Papal voting and prophetic theories

Nostradamus

There have been several votes in the Vatican for the next pope. VOA reported:

March 13, 2013

After three rounds of voting, cardinals remain deadlocked over successor to Pope Benedict…

UPDATE 11:42 am PDT: A new pope has been selected. I plan to post about that soon in another post.

CBS had the following report related to the papal election:

Papal election triggers doomsday theories

The beginning of papal conclave to elect a new head of the Catholic Church has some people worrying the end is nigh.

These believers interpret two medieval-era prophecies to mean that the next pope elected will be the last before doomsday. One prophecy allegedly comes from a 12th-century archbishop, the other from no less famed a name than Nostradamus himself…

According to the crowd-sourced news website Before It’s News, the 16th-century apothecary and supposed prophet Nostradamus predicted that the last pope would flee Rome in December when “two suns” seem to appear in the sky. The prophecy is making the rounds online paired with the suggestion that the second “sun” will be Comet ISON, which will come closest to the sun on Nov. 28, 2013. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57573926/papal-election-triggers-doomsday-theories/

I have commented about the 12th century Malachy prophecies in the past, so today I would refer readers to the article The Malachy Prophecies and “Peter the Roman”.

As far as Nostradamus and the interpretation that there will be a comet that will cause the last pope to flee in December 2013, the source CBS cited, itself, was uncertain about that as it reported:

According to one interpretation of Nostradamus Quatrain 2.41:

The great star for seven days will burn,
The cloud will make two suns appear:
The great mastiff will be all night howling,
When the great pontiff changes his land.

March 15, 2013 or the Ides of March could be the beginning of time when a comet appears in the Northern Hemisphere visible to Rome and indicating that there would be two popes…

The quatrain said that the Pope will flee Rome for a foreign country after he witness the comet. There is no way of knowing for sure if Nostradamus was correct but the quatrain could indicate that the second of three comets for 2013 may lead up to the third and final Comet ISON (C/2012 S1) or the Great Comet (November 2013) which will light up the Northern skies like a second Moon. http://beforeitsnews.com/conspiracy-theories/2013/02/two-popes-and-two-suns-the-pope-and-the-anti-pope-2448846.html

But the reality is that whether or not there is a comet in 2013 that causes a pope to leave Italy, this is not “doomsday” in the sense that the Great Tribulation cannot begin in 2013. That is just a bit too soon (see also the YouTube video Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2013?).

As far as the “last pope” that CBS referred to, this individual according to various Catholic prophecies would be expected to be an “antipope,” perform signs and wonders, compromise various doctrines of the Church of Rome, promote emperor worship, and be involved in the destruction of Rome. The Bible itself predicts those will happen with the two-horned Beast of Revelation 13, who is also called the False Prophet in Revelation 16, and will be involved in what happens in Revelation 17.

We will see whether the next pope is that individual–though it will not be totally apparent at first.

Some articles of possibly related interest may include:

The Malachy Prophecies and “Peter the Roman” An Irish bishop allegedly predicted something about 112 popes in the 12th century. Pope Benedict XVI was number 111. The next pope would be number 112 and is to reign until Rome is destroyed. May he be an antipope/final Antichrist?
Pope Benedict XVI and the next pope Will the pope that succeeds Pope Benedict XVI fulfill biblical and non-biblical prophecies? What about Pope Benedict himself? Pope Benedict XVI resigned his pontificate effective February 28, 2013. Might his resignation lead to the fulfillment of prophecy? Might his resignation lead to the prophesied Antichrist according to biblical and Catholic prophecies? Do Catholic prophecies foretell of an antipope as the next pope? Is the Peter the Roman of the Malachy prophecies the next pope? Is there a 6,000 year plan? Is the 6,000 year almost up?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2021 or 20xx?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2013, 2014, or 2015? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000?
Some Doctrines of Antichrist Are there any doctrines taught outside the Churches of God which can be considered as doctrines of antichrist? This article suggests at least three. It also provides information on 666 and the identity of “the false prophet”. Plus it shows that several Catholic writers seem to warn about an ecumenical antipope that will support heresy.
Is There an Islamic Antichrist? Is Joel Richardson correct that the final Antichrist will be Islamic and not European? Find out.
Will You Be Deceived by Antichrist? 1964 article by David Jon Hill, originally published in the old Good News magazine.
Peter and Rome He was an original apostle and early Christian leader. Where was Peter buried? Where did Peter die?