Speculation and conspiracy theories are rife as to why Pope Benedict resigned and whether the next Pontiff will be the last, heralding the end of times. Many are trying to figure out whether this has any relation to biblical prophecies on the end of the world. Some of the theories on the Pope’s unprecedented resignation include:, • secret satanic ‘illuminati-masonic’ influences operating within the Catholic Church, that is, people who claim secret knowledge of a multinational power elite and occult hierarchy operating behind supernatural and global political machinations.
• the claim that the Holy Father did not resign because of old age or ill health but, rather, to avoid arrest and seizure of Church wealth by Easter because of an upcoming action by a European government to issue an arrest warrant against him because of corruption and scandal.
• another interesting theory is the one coming out of the Catholic Church itself, where the Irish seer St Malachy predicted all the Popes from his times till the last one.
St Malachy says that the last Pope will be ‘black’ and that he will be responsible for destroying Rome and assisting the Anti-Christ of the end times.
According to this prophecy, the last Pope will be known as Peter the Roman. ‘Black’ could well mean evil or else being of a black skin colour.
By this prophecy, it would seem that the next Pope will take on the identity of the false prophet of the Bible Book of Revelations.
Biblically speaking, there is no connection between a black Pope and the end of times. The Bible does not even mention the papacy. The idea of a supreme leader over the entire Christian Church is not found in the Bible.
Whatever the case, instead of purported visions, the pot-pourri and mumbo jumbo of conspiracy theories that might be partially or even 100 per cent true, Christians should focus on the signs of the end of times as given to us in the Bible, particularly by Jesus Christ Himself and always to be prepared for his Second Coming: “Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day the Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42).