Prophecy of Peter the Roman: Two Additional Candidates

Vatican City (photo by Joyce Thiel)

The cardinals of the Church of Rome are starting to gather together and many hope that a new pontiff will be installed well before Easter:

March 3, 2013

On Monday cardinals will begin preliminary meetings, known as general congregations, to get to know each other, discuss church issues and decide the starting date of the closed-door conclave to choose Benedict’s successor.

The meetings are open to all cardinals, whereas only those under 80 can enter the Sistine Chapel and elect a new pope from their own ranks.

Currently 115 cardinal electors are due to take part in the conclave, which many believe will start around March 10.

The Vatican seems to be aiming for an election by mid-March so the new pope can be installed in office before Palm Sunday on March 24 and lead Holy Week services culminating in Easter the following Sunday.

No front-runner stands out and no campaigning is allowed for the election but leading candidates include Peter Turkson of Ghana, Leonardo Sandri of Argentina, Austrian Christoph Schoenborn, Brazil’s Odilo Scherer, Canadian Marc Ouellet and Angelo Scola, the leading candidate from Italy. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/03/us-pope-succession-idUSBRE92208420130303?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71

In the 12th century, a bishop (who was later canonized as a saint by Rome) named Malachy predicted, with what some believe is complete accuracy, every pope since 1143.

The most famous name on the Malachy list is probably the last one. Commonly referred to in English as “Peter the Roman.” Some have also called him Peter II.

Malachy’s list was written in Latin. Here is what he wrote about the last pope on his list:

In persecutione extrema SRE sedebit. Petrus Romanus, quipascet oves in multis tribulationibus: quibus transactis civitas septicollis diruetur, et Iudex tremendus iudicabit populum suum. Finis.

Here is an English translation from The Catholic Encyclopedia:

“In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End.”

Here is a slightly different version of it (with the word “Rome” inserted by Catholic Priest Culleton):

St. Malachy (12th century): During the persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit upon the throne, Peter the Roman…the City of Seven Hills (Rome) will be utterly destroyed and the awful Judge will then judge the people. (Culleton, R. Gerald. The Prophets and Our Times. Nihil Obstat: L. Arvin. Imprimatur: Philip G. Scher, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno, November 15, 1941. Reprint 1974, TAN Books, Rockford (IL), p. 138)

Notice that the final Pope sits on the City of Seven Hills (which the Roman Catholic writer G. Culleton labeled Rome above), obviously the same one that Babylon the Great sits on in Revelation 17:9, that God has destroyed in verses 14-18.

As I have written in the past, the last pontiff on the Malachy list will not need to take the name “Peter the Roman” to possibly fulfill this, and that is also the position of at least one published Catholic writer (see The pope after Benedict XVI).

The name Peter the Roman could signify someone who is dedicated to a final version of the Roman Empire and is a pretender to the succession of apostles such as Peter. The name “Peter” does not have to be in his name for him to fulfill this as the one who would be the last pope would fulfill that, irrespective of his name.

In both Malachy’s description of the one who would be the next, and potentially last, pope and chapter 17 of the Book of Revelation we see:

Reference to the city of seven hills/mountains.
The destruction of the city of seven hills/mountains.
The end of a power in Rome.
Persecution.
Troubles/tribulations on the earth.
A type of judgment.
Events for the end time.

Whether or not the next pope is the last pope, the fact is that the last pope on the Malachy list seems to be warned against in the Holy Bible.

Some of candidates for pontiff, interestingly have “Peter” as part of their name. I have already commented on two like that (The pope after Benedict XVI), so today I will comment on another that was in the news article referenced at the beginning of this post.

Here is what Wikipedia reported about one:

Christoph Maria Michael Hugo Damian Peter Adalbert (Graf von) Schönborn, O.P. (born 22 January 1945), is a Bohemian-born Austrian Dominican friar and theologian, who is a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He currently serves as the Archbishop of Vienna and President of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1998. He is also the chaplain of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Austrian branch), of which he has been a member since 1961. He is a member of the formerly sovereign princely House of Schönborn, several members of which held high offices of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church.

Schönborn is seen as a leading candidate for the papacy because he is conservative, albeit a “balanced reformer” who is well liked by all factions of the church and noted for his tolerant views. (Christoph Schönborn. Wikipedia, viewed 03/03/13)

There are several interesting reasons that Christoph Schönborn is a candidate to be the next, and potentially last, pope. His name is one of them, though it is not absolutely required that the next pontiff have Peter in his name. Cardinal Schönborn was a Domican friar, and since the Dominican order basically was charged with persecuting tasks such as the Inquisition, he may share belief that some of its historical role has future application. Since the final power that is to rise in Europe will consider itself to be a revival of the Holy Roman Empire, his connections to that are of interest. The fact that he is considered to be “tolerant” is consistent with a final pontiff who will be willing to negotiate with groups such as the Eastern Orthodox and various Protestant sects to bring them into unity with the final, modified, Church of Rome. The fact that he is of Germanic heritage would seem to make him a candidate to be the antipope of Catholic prophecy and the false prophet/antichrist of biblical prophecy. Though the ethnicity of the next may have not need to be Germanic, one with such a background could fulfill certain predictions (there are others, such as Cardinal Kurt Koch, with such backgrounds who are candidates of interest; even being fluent in German, like Cardinal Marc Ouellet is, may increase his probability of being the next pope).

