Roman Catholic News Volume 5, Issue 66 WEDNESDAY 13 APRIL 2005
Hoax or Authentic? The Prophecies of St. Malachy (Part 1)
Malachy (Máel Máedóc Ua Morgair), 1094-1148, Armagh-born archbishop, papal legate, and the first Irishman to be canonized wrote a manuscript containing 112 prophecies concerning the future Popes until the Second Coming of Christ. The debate over its authenticity is still contested by some but without any reason given other than appealing to arguments of authority without citing any authority. Arguments of authority are classified in logic as logical fallacies. If there were any foundation to rejecting the prophecies of St. Malachy the Church has had about 450 years to do so, but never has. If this manuscript is authentic and was known prior to its rediscovery in 1556 by the Vatican Librarian Onofrio Panvinio (1529-1568) then it may have inspired other similar manuscripts to have been made on papal prophecies. As it stands, there are several other similar manuscripts far more famous than that of St. Malachy including the Vaticinia de summis pontificibus. These medieval authors I believe were imitators of St. Malachy creating their own original prophecies as spin-offs of his original work. This aspect of the history of the St. Malachy manuscript has never been considered before and is the result of my interest and research on this subject since 1970. The evidence of other similar modeled papal prophecies lends support to the authenticity of the St. Malachy manuscript showing it predates the 16th century. Moreover, the manuscript supposedly written by St. Malachy is written in a 12th century manuscript hand. The physical appearance of the manuscript, its age, material and script gave no doubt to Panvinio and others that it was authentic. The Latin medieval papal prophecies (Vaticinia de summis pontificibus), is a compilation of two distinct manuscripts later on joined as one. The first was written about 1280, 140 years after St. Malachy’s manuscript, and is a compilation of 15 illuminated predictions on Popes starting with Nicolaus III (1277-1280). It is thought to have been translated into Latin modeled on Byzantine prophecies, but it can be equally argued to have been modeled on those
of St. Malachy. It is assumed they we written in order to influence one of the papal elections. About 1330, another manuscript also containing 15 prophecies came to light, again being an imitation, this time of the earlier Latin series. No later than the Council of Constance (1414-1418) both manuscripts were copied into the one complete group of 30 Papal prophecies, which became known as the Vaticinia de summis pontificibus, frequently misattributed to Joachim of Flora, but as already stated could have been modeled on those of St. Malachy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Degenhart, B. and A. Schmitt. Corpus der italienischen Zeichaungen 1300-1450, part 1, vol. 3. Fleming, Martha H. The Late Medieval Pope Prophecies. The Genus nequam Group (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 204), Tempe, Arizona, 1999. Grundmann, H. Neue Forschungen über Joachim von Fiore, Marburg,1950. Grundmann, H. "Die Papstprophetien des Mittelalters," Artibus für kulturgeschitchte. 19 (1929), pp. 77-159. Grundmann, H. Studien über Joachim von Fiore, 2nd ed. Darmstadt.1966. Guerrini, Paola, Propaganda politica e profezie figurate nel tardo Medioevo. Nuovo Medioevo ; 51. 1. ed. italiana (Napoli : Liguori Editore, 1997). Lattanzi, A.D. "I Vaticinia Pontificum ed un codice montealense del sec. XII-XIV," Arti della Reale, Accademia de Scienze, Lettre e Arti di Palermo, ser IV, II-2 pp. 757-792. Liber prophetiarum papalium et la littérature prophétique au Moyen âge Ms 7 de la collection Louis Médard sur parchemin écrit en latin vers 1315-1320. Lerner, Robert, "On the Origins of the Earliest Latin Pope Prophecies: A Reconsideration, Falschungen im Mittlealter," MGH, Schriften 33, 5 (Hanover, 1988), pp. 611-635. Lerner, Robert and Moynihan, Robert. Weissagungen uber die Papste: Vat. Ross 374 (Einfuhrungsband zur Faksimile ausgabe de Cod. Vat. Ross. 374), Stuttgart, 1985. Millet, Hélène, Il libro delle immagini dei papi : storia di un testo profetico
