Group

My previous message with the above subject line had a number of errors
so I have deleted it and sent this corrected one. Please delete the previous
copy which most of you would have received, with my apologies.

The other day someone after church remarked to me that Nostradamus had
predicted that the Roman Catholic church would disintegrate and last Pope
in history would be a Benedictine.

I took no notice of this until I read this morning that Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger of Germany had been elected Pope *Benedict* XVI:

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200504/s1349061.htm ABC ...
April 20, 2005. ...Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of
Germany, waves from a balcony in the Vatican. (Reuters) Ratzinger
becomes Pope Benedict XVI The Roman Catholic Church has elected
Germany's Joseph Ratzinger as Pope, asking him to guide its 1.1 billion
followers around the world into a new era. The 78-year-old Cardinal, a
staunch conservative who has been the Vatican's doctrinal enforcer, will
take the name Benedict XVI. A delirious crowd of about 100,000 cheered
and waved wildly as Ratzinger, the 265th pontiff in the church's 2,000-
year history, smiled and acknowledged the applause from the curtain-
draped balcony of St Peter's Basilica. [...]
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Briefly searching the Web I found a lot of stuff about this, even some
predictions that the next Pope after John Paul II and the second last Pope
ever, would be called "Benedict XVI" (see tagline). This is based on a
extrabiblical prophecy of a St Malacy that the second-last Pope would
be a Benedictine and the last Pope through the Great Tribulation which
will end with the return of Jesus will be called Peter
<http://www.catholic-pages.com/grabbag/malachy.asp>.

I then remembered reading the other day in the newspaper that Cardinal
Ratzinger favoured a smaller Roman Catholic church that was pure, to
the alternative
<http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft0312/public.html#while>. The
same article mentioned that then Cardinal Ratzinger advocated "a clear
faith [that] often was mislabelled as `fundamentalism'" (as he did in this
different article):

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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15012203%255E2703,\
00.html
The Australian April 19, 2005 Ratzinger pleads for a 'clear faith' Natasha
Bita, Vatican City RAILING against change, papal frontrunner Joseph
Ratzinger urged cardinals to resist the "winds of doctrine" last night as
they prepared to choose a new leader of the world's billion Catholics. The
German cardinal, who was the chief inquisitor on matters of doctrine
during the conservative papacy of John Paul II, lectured his 114 fellow
candidates on the need for "clear faith" and criticised the "dictatorship of
relativism" that let Christians interpret church teachings to suit themselves.
"'Grown-up' is not a faith that follows every wave of fashion and the latest
news," he told the pre-election mass celebrated just hours before cardinals
were sequestered in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. "'Adult and mature' is a
faith profoundly rooted in the friendship of Christ. "How many winds of
doctrine have we known in these past decades; how many ideological
currents; how many ways of thinking? "The little boat of thought for many
Christians has quite often been thrown from one extreme to the other, from
Marxism to liberalism, right through to libertinism, from collectivism to
radical individualism, from atheism to a vague religious mysticism, from
agnosticism to syncretism." Cardinal Ratzinger - a hardline orthodox who
refused to relax Catholic teachings on contraception, divorce and the
ordination of women - said clear faith often was mislabelled as
"fundamentalism". [...]
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There are also two book on this called "The Last Pope" by a John Hogue
(http://www.hogueprophecy.com/lastpop.htm) and a novel by a David
Osborn (http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q16F21BEA)

What is my position on this? I am generally sceptical of prophecy outside
the Bible, but I do not rule it out altogether since the Bible itself indicates
that it can exist (e.g. Balaam in Num 22:5, etc). Before today I had never
heard of "St Malacy" nor his prophecy. I have no particular wish that the
Roman Catholic church would collapse, rather I wish that it would reform
those of its teachings that go beyond and/or contradict the Bible, so that
Christianity could have a more united front as Jesus prayed in John 17:22.

But I also do think that we are in the final phase of the world's history,
between the end of Gentile domination of Jerusalem (which happened in
1967) and the return of Jesus, that final phase being characterised by
worldwide "anguish", "perplexity" and "terror" from "apprehensive[ness]
of what is coming on the world":

Luke 21:24b-28 (NIV) 24 "... Jerusalem will be trampled on by the
Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. There will be
signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in
anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men
will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the
world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they
will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great
glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up
your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

So I await with interest what the new Pope Benedict XVI will do.

In the interim, my advice FWIW to my fellow Christians is: "lift up your
heads, because your redemption is drawing near" and to a non-Christian it
is: become a Christian - before it is too late!

Steve

PS: Note that this prediction, that "The next Pope after John Paul II
will take the name Pope Benedict XVI" was dated "November 14, 2004"!

