Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
From the Vatican, 10 February 2013
BENEDICTUS PP XVI[i]
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
From the Vatican, 10 February 2013
BENEDICTUS PP XVI[i]
With these words, the world received the shocking news. For
the first time since the middle ages the pope would resign with Pope Benedict
XVI resigning at the end of February 2013.
The last time this happened was in 1415ad when there
were three popes: Pope Gregory XII (considered by the Roman Catholic Church as
the true pope of this time), Benedict XII, and John XXIII were asked to step
down to clear the papacy and essentially start over. While Pope Gregory XII and
John XXIII agreed to step down, Benedict XII refused and was excommunicated. In
1417ad
Martin V was elected as the next pope.
Many people were left wondering “Why?” Some grieved
accepting his resignation and offering gratitude for his faithful service.
While others searched for something more… Is there another reason he stepped
down? Many of these people began to visit the ancient Roman Catholic “Prophecy
of the Popes”. Which prophesied the names of one hundred and twelve popes that
would occupy the Chair of St. Peter. To date one hundred and eleven names of
these men have been correctly prophesied. Only one pope remains on the list.
St. Malachy, the author of the “Prophecy of the Popes” has
now been thrust into the lime light with the Pope Benedict XVI’s announcement.
Pope Clement III canonized St. Malachy in 1199ad. He became
the first Irish saint canonized by a pope. St. Bernard described him as born of
noblity in Armagh, Ireland in 1094ad.
St. Malachy was appointed Archbishop of Armagh in 1132ad and he was known
to be very zealous for the faith. St. Bernard credited him with the restoration
of discipline in the church at Armagh.
In 1139ad, St. Malachy journeyed to Rome to give an account of the
affairs of his diocese to Pope Innocent II. It was during this trip that he had
a mystical vision. The vision included a list of the final one hundred and
twelve popes that would rule the Roman Catholic Church until the end of time.
St. Malachy wrote the vision down. The vision included each
pope’s motto, papal name and an explanation of their name. St. Malachy reportedly
gave this manuscript to Pope Innocent II. It was to be a consolation of sorts
due to the hardships he encountered during his reign as Pope.
This document given to Pope Innocent II remained hidden or
unknown in the Vatican archives for four hundred years until it was discovered in
1590ad,
but was not published until five years later by Arnold de Wyon. Since this time
there have been many accusations of forgery made both within the Roman Catholic
Church and from outside of it.
One of the strongest arguments that the document is a
forgery is that St. Bernard never mentioned St. Malachy’s Prophecy of the Popes
in his biography, “Life of St. Malachy”.
Those who believe that St. Malachy’s Prophecy of the Popes is
authentic say that the proof is undeniable. There are one hundred and eleven
popes who have been correctly identified in the prophecy.
St. Malachy’s Prophecy of the Popes begins with Pope
Celestine II, who became Pope in 1143ad, and ends with Peter the Roman who is the
last pope to reign on earth according to the prophecy.
In order to interpret these prophesies people who support
the authenticity of it many times have to really dig deep to connect the dots.
Often it is something very obscure even miniscule that they rely on the make
the prophecies fit. Such as their name, where they were born,
It was been rumored that many popes have been chosen because
they “fit” the next name on St. Malachy’s Prophecy of the Popes.
In recent history Cardinal Karol Wojtyła was elected pope in
1978. He chose the name Pope John Paul II. According to St. Malachy’s Prophecy
of the Popes, the one hundred and tenth pope’s motto would be “From the Labor
of the Sun” (De labore solis), meaning that he was the pope “of the eclipsed sun”.
Pope John Paul II was born on a day that had a solar eclipse (May 18, 1920),
elected to the Papacy on a day with a solar eclipse (October 16, 1978) and was
buried on the day of a solar eclipse (April 08, 2005).
Everyone thought that the pope after Pope John Paul II would
come from the Order of Saint Benedict. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was not a part
of this order. However, since he chose the name Benedict XVI many believe he was
trying fulfill St. Malachy’s prophesy, the “Glory of the Olive” (Gloria olivæ).
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger chose the name of Pope Benedict XVI even though he
was not a Benedictine priest. Benedict was the founder of the Order of Saint
Benedict, and one of the branches of the Benedictine order is the Olivetans,
hence the “Glory of the Olive”.
St. Malachy stated that the one hundred and twelfth pope
would be the final pope. Petrus Romanus, or Peter the Roman is the name of the
final pope. It is interesting to note that no pope has yet ever chosen the
papal name of “Peter” out of respect for Peter, one of the twelve disciples of
Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic Church
recognizes St. Peter as the first pope.
Attached to the name of the one hundred and twelfth pope,
Peter the Roman, who according to St. Malachy is this prophesy, “Peter the Roman, who will nourish the sheep
in many tribulations; when they are finished, the city of seven hills will be
destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The end.”
There have been some rumblings from Rome that the reason
that the College of the Cardinals who chose each successive pope chose Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger as the next pope was because of his advance in age, they know
he will not be pope for long. So therefore if he acts against their will, they
can pressure him to cite health reasons as a cause to be the first pope in
almost six hundred years to resign.
What many believe is that this Peter the Roman will be the
next pope of the Roman Catholic Church & usher the Church into God’s
Kingdom here on earth. The Roman Catholic Church has primarily believed in
being able to bring God’s Kingdom here on earth through their own efforts,
which contradicts what many Protestant Christians believe that Jesus will come
and establish His Kingdom here on earth.
Only God ultimately seems to know what will happen next, and
if this is truly the beginning of the end of the world.
We are told that the Bible is the
inspired (meaning “God-breathed”) Word of God.
2 Timothy 3:16 “16 All
Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for training in righteousness;”
(NASB)
The Bible clearly says that prophecy only comes from God…
2 Peter 1:20, 21 “20
But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s
own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will,
but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (NASB)
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