medievale [traduzione di Cristina Colotta]. (Roma : Viella, 2002). Niccoli, Ottavia, High and Low Prophetic Culture in Rome at the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century, in “Prophetic Rome in the High Renaissance Period. Essays”, ed. M. Reeves, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1992, pp.203-222 Niccoli, Ottavia, Profeti e popolo nell'Italia del Rinascimento, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1987 [Traduzione in lingua inglese: Prophecy and People in Renaissance Italy, Princeton, Princeton UP, 1990] Niccoli, Ottavia, Profezie in piazza. Note sul profetismo popolare nell'Italia del primo Cinquecento, in "Quaderni storici", n.41, 1979, pp.500-539 Niccoli, Ottavia, The End of Prophecy, in "Journal of Modern History", 61, 1989, pp.667-682 Niccoli, Ottavia, "Prophetie di musaicho". Figure e scritture gioachimite nella Venezia del Cinquecento, in “Forme e destinazione del messaggio religioso. Aspetti della propaganda religiosa nel Cinquecento”, ed. A. Rotondo', Firenze, Olschki, 1991, pp.197-227 Reeves, Marjorie, The Influence of Prophecy in the Later Middle Ages, 1969. Reeves, Marjorie, Joachim of Fiore and the Prophetic Future, 1976. Reeves, Marjorie, "Some Popular Prophecies from the Fourteenth to the Seventeenth Centuries," in Popular Belief and Practice, ed. By G. J. Cuming and Derek Baker, Studies in Church History, 8 (1972), pp. 107-34. Reeves, Marjorie, Prophetic Sense of History in Medieval and Renaissance Europe: From Jerusalem to Cyprus (Ashgate Publishing, Limited, 1999) Regiselmo, Pasqualino. Vaticinia sive Prophetiae Abbatis Joachimi et Anselmi Episcopi Marsicani, Venice, 1589 (reprint, Leipzig, 1972). Schwartz, Orit, and Lerner, Robert E. "Illuminated Propaganda: The Origins of the Ascende calve Pope Prophecies," Journal of Medieval History 20 (1994), pp. 157-91. Thibaut, René, La mystérieuse prophétie des papes. Namur 1951. Tondelli, L. Il libro delle figura dell'abati Ginachino da Fiore. 2nd ed. 2
vols.(text and plates) Torino 1953. See pp. 343-349 and fig. 15. Traeger, J. Der reitende Papst. Ein Beitrag zur Ikonographie d. Papsttums. Munich and Zurich 1970, p. 85 f, pictures 38-44. Vaticinia pontificum Romanorum : Vat. Ross. 374, inizi del XV secolo. Codices e Vaticanis selecti quam simillime expressi iussu Ioannis Pauli PP. II consilio et opera curatorum Bibliothecae Vaticanae ; no. 69, 71. (Milano : Jaca Book, 1987). Vaticinia Sive Prophetiae Abbatis Ioachimi et Anselmi Episcopi Mariscani, Una cum Praefatione, et adnotationibus Paschalini Regiselmi, Venettis MDC Apud Ioannem Baptistam Bertonum.
ONLINE RESOURCES PSEUDO-JOACHIM, ANSELM OF MARISCO, et al., Vaticinia de summis pontificibus http://www.textmanuscripts.com/home/archives/archivesdescription.php?m=84 French article by Hélène Millet http://www.irht.cnrs.fr/formation/ymagiers031215.htm Italian article by Hélène Millet http://www.viella.it/Edizioni/CortePapi/CortePapi_09.htm Online color facsimile of Stiftsbibliothek Kremsmunster, CC Cim. 6, Vaticinia Ponificum of the early fifteenth century from northern Italy http://schulen.eduhi.at/stift_kremsmuenster/vat/ University of Zurich research project on Vaticinia de summis pontificibus, under project leader Frank Schleich <http://www.research-projects.unizh.ch/phil/unit64700/area282/p2061.htm>
Part 1 Originally Posted: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Roman-Catholic-News/message/956
Roman Catholic News Volume 5, Issue 67 THURSDAY 14 APRIL 2005
Hoax or Authentic? The Prophecies of St. Malachy (Part 2) As we have seen yesterday in part 1, papal prophecies began to be circulated in the 13th century and are highly imitative of those of St. Malachy. The fact that numerous other papal prophecy manuscripts are known and imitate those of St. Malachy are sound concrete evidence that makes it tenable that it existed in the 12th century, besides the physical evidence of the vellum, ink, age of the document and paleographic evidence of a 12th century hand. The characterization of the prophecies of St. Malachy having been discovered in 1556 by Onofrio Panvinio is, therefore, inexact and misleading. This misconception is popularly mentioned in various texts on the prophecies of St. Malachy that they were hidden and lost for 400 years. As we can see this is highly doubtful since other similar manuscripts on papal prophecies were circulating that appear to be modeled on the St. Malachy manuscript, from the 13th century on. Onofrio Panvinio does not say he discovered the prophecies of St. Malachy after their being hidden or lost for 400 years. This wrong conclusion is that of later authors beginning in 1676 or 1685 with Claude Franรงois Menestrier, SJ (1631-1705). In the 16th century there were at least 3 publications on the prophecies of St. Malachy. None claimed they were forgeries. 