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The Last Pope

A Fateful Death

Pope Francis died Monday morning at age 88. In an article from Vatican News we learn about how Pope Francis died:

The cause of Pope Francis' death has been identified as a stroke, followed by a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.

Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, Director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State, issued the official certification, and the Holy See Press Office released the report on Monday evening.

According to the medical report, the Pope had a prior history of acute respiratory failure caused by multimicrobial bilateral pneumonia, multiple bronchiectases, high blood pressure, and Type II diabetes.

The doctor gave this short statement summing up the causes:

His death was confirmed through electrocardiographic thanatography. “I hereby declare,” wrote Dr. Arcangeli, “that the causes of death, to the best of my knowledge and judgment, are as stated above.”

While his passing is seen by many as the ordinary transition from one pope to another, to others, especially those show study end time Bible prophecies, his death could be much more significant.

End Time Significance

In history we’ve seen interesting prophecies about the last days from various sources and not all Christians were the source of them. However, the Roman Catholic church is the place where a few of those prophecies have come, and they are popular if not controversial. You’ve no doubt heard of the Fatima prophecies from 1917 which a lot of people still deem truth to this day. And then there are the prophecies about the line of the popes. Do they have the air of Bible authenticity and by extension should we trust them? In the end, if they guide us to God’s truth we should be ready and willing to not only digest them but use them to engender hope in us and even unbelievers. If they are based on unreliable and shaky theological as well as even historical grounds, well let’s just say we would be better to put our trust in more solid ground. For now, I am only looking at the pope prophecy since I’m sure a whole lot of Bible prophecy teachers and conspiracy aficionados alike are exploring yet again in light of the death of Pope Francis.

The Last Pope

This one is hardly new since it has been around since 1595, but what makes it significant is that there many who believe already felt that Pope Francis was the last one before the Antichrist comes on the scene. Before we examine those claims let’s see the history of that old prophecy. You see there was the first Irish saint, Saint Malachy, a 12th‑century Archbishop of Armagh who had a vision of all future popes which he wrote in 1139 A.D. Here is how an article from the web site gotquestions.org explains it:

His list started with his contemporary, Pope Celestine III and continued through the next 112 Popes ... According to Catholic tradition, Malachy’s prophecy remained hidden until AD 1590, when it was first published. It has been a source of conjecture and controversy ever since. The prophecy has recently come into focus again because of the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. According to Malachy’s reckoning, Pope Francis I will be the last.

In the prophecy the Final Pope according to Malachy would be known as “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 list itself is worth examining. Here are the last 5 popes from the list and their coat of arm’s name:

Flos Florum (“Flower of Flowers”) – Pope Paul VI

De medietate Lunae (“Of the Half Moon”) – Pope Juan Pablo I

De Labore Solis (“From the Toil of the Sun”) – Pope John Paul II

Gloria Olivae (“The Glory of the Olive”) – Pope Benedict XVI

Petrus Romanus (“Peter the Roman”) – Pope Francis I

The prophecies purportedly were written before 1595, but critics note that the list is amazingly accurate up until 1595 and not so accurate later making some believe that the list was made then using the list already known. After reading the list, I would have to say that the list is kind of hit and miss after 1595. But it could be accurate if you allow for a stretch here and there. For instance, Pope Paul VI’s coat of arms contained a fleur-de-lys, thereby associating him with flowers. But there are more misses than hits on the list and we can hardly trust this dubious listings of popes to make the current one the last one. Or, as we see the next one, but more on that later.

Was Pope Francis The Last One?

Pope Francis of Assisi, who just passed away appears to be the 112th but he was not from Italy. If you want to take a broader approach, the papacy is not in the Bible at all, but for the sake of argument, how do we take the leap him as fulfilling the Saint Malachy prophecy? According to author Thomas Horn, who penned the book Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope Is Here there was, as he called some “hanky panky” went on with the installment him as we read in an article citing Horn:

“I believe Pope Francis was not canonically elected. I believe some hanky-panky went on in the conclave. In fact, I think that has something to do with why he picked St. Francis of Assisi as his namesake. His real name is Bergoglio, as you know, because Francis of Assisi prophesied about the final Pope and he said he will not be canonically elected. Now that means that he’s a placeholder for reasons that we can’t quite figure out, but I believe he’s either going to be removed from office or he’s going to step down like Benedict did, soon. And the guy that comes up to take his place is actually going to be the real Pope 112 by election, Petrus Romanus.

The people that actually… some of the Cardinals that voted for Pope Francis now want him to step down. They’ve published this. It’s in the news. They want him to step down and they want him to be replaced by the Secretary of State at the Vatican whose name literally means Petrus Romanus, Peter the Roman.”

According to Horn, the pope that will replace Pope Francis is the one to watch.

Two Are From Italy

Of those thought to be the lead candidates, two are Italians, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa who interestingly served in Jerusalem for 30 years. Francis is thought to have already decided on his successor back in 2013 when he passed along a resignation letter to the Secretary of State for the Vatican. Parolin now holds the role of Secretary of State and presumably knows about the letter. Because of this and the fact that Pietro is the Italian form for Peter and you have all the makings of a conspiracy theory to support the Malachy prophecy. In an article from endtimesprophecywatch.com we’re given some much needed perspective on these prophetic theories:

Regardless of whether the next pope fits St. Malachy’s vision, a papal transition is always a global event. The Vatican holds immense influence, and a new pope could shift the balance of power in ways that align with biblical prophecy. We already see moves toward a cashless society, international governance and a one-world religion—elements that could play into the system of the Beast in Revelation.

But here’s the bottom line: our hope is not in a prophecy—it’s in Christ. The Bible tells us exactly how this story ends. Revelation 22:12 reminds us: “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me to give to each one according to his work,” (MEV).

Jesus is our certainty in uncertain times. Whether or not St. Malachy’s prophecy plays out, our mission remains the same—stay vigilant, stay in the Word and keep our eyes on Jesus.

But I do see value in talking about Malachy’s prophecy as a witnessing tool. There is a lot of buzz on social media about this so, as they say, people are talking. We can point out that in the Bible, there are the actual words of Jesus in Matthew 24 who warned us there would be false prophets abounding just before His Second Coming. And then we can point to real Bible prophecies about Israel and the upcoming wars and the covenant from the Antichrist seen in Daniel as well as end time events seen in Revelation and Ezekiel which should allow us to then point to all the prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus Himself. If we do those things we’ll be fine. And you can quote me on that.