"The Pope is not there to
try to water down everything he says so that he will have universal consent,
because that is absolutely impossible. The Pope has to proclaim Jesus Christ
and his teaching as it is interpreted by the Catholic Church."-Cardinal
Justin Rigali, April 28, 2005
Doomsayers Say Pope
Benedict
Fits World End Prophecy
Reuters, April 28, 2005
Pope
Benedict's ascent to the papacy took a conclave of 115 cardinals, four rounds
of voting and followed a lifetime of service to the Vatican.
But ask Internet doomsayers eyeing a 12th century
Catholic prophecy and they'll tell you it was all stitched up more than eight
centuries ago and that judgment day is nigh.
The prophecy--widely dismissed by scholars as
a hoax--is attributed to St. Malachy, an Irish archbishop recognized by
members of the Church for his ability to read the future.
Benedict, believers say, fits the description
of the second-to-last pope listed under the prophecy before the Last Judgment,
when the bible says God separates the wicked from the righteous at the end of
time.
"The Old Testament states: 'believe his
prophets and you will prosper'--so believe it. We are close to the return of
the Judge of the nations. Christ is coming," wrote one Internet post by
the Reverend Pat Reynolds.
"Thank God for the witness of St. Malachy."
St. Malachy was said to have had a vision
during a trip to Rome around 1139 of the remaining 112 Popes. The new pope
would be number 111 on that list, and is described in a text attributed to St.
Malachy as the "Glory of the Olive".
To connect Benedict, a pale, bookish German,
to anything olive takes some imagination. But Malachy-watchers point to the
choice of the name Benedict--an allusion to the Order of Saint Benedict, a
branch of which is known as the Olivetans.
"When (he) chose the name Benedict XVI,
this was seen as fulfilling the prophecy for this pope," wrote one entry
on www.wikipedia.org.
Benedict said that he chose the name partly in
honour of Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922), calling him a "courageous prophet
of peace". On Wednesday, Benedict dedicated his papacy to "the
service of reconciliation and harmony between peoples".
"Perhaps Benedict XVI will be a
peacemaker in the Church or in the world, and thus carry the olive
branch," speculated www.catholic-pages.com.
Another site, www.bibleprobe.com, went even
further, showing a picture of Benedict holding olive branches in March during
Palm Sunday celebrations.
"Is this the Pope of Peace (olive)?"
it asked in the caption.
Critics widely dismiss the Malachy prophecy as
a forgery and possible propaganda meant to influence a 16th century conclave.
Doses of skepticism even appear on the most energetic Malachy web pages.
But believers point out similarities between
the prophecy's descriptions and past pontificates. Pope
John Paul II, number 110, was described in the prophecy as "de
labore solis"--or "of the labour of the sun".
He was born on May 18, 1920, the same day as a
solar eclipse. The pontiff was buried on April 8, 2005--the same day as a
partial eclipse, visible in the Americas.
More pressing for doomsayers are the
prophecy's references to the last Pope on the list, Peter the Roman, who will
lead the Church before "the formidable judge will judge his people".
Since Benedict is already 78 years old, they
say Peter the Roman must be coming soon, and with him, the end of the world.
"His reign will only last a few years at
most. This signals that we are living in what may be the end of days as we
know it," said one website entry by someone calling himself SmartBob.
The Church, Italian
Politics, And American Neoconservatives
Catholic World News,
April 29-The Italian public
should get accustomed to strong public statements by the Catholic hierarchy,
according to the president of the country's episcopal conference. Cardinal
Camillo Ruini told the daily Corriere della Sera that the Church must speak
out on public issues "because the situation demands it." He added
that in making these statements, Catholic leaders are carrying out "a
duty, as well as a right."
Critics
Heap Abuse On Benedict XVI
The Washington Times, April 30-'Nazi
pope a clear and present danger to the civilized world,' read the headline of
a reader's letter in a forum of NYTimes.com, the New York Times' Web site.
'Joseph Ratzinger, (is) a 78-year-old hidebound archconservative who ran the
office that used to be called the Inquisition and who once belonged to Hitler
Youth,' Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote. 'For American
Catholics--especially women and pro-choice Catholic pols--the cafeteria is
officially closed. After all, Cardinal Ratzinger, nicknamed 'God's Rottweiler'
and 'the Enforcer,' helped deny Communion rights to John Kerry. ...' It wasn't
the worst abuse leveled at Pope Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Josef
Ratzinger, a German. Type the words 'Nazi pope' into the Google search line,
and you will get nearly 700 mentions. 'Seig Heil, hail Mary!' read
one post, misspelling the German word for victory, which is 'Sieg.'
Fear Of Mass Support
Motivates Pope Critics
Catholic World News,
April 26-The
chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Archbishop Marcelo Sanchez
Sorondo, said this week many of the attacks and criticisms against the new
Pontiff are due to fear in some circles of the mass support for John Paul II
and Benedict XVI evident during recent weeks. The Argentinean archbishop said
the media could not understand how the former Pope and the current one brought
together millions of people. "They are attacking because they don't want
him to continue winning people over," he told Argentina's Radio 10.
Catholic Senator Attacks
Focus On The Family
LifesiteNews.com/CWN,
April 29-Sen. Ken Salazar, a pro-abortion
Democrat and a Catholic, publicly labeled the
Christian group Focus on the Family as "the antichrist of the
world." Salazar's comments were made on KKTV television Tuesday in
Colorado Springs, Colorado, where Focus on the Family has its central
headquarters. Speaking of the group's founder and president, Dr. James Dobson,
Salazar said, "Jim Dobson is not our president, and he's not our senator.
The right-wing part of the Republican Party and the so-called Christian
conservative organizations like Focus on the Family have essentially tried to
hijack the American government. I don't think that's what the American people
want. That's not what I want."
For all past issues on Pope Benedict XVI,
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