Is Benedict the next-to-last pope?

[TechBear_Seattle]

I read this article:

Fury over Pope's remarks raises concerns

By BENJAMIN HARVEY, Associated Press Writer

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Pakistan's legislature unanimously condemned Pope Benedict XVI. Lebanon's top Shiite cleric demanded an apology. And in Turkey, the ruling party likened the pontiff to Hitler and Mussolini and accused him of reviving the mentality of the Crusades.

Across the Islamic world Friday, Benedict's remarks on Islam and jihad in a speech in Germany unleashed a torrent of rage that many fear could burst into violent protests like those that followed publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

By citing an obscure Medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman," Benedict inflamed Muslim passions and aggravated fears of a new outbreak of anti-Western protests.

(Article continues at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060915/ap_on_re_mi_ea/pope_muslims)

and started thinking about the list of popes created by St. Malachy, an Irish archbishop who, in the 12th century, created a list of 112 pontiffs. According to adherents of the prophesy, Benedict is the next-to-last. After him, "In persecutione extrema S.R.E. sedebit Petrus Romanus, qui pascet oues in multis tribulationibus: quibus transactis ciuitas septicollis diruetur, et Iudex tremedus iudicabit populum suum. Finis." (usually translated from Latin as, "During the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, the seat will be occupied by Peter the Roman, who will feed his sheep in many tribulations; and when these things are finished, the seven-hilled city will be destroyed, and the terrible Judge will judge his people. The End.")

According to the Wikipedia article, there is some dispute as to whether or not this last entry is authentic (as such things go), as it lacks characteristics found in all of the other entries. One set of explanation I've heard is that Benedict will be the last "real" pope; he will be succeeded by an anti-pope who will either lead the Church to extinction or else hold the papal throne during Armageddon.

In any case, if Benedict continues to push the line of "If you aren't one of us, you are evil and going to Hell," what are the chances that he prompt Muslim extremists to target the Vatican, prompting the final crisis of the Catholic Church? Or, given that events were (supposedly) revealed to a holy man a thousand years ago, is this something that Benedict should be concerned about?

Please, discuss. :hi:

[goclark]

1. My minister was talking about this issue today

He was meeting with our Prayer Group and he said that CHRISTIANITY is not growing as fast as ISLAM in the United States.

He went on to say that many Christians,especially young ones, are not pleased with the way that Christianity is viewed world wide. Many are going to Middle Eastern views of how to live the principles of Faith.

I hope I am explaining him correctly.
Correct me if I am wrong.

I believe that people like the BUSHLIKEPOPE are an example of why Christianity is showing itself as the face of the Evangelicals/Bush/Political Fakes.

What the Pope did to the World with his remarks is shameful!

Here is an interesting link that talks about the number of people that actually PRACTICE Christianity vs. Islam.

http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html#Islam

Chart that shown populations of the various religions.
http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html

[AndyTiedye]

2. Maledict, More Like It

The Rat Zinger has never had anything good to say about anybody.

[TechBear_Seattle]

3. I'm trying to keep this a civil discussion

If you don't mind. :hi:

[goclark]

5. Yes, I would like to know how others feel that the world

should respond to this statement.

I'm sure I know how Bush will respond.

He is the Divider and this is exactly the kind of talk that he wants out there.

[davidwparker]

4. if the next pope is the defector, yes.

[TechBear_Seattle]

6. One possibility being discussed is...

That the current pope (Benedict) dies, and terrorists attack the Conclave, killing off the majority of cardinals and not leaving enough to elect a new pope. The result is a person rising to lead the Catholic Church and become head of state for the Vatican without actually being pope. Such a person would not take the traditional new name, thus coming to power with his given name. The person in the Curia (the Vatican government) most likely to take such a position in this scenario is, coincidentally enough, Monsignor Pietro (Peter) Parolin, Under-Secretary of State for Relations with States.

I guess I'm really asking is: What are the chances that Benedict could piss off enough fanatics to prompt a terrorist attack on the Conclave, thus bringing this scenario to be?

[davidwparker]

7. it has to be timed with the rise of the false messiah. the false prophet

(the defector in Catholic view) is to the false messiah what the Holy Spirit is to the Messiah.

Since we don't know when that will be, we just have to keep watching.

[Dogmudgeon]

9. This would be a tempting, but ultimately unsatisfying, target

The Church hierarchy could easily reconstitute itself even if the Pope and all of the Cardinals in the Conclave were dead.

There are also some Cardinals who do not assemble for the Conclave, and those over 80 years old are ineligible to vote; but in a disaster such as a terrorist attack, they would be called out of retirement. Even in the unlikely event that ALL the Cardinals were to be killed, there are canonical rules of succession.

The Catholic Church is well-designed to withstand all sorts of disasters. It has stayed together and functioned well in nearly every kind of social situation, whether as the oppressor or the oppressed. It would take much more than a terrorist attack to destroy it -- even a nuclear bomb attack on the Vatican wouldn't destroy it.

Benedict has long had an itch to confront Islamist militants and call moderate Muslims to account for the crimes of their violent brethren. I don't think anyone will deny that there are war-bent fanatics in the Islamic world. The question is: how will Benedict handle the encounter with the Islamic world? This recent dust-up could be theatrical, a calculated provocation ... or it could be a dumb-assed blunder.

--p!

[saltpoint]

8. One pope over the line, sweet jesus? Nah, I don't abide the

apocalyptic take on world affairs.

Dubya has left our nation MUCH work to undo and MUCH damage to repair, but it is work worth doing, and we'll do it.

I think we'll do it a lot better with a Democratic administration.

This Pope is an older Pope -- the cardinals appeared to have saved their vote for a younger Pope for next time.