| |
|
also worth noting from the link so graciously provided above:
>> The prevailing view today is that they are elaborate forgeries, probably perpretrated by a school of Jesuits in the 1600s. This is based on the clear relation of the mottos to the various popes until that period, and the need to find oblique references (such as the motto of the Pope's home diocese) to make the particular motto fit the particular pope. The inclusion of anti-popes would also appear to militate against the authenticity of the prophecies.
>> Nevertheless, as each new conclave comes and goes, people start to become a bit jittery about them (since the list runs out soon!).
>> Apparently, 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 attibuted to the next Pope in the prophecies!
>> I think they are a bit of fun, and the semantic exercise of trying to fit the motto to the Pope that goes on in letters to the editor around the world is great reading!
Maybe the whole "The End" thing after the final pope means not Armageddon, but the dissolution of the Church as we know it for a more enlightened brand of religion. We could call them New Catholics/Christians. |
|
|
