The Next Pope is not the Last Pope

Pope Benedict XVI is the next to last Pope on St. Malachy’s prophetic list of future (now mostly past) Popes. He is given the expression “from the Glory of the Olive”. During the reign of Pope John Paul II, I correctly discerned from that expression that the next Pope would take the papal name Benedict XVI.

There is only one more Pope on St. Malachy’s list: Peter the Roman.

“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.”

Some persons assume that since Peter the Roman is the last Pope on the list, he might be the last Pope ever. Not so. Peter the Roman is merely the last Pope on St. Malachy’s list; he is not the last Pope that the Church on earth will have as the Vicar of Christ. This point is clear from the prophecies of several other Saints about future Popes. In particular, a Pope called “the Angelic Shepherd” has long been prophesied to reign at the same time as a secular leader, “the great Catholic monarch”. That holy Pope has not yet had his reign.

See my article: Additions to St. Malachy’s Prophecy of Future Popes for other Popes that I discern will reign in the near and distant future. See also my booklet: The Great Catholic Monarch and the Angelic Shepherd

Concerning the papal name taken by the next Pope, the name Pius is associated with Popes who are conservative, and who emphasize the teaching and defense of Catholic doctrine. The more pastoral Popes tend to take names such as Benedict and John. The recent Popes John Paul I and John Paul II chose those names to signal that they would support and continue the teaching of Second Vatican Council, which was called by Pope John XXIII and completed by Pope Paul VI.

Some persons assume that Peter the Roman will take the name Pope Peter II. I strongly disagree. The prophetic expressions used by St. Malachy to describe the Popes are a description of the reign of that Pope. It does not mean that the man who is elected will have the given name Peter, nor does it mean that he will choose the papal name Peter.

As a description of his Pontificate, the phrase “Peter the Roman” indicates that this Pope will reaffirm the authority of the Roman Pontiff over the Church; this authority is based on his role as Successor of Peter. The expression also indicates that this Pope will reaffirm Rome as the proper seat of authority in the universal Church and require the faithful to acknowledge the holy, Catholic, and apostolic Roman Church as the mother and teacher of all churches. His predecessor, the Pope of Peace (Pope Benedict XVI), reached out to other faiths and emphasized the unity among all peoples and especially all Christians. But Peter the Roman will emphasize the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Faith and the Roman Catholic Church above all other religions and denominations, and its authority over all Christians and all peoples of the world.

Some persons assume that the election of Peter the Roman indicates that the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ are imminent. But my understanding, based on many years of study of Sacred Scripture and of Catholic eschatology, is that the time period called the apocalypse or the end times is a long period, extending across several centuries. It is not the literal end of the world. So the Pontificate of Peter the Roman, the very next Pope after Pope Benedict XVI, will see the beginning of the end times described in the Book of Revelation written by John about the Apocalypse.

See my book: An Eschatological Commentary on the Apocalypse of John

For more on future Popes, see my booklet: The Future and the Popes.

by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian and
translator of the Catholic Public Domain Version of the Bible.