The Prophecy of the Popes

The Prophecy of the Popes (Latin: Prophetia Sancti Malachiae Archiepiscopi, de Summis Pontificibus) is a series of 112 short, cryptic phrases in Latin which purport to predict the Roman Catholic popes (along with a few antipopes), beginning with Pope Celestine II. The alleged prophecies were first published by Benedictine monk Arnold Wion in 1595. Wion attributes the prophecies to Saint Malachy, a 12th-century Archbishop of Armagh, Ireland.

Given the very accurate description of popes up to 1590 and lack of accuracy after that year, historians generally conclude that the alleged prophecies are a fabrication written shortly before they were published. The Roman Catholic Church also dismisses them as forgery. The prophecies may have been created in an attempt to suggest that Cardinal Girolamo Simoncelli’s bid for the papacy in the second conclave of 1590 was divinely ordained.

The prophecies conclude with a pope identified as “Peter the Roman”, whose pontificate will allegedly precede the destruction of the city of Rome.

(Reference from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)


天主教教宗

現任教宗為『方濟各』,(拉丁語:Franciscus,義大利語:Francesco,西班牙語:Francisco,1936年12月17日生)是天主教會第266任教宗。本名豪爾赫·馬里奧·伯格里奧(西班牙語:Jorge Mario Bergoglio),耶穌會會士,義大利裔阿根廷人。就任教宗前為布宜諾斯艾利斯總主教,並在2001年由已故教宗若望·保祿二世冊封為樞機主教。他在2013年3月13日獲選為教宗,成為首位出身於美洲(西半球)、南半球與耶穌會的教宗,也是繼額我略三世後一千二百年來,首位非歐洲出身的教宗。

教宗是羅馬的主教,也是普世天主教會的領袖,是聖伯多祿宗徒之位的後繼者。教宗的拉丁文原詞「Papa」源自希臘文的「πάπας」,原意為「父親」,起初用於對任何司鐸或主教親暱的稱呼。而完整的教宗意涵即是:「羅馬主教、耶穌基督代表、宗徒長之繼承人、普世教會最高教長、義大利首席主教、羅馬教省總主教、梵蒂岡城邦元首及天主眾僕之僕」。另外在西方世界,教宗有時也會被敬稱為「聖父」或「教皇」(英語對應詞:Holy Father),其意為「神聖的父親」,與天主三位一體所指的聖父不同。


教宗的訓導權: (天主教教理 2034、2035號)

  1. 教宗和主教們是真正導師,擁有基督的權威。羅馬教宗和主教們,「是真確的導師,擁有基督的權威,向其所屬民眾宣講當信的和應在生活中實踐的信仰」。教宗以及與教宗共融的主教們,以通常和普遍的訓導,教導信友當信的真理、當實踐的愛德、當希望的真福。
  2. ​在倫理的問題上,教宗享有不能錯誤的特恩。教宗分享基督的權威最高的等級,藉不能錯誤的特恩予以保証。這不能錯誤的範圍,與「天主啟示的寶庫範圍相等」;而且延伸到所有教義的要素,包括道德在內,若缺乏了這些要素,就不能維護、宣示或遵守信德的救恩真理。