Catholics around the world are celebrating right now as the Vatican’s College of Cardinals has chosen Pope Leo XIV as the new head of the Church.
Pope Leo XIV — who was previously known as Cardinal Robert Prevost — was officially confirmed earlier today (May 8), just a few weeks after Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88 on Easter Monday (April 22).
Seeing the white smoke rise from the Sistine Chapel chimney is always a powerful and joyful moment, especially for Catholics and for the people of both America and Peru — two countries where Pope Leo XIV spent most of his life working.
But not everyone is welcoming the news with open arms.
Enter the conspiracy theorists.
That’s right, folks — enjoy the election of Pope Leo XIV while it lasts, because an old prophecy from a hundred years ago has resurfaced, claiming that the 69-year-old might actually be the last Bishop of Rome.
Some of you might remember we’ve talked before about an old document that’s been making the rounds again. It’s called the Prophecy of the Popes, supposedly written way back in the 1100s by a guy named Saint Malachy — or just Malachy, as he was known at the time.
Like most writings that kick off with the word “prophecy,” this one doesn’t paint a great picture of humanity’s future.
According to the document, Malachy predicted that there would be exactly 112 more popes after his time.
The list ends with a dark mention of someone called Peter the Roman, who is said to be the Bishop of Rome during the end times.
According to the text, Peter the Roman’s time in power is described like this:
“Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End.”
Now, of course, skeptics are quick to point out that Peter the Roman doesn’t sound anything like Pope Leo XIV. His real name, Robert Francis Prevost, doesn’t even include “Peter,” so it’s pretty clear that Saint Malachy might’ve missed the mark on this one.
The prophecy also gets his nationality wrong. Pope Leo XIV is both American and Peruvian—not Italian like the nickname “the Roman” would suggest.
Some people believed that the late Pope Francis might have been the mysterious ‘Peter the Roman’, but over the years, this theory has been widely dismissed for similar reasons.
Back in 2013, Josh Canning, director of Toronto’s Chaplaincy at the Newman Centre, told Global News: “I don’t know how you can connect Peter the Roman with Pope Francis.”
Honestly, unless we wake up tomorrow to comets falling from the sky and nuclear missiles flying everywhere, I’m going to stick with my opinion.
For now, it seems like Pope Leo XIV has more important things to worry about than an old prophecy that may or may not have come from someone named Saint Malachy.