A 900-year-old book found in the Vatican Secret Archives claims to predict the year of Judgement Day.
That is the Christian belief of when Jesus returns to Earth to determine who will be saved and who will be damned, and a saint said it would happen in 2027.
Saint Malachy is credited with the 12th-century text, ‘Prophecy of the Popes,’ which contains a series of cryptic Latin phrases believed to describe every pope, beginning with Celestine II in 1143 and concluding with the current leader of Church, Pope Francis.
The book, which features 112 short, cryptic phrases, was discovered in 1595 by Arnold Wion, a Benedictine monk who claimed to have found Malachy’s writings in the Vatican archives.
‘In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End,’ the last passage of the book reads.
Some interpret the prophecy as Peter taking over as the pope amid Francis’ chronic lung disease, while others believe Malachy was suggesting Francis would be the last.
A documentary released in 2024 suggested the latter is true due to a passage attributed to Pope Sixtus V from 1585 that reads: ‘Axle in the midst of a sign.’
Pope Sixtus V took the helm 442 years after the first leader and with the text suggesting he is the middle of the prophecy, the end of the world would come 442 years later – 2027.
Prophecy of the Popes includes 112 cryptic phrases which are said to describe each of the future popes, starting in 1143
While the book was found more than 400 years ago, its prophecy has resurfaced as Pope Francis, 88, suffered two episodes of respiratory crisis caused by a ‘significant’ amount of mucus accumulation in his lungs and bronchial spasms.
He has been in the hospital for more than two weeks.
Although some scholars have claimed the text is a 16th century forgery, Malachy allegedly wrote Prophecy of the Popes in 1139 after receiving a vision during a visit to Rome.
Before being elevated to sainthood, St Malachy was an Irish archbishop known for his religious reforms, including bringing the Irish church more in line with Roman practices.
The claims that someone else wrote the 112 phrases about each future pope stem from the specific and highly accurate way each of the popes are described up until 1590.
After that point, the phrasing becomes much more vague and leave a lot open to interpretation. However, there are still some shockingly accurate phrases that can be found in modern times.
The saint’s predictions were taken seriously in the last few decades.
As one report states: ‘In 1958, before the Conclave that would elect Pope John XXIII, Cardinal Spellman of New York hired a boat, filled it with sheep and sailed up and down the Tiber River, to show that he was ‘pastor et nautor,’ the motto attributed to the next Pope in the prophecies.’
Pope Francis has been battling severe respiratory issues, with Catholics worldwide praying for the 88-year-old’s recovery
The ancient text only mentions one other pope after ‘Gloria Olivae,’ whom scholars claim was referring to Pope Benedict XVI
One of the prophecies names the 111th pope as ‘Gloria Olivae,’ which means ‘the glory of the Olive.’
The Order of Saint Benedict is also known as the Olivetans, which leads some historians to believe Malachy predicted Pope Benedict would lead the Catholic Church. He was pope from 2005 to 2013.
Some believe St Malachy’s phrase ‘lilium et rosa,’ which translates to ‘lilly and the rose’,’ describes Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644) because his family’s coat of arms featured lilies and roses.
Another line of text reads ‘De labore Solis,’ meaning ‘of the eclipse of the sun,’ and has been speculated to be naming Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) who was born during a solar eclipse. He was pope from 1978 until 2005.
There is also ‘peregrinus apostolicus’ used for one of the popes that many believe was meant for Pope VI because he spent much of his life traveling to new nations. He was pope from 1963 to 1978.
According to the final entry surrounding Peter the Roman, the ‘last pope’ will preside over the Church during a time of great turmoil, culminating in the destruction of Rome and the end of the papacy.
The book was the topic on Sunday Cool Podcast, where host Josh Hooper noted the growing number of crises around the world is stirring up new belief in the controversial prophecy.
The current war in Ukraine, increasing tensions between the United States and China, and the constant instability of the Middle East have many fearing that the next world war could be in our near future.
These major powers have also reportedly begun preparations to restart their nuclear weapon programs, further stocking fears of ‘Judgment Day.’
This isn’t the only ancient text to allegedly predict the end of the world. The Book of Revelation, written near the end of the first century AD, is thought by some to depict humanity’s end – not Biblical events of the past.
In fact, some believe the passages in Revelation describe nuclear explosions, drones, aircraft, and even robots.
