Catholics around the world are celebrating right now as the Vatican’s College of Cardinals has chosen Pope Leo XIV as the new head of the Church.
Pope Leo XIV — who was previously known as Cardinal Robert Prevost — was officially confirmed earlier today (May 8), just a few weeks after Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88 on Easter Monday (April 22).
Seeing the white smoke rise from the Sistine Chapel chimney is always a powerful and joyful moment, especially for Catholics and for the people of both America and Peru — two countries where Pope Leo XIV spent most of his life working.
But not everyone is welcoming the news with open arms.
Enter the conspiracy theorists.
That’s right, folks — enjoy the election of Pope Leo XIV while it lasts, because an old prophecy from a hundred years ago has resurfaced, claiming that the 69-year-old might actually be the last Bishop of Rome.
Some of you might remember we’ve talked before about an old document that’s been making the rounds again. It’s called the Prophecy of the Popes, supposedly written way back in the 1100s by a guy named Saint Malachy — or just Malachy, as he was known at the time.
Like most writings that kick off with the word “prophecy,” this one doesn’t paint a great picture of humanity’s future.