Here is what Wikipedia has reported about another:

Odilo Pedro Scherer (Brazilian Portuguese: [o’dʒilu ‘pedɾu ‘ʃɛɾeɾ], German: Otto Scherer, born September 21, 1949) is a Brazilian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as Archbishop of São Paulo, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007. In the international media, he has been mentioned as a possible contender to succeed Benedict XVI, who resigned in 2013…

Scherer, a German-Brazilian, was born in Cerro Largo, Rio Grande do Sul, to Edwino and Francisca (née Steffens) Scherer, and is a distant relative of the late Cardinal Archbishop of Porto Alegre Alfredo Scherer…

On January 5, 2011 he was appointed among the first members of the newly created Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation…Cardinal Scherer has argued that removing crucifixes in public places would not be in the best interests of Brazilian secularism. (Odilo Scherer. Wikipedia, viewed 03/03/13)

There are several interesting reasons that Cardinal Scherer is a candidate to be the next, and potentially last, pope. His name is one of them, though it is not absolutely required that the next pontiff have Peter in his name (Pedro=Peter). The fact that he is of Germanic heritage would seem to make him a candidate to be the antipope of Catholic prophecy and the false prophet/antichrist of biblical prophecy. Being among the first members of the newly created Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation suggests certain ecumenical tendencies. The last pope will have those tendencies. His comments about crucifixes is of interest as that could time to the image of Revelation 13:14-17. Since he is from Latin America, if he become the last pope, he would tend to help bind Latin America to the coming European Beast power. Cardinal Scherer is a person of interest.

We will see who will be elected Pontifex Maximus relatively soon. According to certain interpretations of Catholic private prophecy, including the Malachy list, the next pope would be the last pope, as well as a compromising persecuting, antipope. According to biblical prophecy an ecumenical false persecuting religious leader is to rise up very soon (Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End?).

This warned about leader could very well be the one elected pontiff, possibly this month.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

The Malachy Prophecies and “Peter the Roman” An Irish bishop allegedly predicted something about 112 popes in the 12th century. Pope Benedict XVI was number 111. The next pope would be number 112 and is to reign until Rome is destroyed. May he be an antipope/final Antichrist?
Pope Benedict XVI and the next pope Will the pope that succeeds Pope Benedict XVI fulfill biblical and non-biblical prophecies? What about Pope Benedict himself? Pope Benedict XVI resigned his pontificate effective February 28, 2013. Might his resignation lead to the fulfillment of prophecy? Might his resignation lead to the prophesied Antichrist according to biblical and Catholic prophecies? Do Catholic prophecies foretell of an antipope as the next pope? Is the Peter the Roman of the Malachy prophecies the next pope? Is there a 6,000 year plan? Is the 6,000 year almost up?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2021 or 20xx?
Some Doctrines of Antichrist Are there any doctrines taught outside the Churches of God which can be considered as doctrines of antichrist? This article suggests at least three. It also provides information on 666 and the identity of “the false prophet”. Plus it shows that several Catholic writers seem to warn about an ecumenical antipope that will support heresy.
Is There an Islamic Antichrist? Is Joel Richardson correct that the final Antichrist will be Islamic and not European? Find out.
Will You Be Deceived by Antichrist? 1964 article by David Jon Hill, originally published in the old Good News magazine.
Peter and Rome He was an original apostle and early Christian leader. Where was Peter buried? Where did Peter die?
Overview: How Does the Church of God Agree and Disagree with Other Faiths Professing Christ? This overview answers that and explains what the Church of God basically stands for. In the appendices provides information about certain complaints and as well as an overview about many COG-related groups.
What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? Although most believe that the Roman Catholic Church history teaches an unbroken line of succession of bishops beginning with Peter, with stories about most of them, Roman Catholic scholars know the truth of this matter. Is telling the truth about the early church citing Catholic accepted sources anti-Catholic? This eye-opening article is a must-read for any who really wants to know what Roman Catholic history actually admits about the early church.
Apostolic Succession What really happened? Did structure and beliefs change? Are many of the widely-held current understandings of this even possible? Did you know that Catholic scholars really do not believe that several of the claimed “apostolic sees” of the Orthodox have apostolic succession–despite the fact that the current pontiff himself seems to wish to ignore this view? Is there actually a true church that has ties to any of the apostles that is not part of the Catholic or Orthodox churches? Read this article if you truly are interested in the truth on this matter!
Early Church History: Who Were the Two Major Groups Professed Christ in the Second and Third Centuries? Did you know that many in the second and third centuries felt that there were two major, and separate, professing Christian groups in the second century, but that those in the majority churches tend to now blend the groups together and claim “saints” from both? “Saints” that condemn some of their current beliefs. Who are the two groups?
Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes? Should Christians be Nazarenes today? What were the practices of the Nazarenes.
Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome What actually happened to the primitive Church? And did the Bible tell about this in advance?
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?