Extinguish not the spirit. Despise not prophecies. But prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21
Yes, the St. Malachy prophecies are real. Yes, they have been incredibly accurate. Yes, this can be conclusively proven.
This article will demonstrate all of the above and answer the questions that have been used to disparage its legitimacy.
People who do not hold the Catholic faith will either refuse to look at the evidence or will dismiss the evidence at hand. You cannot look at the evidence that follows and not acknowledge the powerful accuracy of the prophecy of the popes.
A video form of the information in this post (15 minutes) can be seen here.
People who do not hold the Catholic faith will either refuse to look at the evidence or will dismiss the evidence at hand. You cannot look at the evidence that follows and not acknowledge the powerful accuracy of the prophecy of the popes.
A video form of the information in this post (15 minutes) can be seen here.
1.) Who was St. Malachy?
St. Malachy was a Catholic Bishop who was born in 1094 in Ireland. He was called to Rome in 1139 by the pope because of his well known gift of prophecy. St. Bernard said that Malachy foretold the day and hour of his death.
Upon his canonization in 1190 - a mere 42 years after his death which was VERY rare in that period of Church history - the reading of his feast day prominently features Malachy's gift of prophecy. The documented corroboration for the gift of this Catholic Bishop is indisputable.
2.) What are the circumstances around his most famous prophecy?
The "prophecy of the popes" was found in the Vatican Archives in 1556. It took 34 years, until 1590, before they were deemed authentic. This was *not* unusual in Church History. There are many well-known documents, letters and theological treatises that were left undiscovered for hundreds and hundreds of years. The process for authentication was very thorough.
The main reason for the delay in publication was because the Council of Trent had taken away most of the church hierarchy from Rome for years and years; when they returned in 1563 there was much work to do and authentication took its place in the queue.
But it was authenticated as genuine.
The document consists off 112 short Latin passages that describe both popes and anti-popes that would present themselves as leaders of the Catholic Church until the end of the world.
Because the document was published in 1590 I will *not* use any pre-1590 descriptors of the pope's that reigned. There is controversy over whether some of the texts for pre-1590 pope's were edited to prevent conflict in the church and to soothe hurt feelings.
But the veracity of the prophecy can be determined simply by using the post-1590 popes.
3.) Why would God give this prophecy to St. Malachy?
Because God is good, and loving, and gracious, and just. He wanted people to know how close we were to the second coming of Christ so we could prepare our souls and lead others onto the Barque of Peter.
4.) What descriptors were used to describe the 112?
Each descriptor alludes to a popes coat of arms, family coat of arms, birth name or place of birth, cities lived in their life or major events that occurred during their papacy.
5.) Why is there such resistance to the "prophecy of the popes?"
There is a lot of mocking of the prophecy from "intellectuals" at "Catholic" universities or Church company men because the prophecy because they do not believe in prophecy in the first place. These people do not hold the Catholic Faith, part of which is acceptance of prophecy, so they are eager to mock or dismiss a Catholic Saint's writings.
The second reason is because the prophecy decisively says that Jesus will return to judge the world and this they CANNOT accept. They do not hold Jesus to be a King that will judge us all because their theology holds Jesus to be someone that does not send anyone to hell or bothers to enforce the commandments of God.
Lastly, these people mostly hate the Church of the Middle Ages. They view it as intolerant, superstitious, exclusionary, bigoted and embarrassing. They tried to erase the Church's teachings from that period during Vatican II and that work continues today.
These people do not hold the Catholic Faith and such they do not possess the grace to understand the works of a Catholic Saint.
6.) What are some examples of the prophecies accuracy?
Again, I'm only going to use post-1590 examples.
Pope Innocent X (1644-1655) - "Joyfulness of the Cross." The conclave that elected him pope ended on the feast day of exaltation of the Cross.
Pope Pius VI (1775-1799) - "Apostolic Wanderer." Spent most of his long papacy travelling. Traveled to Germany to confer with the Emperor on important matters. He was forced to flee Rome over the Alps and died in France.