16th CENTURY AUTHORS Onofrio Panvinio (1529-1568) a Vatican Librarian, who in 1556 began to correct and revise the Vatican Library catalog rediscovered the 12h century manuscript written by St. Malachy and appears to be the first to publish on his prophecies in 1557. I say "appears to be the first to publish" since no survey has ever been done on incunabula (books printed between 1453-1500). Consequently, it is not known if any pre-1500 printed book mentions St. Malachy or his prophecies. In 1557 Panvinio published a history of the pontiffs from the origins to Paul IV (1555-1559). In it he makes corrections and additions based on the Prophecies of
St. Malachy. For example, Panvinio affirms that Pope Eugene IV belonged to the order of Célestines, and consequently matches the author of the prophecy manufactured for this Pope as "the Célestine she-wolf". Actually, the Pope belonged to the ecclesiastical order of Augustinians. Onofrio Panvinio, Epitome Romanorum pontificum (Venice, 1557) is a revised edition of Bartolomeo Platina's (1421-1481) De Vitis pontificum (Venice, 1471). Panvinio’s revision also places antipope Clement VIII (1424-1429) among the legitimate Popes of Rome as a result of the prophecies of St. Malachy. Girolamo Muzio (1496-1576), Il Choro Pontificale Nel Qual si leggono le vite del Beatissimo Papa Gregorio, & di XII altri Santi Vescoui. (Venice, G.A. Valvassori 1570) was the second author to write about St. Malachy and his prophecies. Arnould Wion [Arnold de Vion] (1554-1610), Lignum vitae (1590) was the third author who published the list taken from the 12th century manuscript. His book was republished in 1594 and in Venice in 1595. He was assisted by the Spanish monk Don [Francisco] Alfonso Chacón [Ciacconius] (1540-1599), who was renown for his publication: Historia utriusque belli dacici a Traiano Caesaregesti. (Rome, 1576); and his Vitae, et res gestae pontificum romanorum et S.R.E. Cardinalium ab initio nascentis ecclesiae usque ad Clementem IX. P.O.M. Alphonsi Ciaconii Ordinis Fraedicatorum & aliorum opera descriptae. Chacón was an expert on ancient Graeco-Roaman and paleochristian epigraphy and medieval paleography and manuscripts, who, authenticated the manuscript of St. Malachy in the Vatican for Wion and shed light on how the mottos were to be interpreted.
17th CENTURY AUTHORS In the 17th century many authors published on the prophecies of St. Malachy. Some of them are cited below. Giovannini da Capugnano, Girolamo, (d. 1604) Vaticinia seu praedictiones illustrium virorum, sex rotis aere incisis comprehensa, de successione Summum [sic] Pontificum Romanor. : cum declarationibus & annotat. Hieronymi Ioannini, omnibus loco suo fideliter restitutis in hac secunda editione = Vaticini ouero predittioni d’huomini illustri, co[m]prese in sei ruote intagliate in rame, della successione de i Sommi Pont. Rom. : con le dichiarationi & annotat. di Girolamo Giouannini, essendo stato restituito il tutto nel suo luogo in questa
seconda editione. (In Venetia : Appresso Gio. Battista Bertoni, librario ..., 1605). Jean Boucher (1548-1644) in Couronne Mystique. (Tournai, 1623) Crisóstomo Henríquez (1594-1632) (Bruxelles, 1623); Phoenix reviviscens, sive Ordinis Cisterciensis scriptorum Angliae & Hispaniae series. Libri II. Authore P.F. Chrysostomo Henriquez (Bruxellae : Typis Ioannis Meerbecii, 1626). Thomas Messingham (fl. 1615-1638) in Florilegium insulae sanctorum seu vitae et acta sanctorum Hiberniae. Quibus accesserunt non vulgaria monumenta, hoc est Sancti Patricii Purgatorium, S. Malachiae Prophetia de summis pontificibus, aliaque nonnulla ... collegit, & publicabat Thomas Messinghamus ... (Parisiis, S. Cramoisy, 1624)
Cornelius a Lapide (1567-1637), Commentaria in Apocalypsin S. Iohannis apostoli. Auctore R.P. Cornelio Cornelii a Lapide e Societate Iesv ... (1st edition Lyon , Paris Pierre Bresche, 1626; 2nd ed. Parisiis [Sébastien Cramoisy, 1631) see Apoc. 17:20; and in Commentar. Joh, 16. in Commentarii in IV Evangelia (Lugduni : sump. Iacobi & Petri Prost., 1638). In each commentary Cornelius a Lipide mentions the prophecies of St. Malachy and attempts to calculate the date for the last Pope. Angel Manrique (ca.1577-1649), Cisterciensivm sev verivs ecclesiasticorvm annalivm a condito Cistercio, tomvs primvs-qvartvs... auctore fratre Angelo Manriqve... (Lvgdvni, sumpt. haered. G. Boissat, & Lavrent. Anisson, 1642-59). See Volume II for the prophecies of St. Malachy.
