- Last week marked the end of the "extraordinary consistory"
convened by Pope John Paul II to debate the future of the Roman Catholic
Church. The consistory came after the creation of forty four new cardinals
in February, bringing the members of the Curia, or "red hats"
as they are known, to a total of one hundred and eighty three, of whom
one hundred and thirty four under the age of eighty will be entitled to
vote in conclave to elect the next Pope. Most commentators agree that this
consistory is the first stage in choosing a successor to John Paul II,
who has, for some years now, been in failing health due to Parkinson's
Disease. What few realise, however, is the fact that the next Pope has
already been chosen. In fact he was chosen almost nine hundred years ago,
in 1139 to be exact, by an Irish Priest called Malachy.
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- Malachy's family name was O'Morgair and he was born in
Armagh in 1094. He was baptised in Maelmhaedoc (this name has been Latinized
as Malachy) and studied under the Abbot of Armagh. In 1119 he was ordained
a priest and in 1123 was elected Abbot of Bangor. He was later consecrated
Bishop of Connor and in 1132 became Primate of Armagh. He died in 1148
in the arms of his biographer, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.
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- In 1139 Malachy visited Rome and it is thought that during
his visit he received a series of visions, and having committed them to
paper, handed the manuscript to Pope Innocent II, who placed it amongst
the masses of documents in the Vatican archives. The manuscript remained
unread for over three hundred years, until it was rediscovered by the Benedictine
historian Arnold Wion, in 1559. Incredibly, what the manuscript contained
was the identity of every Pope, starting in 1143 with Celestine II and
continuing correctly through one hundred and eleven Popes, until it reached
the last Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
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- Saint Malachy gives each Pope in his list a phrase or
epithet, as they are called, in Latin, that in some way describes that
particular Pope. For instance Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, who became Pope
John XXIII in 1958 had the epithet "Pastor Et Nauta," translated
as Pastor and Mariner. Before becoming Pope he was appointed Patriach of
Venice in 1953, where he travelled to and fro through the canals of that
great city in his gondola, attending to the needs of the flock of the Sea
of Venice. His epithet describes him in perfect detail.
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- In the long list of 112 Popes given by Malachy, we have
now reached number 110, John Paul II, whose motto "De Labore Solis"
translates as "the work of the sun". If one accepts that quite
literally the sun goes around the earth spreading its light, then John
Paul II s epithet is perfect. Pope John Paul II s reign has been one of
the most media documented of all Popes, the most prominent image of his
Papacy being that of him kissing the ground during his journeys as the
most travelled Pope ever, spreading the light of Christianity to every
corner of the earth. However, if this explanation sounds a little far fetched,
there is another far more plausible explanation for John Paul II s epithet
"the work of the sun".
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- In 1979 John Paul II commissioned a Papal enquiry into
the Roman Catholic Church s attitude towards Galileo. Galileo, born in
1564 was the Italian scientist, mathematician and astronomer who proclaimed,
against the teachings of the Catholic Church, that the world was not the
centre of the universe and that, as Copernicus had stated, the earth rotated
around the sun. Indeed in 1616 the Roman Catholic Church announced the
Edict of Inquisition against Galileo s astronomical pronouncements. However,
on the 30th October 1992, after 13 years in secret conclave, the Vatican
renounced the inquisition against Gallileo and for the first time in it's
history pronounced that the Roman Catholic Church agreed with Gallileo
and that the earth did indeed rotate about the sun. Surely the epithet
of John Paul II is now no longer in doubt.
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- Which brings us to the next, and penultimate Pope.........
"Gloria Olivae" quite literally translated as "The Glory
of the Olive"
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- That Malachy's prophecies have been proved correct is
not in doubt amongst the Cardinals, officials, academics, scholars and
religious commentators who have studied Vatican politics and the subtle
subterfuges that now accompany the build up to the next conclave.
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- The Benedictines, also known as Olivetans, have always
claimed that "Gloria Olivae" will come from within their Order.
Indeed, Saint Benedict himself claimed that this Pope would be a Benedictine.
Unfortunately, the most senior and respected of the Benedictine Cardinals
was Cardinal Basil Hume, who sadly died a year ago, so perhaps we must
look elsewhere. Many people recently have equated Malachy's "Gloria
Olivae" with Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, a favourite among many
Vatican watchers to succeed John Paul II. These commentators compare his
surname of Martini with that alcoholic aperitif's association with the
Olive. However, I believe this interpretation to be incorrect. In my book
"The Cassandra Prophecy" I give a further interpretation as to
the possible identity of "Gloria Olivae". It's an interpretation
which has an uncanny similarity with a Cardinal who currently holds extremely
high ecumenical office in the Roman Catholic Church and, whilst not being
a front runner amongst Vatican watchers, is a highly respected candidate,
being neither too liberal nor too conservative, whom many think would make
a good compromise for a schismatic Curia.
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- The state of Tuscany is famous as the most important
Olive growing region in Italy, it's capital is Florence. The current Cardinal
Archbishop of Florence was born in 1924 in Ronta Di Mugello, near Florence.
His father was an olive grower. The Cardinal Archbishop's name is Silvano
Piovanelli. You can extract the word "Olivae" from the surname
"Piovanelli". Is this St. Malachy's "Gloria Olivae"
or just a simple coincidence?
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- Ian Gurney is the author of the best-seller "The
Cassandra Prophecy-Armageddon Approaches" available at www.caspro.com
or at Freephone 1 866 466 2966. For more info see "Books" on
this page of www.rense.com
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- Copyright Ian Gurney 2001 The Cassandra Prophecy
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