Pope Pius VII - "Greedy Eagle." French Emperor Napoleon's signal was the eagle and the ENTIRETY of Pius VII's papacy was spent negotiating and quarreling with Napoleon over church funds and property, land, governance and other issues. Napoleon constantly violated these agreements and stole money and land from the Church.
Pope Pius IX - "Cross from the Cross." Imprisoned in Vatican, Pius IX was liberated by the House of Savoy whose symbol is a cross. A cross liberated him and gave him re-control of the papal states.
Pope Leo XIII - "Light in the Sky." Leo had a comet on his coat of arms (see below). Catholic Bishops create a coat of arms when they become a Bishop - in Leo's case on February 19, 1843 which was over three decades before he assumed the papacy.
Pope Pius X - "Fire Burning." This papacy was characterized by war throughout Christian Europe and the world. The Russian-Japanese War, the Mexican Revolution, the 1st and 2nd Balkan Wars and the outbreak of the fire that burned Christian Europe - World War 1.
Pope Benedict XV - "Religion Laid Waste." Reigned during World War 1 and the Communist Revolution in Russia which led to millions of Catholics being killed. Mikhail Gorbachev's biography describes the Communists as "laying waste to religion" all over the Soviet Union when they took power.
John XXIII - "Pastor and Sailor." John XXIII frequently wore papal clothing with a large sailboat on it to document his many travels and presumably symbolizing the barque of peter.
Paul VI - "Flower of Flowers." His coat of arms was thus. Pretty obvious. Again, he had this designed decades before he became pope.
John Paul I - "From the Half Moon." John Paul I began his reign under a half moon on the last day of the conclave that elected him as pope. He literally began his papacy from the half moon. JPI was also from the Diocese of Belluno. Belluno means "beautiful moon."
John Paul II - "Of the eclipse of the sun." On the day of his birth - May 18, 1920 - there was a solar eclipse in the very town that he was born. On the day of his funeral there was a solar eclipse over Rome.
People of good will cannot dismiss these as mere coincidences. It would be mathematically impossible for all of these things to be a coincidence.
7.) What do you make of 'Petrus Romanus' and Francis?
The final pope is titled 'Petrus Romanus.' The descriptor is thus:
In the final 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 [i.e. Rome] will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End.
This is undoubtedly a prophecy of the "end of the world." It is fitting that after Francis took power, on the loggia, one of the first things he said was that the Bishops "went to the end of the world" to find him.
Francis has emphasized that he is the Bishop of Rome, rather than pastor of the universal Church, in a way that is unprecedented in papal history. Furthermore, some say that Benedict resigned only the active ministry but not the office of the papacy leaving Francis to do the day-to-day work of being the Bishop of Rome.
The prophecy of the destruction of Rome fits in perfectly with the Revelation 17 that speaks of millstone being flung to the earth to destroy "Babylon" - ie Rome that has been re-paganized. With the outrageous ceremonies that occurred during the Amazon Synod and the general pagan belief system of the people of Rome and the wider European Union, it is without a doubt that pagan Rome has returned.
Conclusion:
The entire arc of history - from the protestant revolt, to the french revolution, to the incredibly Marian apparitions of recent times, to the First and Second World War, to the worldwide apostasy that followed Vatican II, to the "millstone" of sexual abuse that is clearly referred to as the reason for the destruction of Rome - demonstrates that we are not at the beginning of the great apostasy, but nearing the end. We are nearing the return of Jesus Christ, the judgement of the world and everyone in it, the regeneration of creation and the destruction of evil for all time.
This is not going to happen hundreds of years from now, it is happening now. Let anyone with eyes see.
Each descriptor alludes to a popes coat of arms, family coat of arms, birth name or place of birth, cities lived in their life or major events that occurred during their papacy.
5.) Why is there such resistance to the "prophecy of the popes?"
There is a lot of mocking of the prophecy from "intellectuals" at "Catholic" universities or Church company men because the prophecy because they do not believe in prophecy in the first place. These people do not hold the Catholic Faith, part of which is acceptance of prophecy, so they are eager to mock or dismiss a Catholic Saint's writings.