Michel Gorgeu, Remarques sur les souverains pontifes romains, qui ont tenu le saint siege, depuis Celestin II jusqu’a maintenant, avec leurs armes blasonnées, en taille douce. Divisées en deux parties. (Abbeville, par Laurens Maurry, 1659) Claude Comiers (d. 1693) La nature et presage des cometes : ouvrage mathematique, physique, chimique & historique : enrichi des propheties des derniers siecles, et de la fabrique des grand lunetes / par le sieur Claude Comiers ... (A Lyon : Chez Charles Matheuet ..., 1665). [Giovanni] Germano, Additione apologetico-istorica alle Preditioni circa i Sommi Pontefici Romani del glorioso padre S. Malachia ... Napoli, appresso Carlo Porsile, 1675. [ with : ] Seconda additione istorico-simbolica ... (Napoli per
Carlo Porsile, 1675-6). The present two works are supplements to Germano's 'Vita gesti e predittioni' of 1670. "Malachie" article in Louis Moréri (1643-1680) Dictionnaire historique et géographique (1673) cf Raoul Auclair La Prophètie de St Malachie in Historia Octobre 1953 , Prophetia Malachiae de summis pontificibus in Recueil de Pièces curieuses et nouvelles . Tome III (bussières) , La Haye , Adrian Moetyens. Claude François Menestrier, SJ (1631-1705), editions of this prolific writer were published from 1657-1780. He was the first to call the St. Malachy prophecies a forgery. He was also the first to misinterpret that the manuscript was lost for over 400 years. His first publication was, perhaps, Prophétie de Saint Malachie sur les Papes , (Paris , La Caille, 1676). In 1689 we are certain that Menestrier published Examen et Réfutation (Paris, La Caille, 1685). In 1695 he republished Réfutation des Prophéties, faussement attribuée à Saint Malachie sur l’élection des papes. Menestrier claimed the prophecies were a forgery dating from the 1590 conclave election of Gregory XIV, and even names the forger as one of Cardinal Simoncelli's party, who, apparently, wanted his candidate to secure the victory. However, there were two editions on the prophecies of St. Malachy prior to 1590 that renders Menestrier’s claim both impossible and invalid. Besides that we have the authenticity of the Malachy document given in 1590 by a specialist Don Alfonso Chacon, something Menestrier did not know. Moreover, the many circulating manuscripts from the 13th century onward of imitators of St. Malachy’s prophecies should have signified something to Menestrier, but it didn't. Further still, the prophecies of Michel Nostradamus (1503-1566) which were published in 1543, 1555, 1560, 1564, 1566, 1568, 1571, 1572, 1573, 1574, and 1589 all predate 1590 and would make him too a likely candidate to foist Menestrier’s hoax theory. However, Menestrier did not choose any of the other myriad candidates because St. Malachy’s prophecies are so exact, and that bothered him leading him to believe that contemporaries to influence the papal election must have forged them. The 16th century produced many hand written research manuscripts on papal elections. Conspiracy theories and suspicion on papal elections led to many apocalyptic treatises to be written as well as history of Popes and the papacy that include meticulous papal election research similar to those that we find in hand written manuscripts that probably served as their notes. I am providing a link to one of them. Claude François Menestrier, SJ, may have written an unpublished document on papal election research dating up to the papal election of Sixtus V in 1585 like the one on the link below. See the link below to view 12 pages of that 36 page document.