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http://www.catholicplanet.com/articles/article41.htm
Catholic Planet.
The Future and the Popes

About the year A.D. 1139, Saint Malachy O'Morgair, Archbishop of
Armagh, Ireland, wrote down a list of Popes. He listed 112 future Popes,
each described by a phrase in Latin. [1] There has been increasing interest
in this list among Roman Catholics, for two reasons. First, the descriptions
of Popes #109 and #110 match the pontificates of Popes John Paul I and
John Paul II to a tee. Second, there are only two more Popes on the list,
and the last Pope on the list is given a long apocalyptic description, instead
of a quaint and cryptic phrase.

Pope John Paul I

Pope #109 on St. Malachy's list is given the phrase: "From the Half of the
Moon." [2] Pope John Paul I was elected on August 26 of 1978, when the
moon was in its last quarter (i.e. half the moon was visible in the sky). He
died on September 28, when the moon was again in its last quarter. [3]
The length of his Pontificate was only 33 days, a little more than the length
of one lunar cycle. St. Malachy's prophecy matches John Paul I's
Pontificate well.

Pope John Paul II

Pope #110 on St. Malachy's list is given the phrase: "From the Labor of
the Sun." [4] What kind of labor does the sun do? The sun's work, so to
speak, is to travel around the earth. The sun constantly travels around the
world. And so does Pope John Paul II. He is the most traveled Pope in
history. His Pontificate is marked by his constant travels around the world.
St. Malachy's phrase fits John Paul II's Pontificate precisely.

The First Pope After John Paul II

Pope #111 on St. Malachy's list is given the phrase: "From the Glory of the
Olive." This prophetic phrase has several meanings which correctly apply
to the next Pope after John Paul II.

a. What is the glory of the olive? The olive branch is a well-known symbol
of peace. The glory of the olive is peace. The next Pope after John Paul II
will be a man of great peace. Peace will be his banner, peace will be his
work, peace will be his goal. He will seek peace among individuals,
among nations, among Catholics, between Catholics and other Christians,
and between Catholics and adherents of other religions. The next Pope
after John Paul II will have a Pontificate distinguished for seeking Peace
around the world. He is correctly called the Pope of Peace.

St. Malachy's prophecy about John Paul II fit his Pontificate well, once it
began. But, before being elected Pope, Karol Wojtyla did not distinguish
himself by traveling constantly. The next Pope after John Paul II may not
have distinguished himself yet in works of peace-making. Or, he may have
distinguished himself in peace-making in God's eyes, but not yet in the
eyes of the world.

b. Some say that this prediction of St. Malachy, "From the Glory of the
Olive," refers to the Order of St. Benedict, because they have a well-
known group within their order called the 'Olivetans.' There is some merit
to this idea. But it does not mean that this Pope will come from the Order
of St. Benedict, but rather that he will take the name of Saint Benedict and
will live in imitation of him.

c. The next Pope after John Paul II will take the name Pope Benedict XVI,
in imitation of Saint Benedict and also of Pope Benedict XV. Just as Pope
Benedict XV was an emissary of peace, so will Pope Benedict XVI be an
emissary of peace. Just as Pope Benedict XV sought peace and spoke of
peace and wrote papal documents seeking peace, so will Pope Benedict
XVI do also. Just as Pope Benedict XV failed to achieve peace in the
world, so will Pope Benedict XVI fail to achieve peace in the world. Just
as the Pontificate of Benedict XV began prior to World War I, so will the
Pontificate of Benedict XVI occur prior to World War III. After the
Pontificate of Benedict XVI, World War III will begin. The Arab nations
will threaten and attack the United States; they will threaten, attack, invade
and conquer Europe; they will threaten, attack, invade and conquer the
northern part of Africa. It is God's will.

d. Pope Benedict XVI will be like Saint Benedict, who lived in the fifth
and sixth centuries. He will be a man dedicated to peace and holiness.
[omitting acknowledged error and dubious Bible interpretations]

f. Pope Benedict XVI will die prior to, or at the very beginning of, World
War III. Therefore, he will die in either 2009 or 2010. His reign will be
short, like the reign of the holy Pope who reigns after him. I am not certain
when Pope Benedict's reign will begin. He must have some number of
years in his brief reign, to accomplish his tasks of peace-making. He must
therefore be elected soon.

The Second Pope After John Paul II

Pope #112 on St. Malachy's list is given this description: `In the final
persecution of the Holy Roman Church there shall reign Peter the Roman
who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-
hilled city will be destroyed and the terrible judge will judge the people.'
[...]

Ronald L. Conte Jr.
November 14, 2004 [...]

Stephen E. Jones, BSc (Biol). http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones
Moderator: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CreationEvolutionDesign
& http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProblemsOfEvolution/ Book: "Problems
of Evolution" http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones/PoE/PoE00ToC.html
& http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones/pe00cont.html
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