Damn! St. Malachy got it right!

[BattyDem]

That's freaky! :scared:

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Chicken? Or Egg?

n/t

[AzDar]

2. It's the end of the church as we know it..and I feel fine! (sorry, R.E.M.)

eom

[ret5hd]

3. elaborate please...

i've read "whispers" of this, but no details.

[lala_rawraw]

15. Yeah, read my damn post... they are playing prophecy

shadow puppets!!!

[ret5hd]

4. self delete...dupe

[hippiechick]

5. How'd Malachy have it right ?

I thought this pope was supposed to be Gloria Olivae or something related to Olives, or Italy ..

:shrug: What'd I miss about Ratzy ?

[Dookus]

7. That's the beauty of prophecy

you say something short and vague, and you can fit it into anything.

[Me.]

6. How Did He Get It Right?

I'll admit with the olive business I was looking in a different direction. I will also say that Benedictus XV's tenure as pope was extremely short. I'm hoping that is a trend.

[Beetwasher]

8. Umm, Gee, I Mean It's Not Like Ratzinger Would Ever Know About Those

prophecies and name himself Benedictine BECAUSE of them. Nahhh, that would never happen...:eyes:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

9. More like Ratzinger chose the name to fit the prophecy

[BattyDem]

10. To those who don't know ...

St. Malachy predicted that there would be 112 popes and gave short descriptions of each. His prediction for number 111 (which is this one) was "Gloria Olivae" which means "The Glory of the Olive"

The Benedictine Order is also known as the "Olivetans" so it's always been speculated that the 111th pope would either be a member of the Benedictines or his name would be Benedict. Ratzinger fits on both counts.

There were other interpretations of Malachy's prediction, but the "Benedict" connection always seemed to be the "frontrunner"

Now, the question is ... did they choose Ratzinger to INTENTIONALLY fulfill Malachy's prophecy? :shrug:

Anyway, if you want to read more, here's the Wikipedia link:
Prophecy of the Popes

Also, do a Google for "St. Malachy's Pope Predictions" or "Prophecy of the Popes" and you'll get tons of info. It's pretty interesting to read, whether you believe in this stuff or not.

[Me.]

11. Thanks For The Response

As to the question, would they deliberately choose him because of the prophecy, why would they choose to fulfill a prophecy that signals the end of the church altogether?

[BattyDem]

12. Possibly to frighten people into ...

joining their ranks and following their rules. :shrug:

I was raised Catholic (I'm no longer Catholic). I remember there was always a lot of fear involved in the lessons: do something against God's rules and you'll end up burning in Hell. Then there was confession, which is really scary to a little kid - getting shut into a dark box and being forced to admit your "sins" to a voice behind a screen. And let's not forget the wine and the Host - aka the Body and Blood of Christ! Yes, I know it's symbolic, but the symbolism is lost on a child - eat the body, drink the blood ... that's all a kid hears, LOL!

Fear is a very effective way to get people to conform to a set of rules which limit their personal freedoms and choices. History has proven that. Bush* has proven that!

[Zynx]

13. Could also be to discredit the End Times crowd

Catholics in general HATE the Left Behind group, and Ratzinger considers them heretics.

When the next Pope is not Peter (which he won't be), the end times stuff takes a beating.

[BattyDem]

14. That's an interesting idea ...

that angle never occurred to me. :toast:

[lala_rawraw]

16. To use fear as recruiting tool. Thanks America for the inspiration

[FreedomAngel82]

17. Works well

for W and company.