "olive-skinned" as are the peoples of Central America; several papabili currently hail from that area. Alternatively, less specific interpreters have predicted that the next pope will promote world peace. The self-proclaimed Pope Clemente Domnguez y Gmez of the Palmarian Catholic Church claimed that he was the glory of the olive. The longest and final motto reads, "In persecutione extrema S.R.E. sedebit Petrus Romanus, qui pascet oues in multis tribulationibus: quibus transactis ciuitas septicollis diruetur, & Iudex tremdus iudicabit populum suum. Finis." (Amidst external persecution, the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman, who will feed the sheep in many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed, and the terrible Judge will judge his people. The End.) There are several interpretations regarding the last Popes listed by St. Malachy taken by those who beleive the prophecies:

Regarding whether additional Popes, not listed by St. Malachy occur between Gloria Olivae and Petrus Romanus the following differing views are held:

Gloria Olivae is immediately followed by Petrus Romanus.
there is a gap of unknown length between these two Popes, about which Malachy did not write.

Regarding whether the Papacy ends with Petrus Romanus, the following differing views are held

Petrus Romanus will be the final Pope. The end of his papacy will mark either the end of the papacy, the end of the Church, or the end of the world.
there will be additional Popes following Petrus Romanus, about which Malachy did not write.

Authenticity

Bernard of Clairvaux's biography of Malachy makes no mention of the prophecies, nor are they mentioned in any record until they were discovered in the Roman Archives in 1590. This has led to the theory that they are a late 16th century forgery. Those who doubt the prophecy's authenticity claim that the prophecy's mottos fit the earlier popes much better than they do the popes elected after the document's discovery, and that whatever similarities exist between the later popes and their mottos are a product of coincidence and the mottos' vagueness; that is to say, the later prophecies are susceptible to a confirmation bias. For example, the motto De labore Solis, associated with John Paul II, can be an example of statistically likely postdiction, as an eclipse occurs twice or more times in a single year. Since there is no rule stating which event should coincide with the eclipse the odds of a "hit" are high. Using the date of funeral and not his date of death (which lacked any notable solar activity) is suspect and evidence of postdiction, as the date would otherwise be considered insignificant in the prophecy if it did not already fit the assumed interpretation.

Prophecy Of The Popes

Interpretation

Authenticity

See also