The second reason is because the prophecy decisively says that Jesus will return to judge the world and this they CANNOT accept. They do not hold Jesus to be a King that will judge us all because their theology holds Jesus to be someone that does not send anyone to hell or bothers to enforce the commandments of God.
Lastly, these people mostly hate the Church of the Middle Ages. They view it as intolerant, superstitious, exclusionary, bigoted and embarrassing. They tried to erase the Church's teachings from that period during Vatican II and that work continues today.
These people do not hold the Catholic Faith and such they do not possess the grace to understand the works of a Catholic Saint.
6.) What are some examples of the prophecies accuracy?
Again, I'm only going to use post-1590 examples.
Pope Innocent X (1644-1655) - "Joyfulness of the Cross." The conclave that elected him pope ended on the feast day of exaltation of the Cross.
Pope Pius VI (1775-1799) - "Apostolic Wanderer." Spent most of his long papacy travelling. Traveled to Germany to confer with the Emperor on important matters. He was forced to flee Rome over the Alps and died in France.
Pope Pius VII - "Greedy Eagle." French Emperor Napoleon's signal was the eagle and the ENTIRETY of Pius VII's papacy was spent negotiating and quarreling with Napoleon over church funds and property, land, governance and other issues. Napoleon constantly violated these agreements and stole money and land from the Church.
Pope Pius IX - "Cross from the Cross." Imprisoned in Vatican, Pius IX was liberated by the House of Savoy whose symbol is a cross. A cross liberated him and gave him re-control of the papal states.
Pope Benedict XV - "Religion Laid Waste." Reigned during World War 1 and the Communist Revolution in Russia which led to millions of Catholics being killed. Mikhail Gorbachev's biography describes the Communists as "laying waste to religion" all over the Soviet Union when they took power.
John XXIII - "Pastor and Sailor." John XXIII frequently wore papal clothing with a large sailboat on it to document his many travels and presumably symbolizing the barque of peter.
Paul VI - "Flower of Flowers." His coat of arms was thus. Pretty obvious. Again, he had this designed decades before he became pope.
John Paul II - "Of the eclipse of the sun." On the day of his birth - May 18, 1920 - there was a solar eclipse in the very town that he was born. On the day of his funeral there was a solar eclipse over Rome.
People of good will cannot dismiss these as mere coincidences. It would be mathematically impossible for all of these things to be a coincidence.
7.) What do you make of 'Petrus Romanus' and Francis?
The final pope is titled 'Petrus Romanus.' The descriptor is thus:
In the final 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 [i.e. Rome] will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End.
This is undoubtedly a prophecy of the "end of the world." It is fitting that after Francis took power, on the loggia, one of the first things he said was that the Bishops "went to the end of the world" to find him.
Francis has emphasized that he is the Bishop of Rome, rather than pastor of the universal Church, in a way that is unprecedented in papal history. Furthermore, some say that Benedict resigned only the active ministry but not the office of the papacy leaving Francis to do the day-to-day work of being the Bishop of Rome.
The prophecy of the destruction of Rome fits in perfectly with the Revelation 17 that speaks of millstone being flung to the earth to destroy "Babylon" - ie Rome that has been re-paganized. With the outrageous ceremonies that occurred during the Amazon Synod and the general pagan belief system of the people of Rome and the wider European Union, it is without a doubt that pagan Rome has returned.
Conclusion:
The entire arc of history - from the protestant revolt, to the french revolution, to the incredibly Marian apparitions of recent times, to the First and Second World War, to the worldwide apostasy that followed Vatican II, to the "millstone" of sexual abuse that is clearly referred to as the reason for the destruction of Rome - demonstrates that we are not at the beginning of the great apostasy, but nearing the end. We are nearing the return of Jesus Christ, the judgement of the world and everyone in it, the regeneration of creation and the destruction of evil for all time.
This is not going to happen hundreds of years from now, it is happening now. Let anyone with eyes see.