12 pages of a 36 page papal election manuscript 1585 or 1590 http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/medieval_et_renaissance_sources/lst?&.dir=/\ Papal+MS+1590&.src=gr&.view=t&.url=http%3a//us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/g_15021239/\ Papal%2bMS%2b1590/pop320g.jpg%3fbc059WxBAdYLdgi5&.cx=150&.cy=112&.type=u> For bibliographies on the manuscripts, letters and publications of Claude-François Menestrier see Allut and Renard. Paul Allut, Recherches sur la vie et sur les oeuvres du P. Claude-François Menestrier de la Compagnie de Jésus; suivies d’un recueil de lettres inédites de ce père à Guichenon, & de quelques autres lettres de divers savans de son temps, inédites aussi. Par. Mr Paul Allut. (Lyon, N. Scheuring, 1856). Joseph Renard, Catalogue des oeuvres imprimées de Claude-François Menestrier de la Compagnie de Jésus ... Ouvrage posthume pub. par...Carlose Sommervogel ... (Lyon, Ainé, 1883)
18th CENTURY AUTHORS
John Toland (1670-1722) gave full credence to the prophecies of St. Malachy and wrote an apocalyptic account of the destruction of Rome under Petrus Romanus, the last Pope.
John Toland (1670-1722) The destiny of Rome: or, the probability of the speedy and final destruction of the pope. Concluded partly, from natural reasons, and political observations; and partly, on occasion of the famous prophesy of St. Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh, in the XIIth century ... In a letter to a divine of the Church of England, from a divine of the Church of the First-born (London: Printed; and sold by J. Roberts and A. Dodd, 1718).
19th CENTURY AUTHORS The 18th century saw additional credence of the St. Malachy prophecies. Abbé François Cucherat, OSB (1812-1887), a great medieval church historian, revived the St. Malachy prophecies asserting they are valid and authentic having examined the manuscript himself in the Vatican archive. Abbé François Cucherat’s published the prophecies of St. Malachy in his book: In Proph. de la succession
des papes, (1871) Rev M J. O'Brien, An historical and critical account of the so-called prophecy of St. Malachy regarding the succession of Popes. (Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, 1880) Bute "The Prophecies of St Malachi" in Dublin Review (October 1885), Listel, R. (ps. d'Oscar de Poli) (1889), "Les Prophéties sur les Papes", in Revue des questions héraldiques, n°9, mars.
20th AND 21st CENTURY AUTHORS The 20th century has numerous publications on the prophecies of St. Malachy. A few are listed below. Maître, J., La prophétie des papes, (Beaune, 1901) Rafael Pijoán, El siglo xx y el fin del mundo según la profecia de San Malaquias. (Barcelona, La hormiga de oro, 1914). Brou, A. (1922), "La pseudo-prophétie de Malachie "Pastor Angelicus" in Etudes CLXX, Paris. Vacandard, E. (1923), "La Prophétie de Malachie sur la succession des Papes", in Etudes de critique et d'histoire religieuse. 4e série, Paris. A. Vieira d’Areia, A profecia dos papas (atribuída a S. Malaquias). Colecção Forum, 6.secção: Ciências históricas, 1 (Pôrto, Editora educação nacional, 1944). René Thibaut, S.J., gives credence to the prophecies of St. Malchy but ascribes them to an anonymous author in the year 1571. Thibaut, René, La mystérieuse prophétie des papes. Namur 1951. Thibaut, R. (1951), La Mystérieuse prophétie des Papes, Paris. Raoul Auclair, “La Prophètie de St Malachie,” in Historia (Octobre 1953) Carlo Marcora pointed out in his 6 volume work, "Storia dei Papi da San Pietro a Giovanni XXIII" (Milano, Edizioni Librarie italiane, 1961-1974) that some of the maxims, in fact, are still in use to designate certain pontificates: "Peregrinus
Apostolicus" (Apostolic Pilgrim) for Pius VI, "Lumen de Coelo" (Light of Heaven) for Leo XIII, "Pastor Angelicus" (Angelic Shepherd) for Pius XII (a documentary about his life is thus entitled). Peter Bander, Prophecies of St. Malachy and St. Columbkille (Gerrards Cross, Colin Smythe, 1969 1st ed.) Hildebrand Troll (1922-) Die Papstweissagung des Heiligen Malachias : ein Beitr. z. Lösung ihres Geheimnisses. 2., neubearb. Aufl. (Aschaffenburg : Pattloch, 1973). Includes facsimile reproduction of the original ed. of Prophetia Sancti Malachiae (i. e. of p. 307-311 from A. Wion’s Lignvm vitae). Juan Manuel Igartua, Quién escribió la Profecia de San Malaquias? (Barcelona : [s.n.] : distribuye, Ediciones Acervo, 1978). Jean Luc Maxence, Les secrets de la prophétie de Saint Malachie : ou, Les papes des derniers temps. (Paris : Lattès, 1979). Daniel Réju, Les prophéties de Saint Malachie : mort des papes et apocalypse. (Monaco : Éditions du Rocher, 1979). Daniel Réju, (1984), La prophétie des papes et l'apocalypse, (Monaco, Ed. du Rocher, 1979, 1984). Lerner, R. (1985), Ursprung, verbreitung und Ausstrahlung der Papstprophetien des Mittelalters in den Weissagungen über die Päpste. Vat. Ross. 374, Zurich. Robert Ernst, Die Papstweissagung des hl. Bischofs Malachias : Johannes Paul II der letzte Papst? 