the last pope?

With the announced retirement of the current Pope, Benedict, we are once again thinking of Archbishop (now Saint) Malachy O’Morgair, right? I mean, after all how could we not? As I’m certain you already know, the Archbishop was alleged to have penned a list of the 112 remaining popes starting at Celestine II in 1143 and going to Pope number 112, the last Pope, as it were. Not remarkable really, except for the fact that the Archbishop was born in 1094, made his “list” in 1139, and he accurately predicted the day and year of his own death on All Souls Day, November 2, of 1148.

Because he did not know the future dates or names of the last 112 Popes, he was forced to use other descriptive methods to identify these Popes to come. Reading the Archbishop’s descriptions of the future Popes, described with just a word or short phrase, can read to some rather like a Chinese fortune cookie, but there is no dispute that many, really most, are strangely on the mark. While this writing is without a sound track, I do wish to remind you that this week the statue of St Paul on the Basilica in Rome was struck by lightning … twice… and there was an earthquake in Rome today. Use that information in place of the dramatic drum and bass sound track you would normally hear about now.

According to the Archbishop, our current and now outgoing Pope was called “Gloria olivea” or an English translation “the glory of the olive”. Joseph Ratzinger selected the name Benedict to honor his Benedictine roots, and as all good Catholic historians know the Benedictines were called the Olivetan’s in Archbishop O’Morgair’s day. Prior to Benedict, of course, was the wildly popular Pope John Paul II, or as the Archbishop called him “De Labore Solis” literally “from the labor of the sun.” This is also a Latin term also used to describe a solar eclipse. Oddly, Karol Wojtyla, or Pope John Paul II, was born on May 18th 1920 and buried on April 8, 2005, both days as it turns out, there were solar eclipses, according to NASA. John Paul’s predecessor was called “De Medietate Lunea” meaning “From the midst of the moon.” John Paul I served only 34 days before he died, from the middle of the moon to the middle of the moon. And so it goes, all the way back to 1143. Fortune cookie revelation or vision from God? You decide.

It should be mentioned that the Archbishop claimed to have received this information “in a vision” while on a trip to Rome, and did not wish the list released to the general public, nor did he wish to claim any fame or following from this information. This information was successfully kept under wraps/lost in the Vatican secret vault until 1595. At that time, the list was found and published for the “first time” and included in the written history of the Benedictine order.

OK, we love our Catholic brothers and sisters, but really, what has this to do with us? More lightning and earthquakes please …. Benedict was Pope 111, the next Pope is 112, or the last Pope. Each of the previous 111 Popes are described with a quick phrase, but 112 has a complete paragraph to himself. To wit:

“Peter the Roman, who will nourish the sheep in many tribulations, when they are finished

the city of 7 hills will be destroyed, the dreadful judge will judge His people. The end.”

Prophecy from on High, or another Mayan calendar? I guess only time will tell.

It will be interesting to see, in the next few weeks, if the new Pope has any ties to the names Peter or Rome. Naturally, because the Pope actually lives in Rome there is an immediate tie-in. It is well known that Benedict’s choice, and one of the leading candidates is Italy's Cardinal Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone, or Peter the Roman.

Another well established, but little publicized fact, is that many Popes and some of those closest to the Popes, have for more than 1500 years spoken about the Papal line ending, how it will end, when it will end. Many of these “visions” are quite dramatic, some recount conversations between Satan and Christ. Some purport to show times of tribulation in movie reel form. Some are spoken prophecies. Whatever the circumstance or event, it would take a life time of study to fully categorize, examine, and identify them all, to be left with what exactly? The only fairly common thread seems to be the Papal line will end one day, and that end brings, or is caused by, or causes, or is in some way associated with the end of the Roman Catholic Church as we know it today.

For us, as Bible believing Christians, we are also looking towards the time of the end. It is not difficult for us to see our way clear to embracing the next dispensation, so to speak, that is to say the Time of Christ’s second return, or the Rapture. I personally am not terribly inclined to believe that the Archbishop’s written vision is authoritative or in any way driving supernatural events, but there is certainly no doubt his vision does fit nicely into the time frame most non-denominational Christians have regarding the Rapture, or Second Coming. I feel free to add Archbishop’s voice to the many indicators that Christ will be returning in our lifetimes.

Was the Archbishop a watchman on the wall? Each of us must honestly and completely examine our relationship with Jesus our Lord and be ready, equipped, and free to stand for His eternal truth and hope in the coming tribulation. We each must willfully choose to be lights in a coming darkness, a darkness that will be unlike anything that has ever happened on Earth previously. We must choose to strengthen our knowledge of, and relationship with, Jesus the Messiah and choose to allow ourselves to be used for His glory in this coming Tribulation, in whatever form it takes.

Did the Lord use the Archbishop to share this message with His people for a future time? I, of course, have no insight one way or the other about that, but I do know the time is drawing near. Each day brings us closer and closer to our Lord, and if this message helps us to do that, then I guess the Lord did use the Archbishop, and I say, Amen.