5. Aufl. (Bietigheim : Turm, 1988). Roger Duguet, Essai sur les prophéties concernant la succession des papes du XIIIe siècle à la fin des temps. (Paris : Nouvelle éditions latines, 1997) John Hogue, The last pope : the decline and fall of the Church of Rome : the prophecies of St. Malachy for the new millennium. (Shaftesbury, Dorset ; Boston, Mass. : Element Books, 1998). Morgan, K. Page, St. Malachy’s Prophecy (Lincoln: iUniverse, Incorporated, 2001) Karl A. Gersbach, O.S.A., "The Books and Personal Effects of Young Onofrio Panvinio, OSA, in Vat. Lat. 7205." Analecta Augustiniana, 52 (1989), 51-76.
Karl A. Gersbach, O.S.A., "Onofrio Panvinio's Brother, Paolo, and his Role in the Posthumous Edition of the De Primatu Petri et Apostolicae Sedis Potestate and the Purchase of Onofrio's Manuscripts for the Vatican Library." Analecta Augustiniana, 56 (1993), 241-64.
CONCLUSION There is sufficient scholarly evidence to give credibility to the prophecies of St. Malachy. The Church places these forms of revelation in the category of "private revelations," and when something is seriously flawed in them the Church must necessarily make a pronouncement and judgment publically to warn and caution the faithful. The Church has never condemned or criticized the prophecies of St. Malachy since 1140. In 865 years the Church has not only not pronounced judgments against them but has rather adopted some of the Malachy mottos to certain Popes as pointed out by Carlo Marcora, like "Peregrinus Apostolicus" (Apostolic Pilgrim) for Pius VI, "Lumen de Coelo" (Light of Heaven) for Leo XIII, "Pastor Angelicus" (Angelic Shepherd) for Pius XII. This sort of adoption lends itself for us to recognize a subtle Church sanction on the prophecies of St. Malachy. When I was in grade school during the election of Pope John XXIII, I recall the ridicule given to a certain American cardinal who rented a boat and filled it with sheep so that his brother cardinals would recognize that he was "Pastor et nauta". Human nature as it is should inform us that by now at least one cardinal today has already done something to give his brother cardinals the impression that he is "De gloria olivae". Perhaps he is deliberately and ostentatiously using too much olive oil on his salad for his brother cardinals to ogle.
Why does the Church not come out directly and proclaim something officially on the prophecies of St. Malachy? There is no real need. It normally does this when it concerns the faithful at large. The prophecies of St. Malachy do not impose anything on the faithful to do, or say, or pray, etc. Rather, they are for the College of Cardinals, the leaders of the Church for two obvious and distinct purposes: (1) to aid in the identification of the Pope at papal elections; (2) to inform them where they stand in the history of the world, approaching the summit or omega point in time. We are now at the end of St. Malachy's list. This bothers some to no end. I am
sure it instills fear into many. Some reject the prophecies because it is too disturbing. Others have fabricated theories that there can be a myriad of other Popes between "De gloria olivae" and "Peter the Roman" but give no sound logical basis for this idea. It is pure wishful thinking. Some too reject them because they feel it contradicts Christ who said: "However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows." (Matthew 24:36-51; 25:13; Mark 13:32-37). Scripture does say we will know the general period of time, the decade or few years prior to the Second Coming of Christ. It does not say that we will be unaware of His Second Coming and be surprised: “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:4); or “as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).
Why are we aware as St. Paul says and prophecies? Is it because of "private revelations" like those of St. Malachy and Fatima? Shouldn't St. Paul have been aware that God would provide those living in the end time with signs that would allow them to know the end is near? God does not send us these revelations to frighten us but to sober us up. "Stay sober and alert; for your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)
Part 2 originally posted at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Roman-Catholic-News/message/957?l=1