Walk into any dusty corner of a Catholic bookstore or browse the fringe side of religious YouTube, and you'll eventually stumble onto a list of short, cryptic Latin phrases. They supposedly predict every Pope from the mid-1100s until the end of time. It’s spooky. It’s controversial. And honestly, it’s mostly a massive historical puzzle that people have been trying to solve for centuries. At the very center of this storm is the Saint Malachy last pope prediction—the terrifying idea that we are currently living under the final Bishop of Rome before the world basically ends.
The prophecy, officially known as the Prophetia de Summis Pontificibus, suggests that after a long line of popes, a figure named "Peter the Roman" (Petrus Romanus) will take the throne during the final tribulation of the Church. People have been freaking out about this since at least 1595. Why? Because according to the math of the list, Pope Francis is technically the one sitting in that hot seat.
The Origins of the Malachy Mystery
Let's look at the "facts" first. Saint Malachy was an Irish archbishop in the 12th century. Legend says he went to Rome in 1139, had a vision of all future popes, and scribbled down 112 short Latin mottos to describe them. He then gave this list to Pope Innocent II, who supposedly buried it in the Vatican archives where it stayed hidden for 450 years.
That's the story. The reality is a bit more complicated.
The list didn't actually surface until 1595, when a Benedictine monk named Arnold Wion published it in his book Lignum Vitae. Historians, including the likes of Louis-Donat-François Le Héricourt, have pointed out a glaring issue: the mottos for the popes before 1595 are incredibly accurate. They describe family names, coat of arms, and birthplaces with startling precision. But the popes after 1595? The mottos get vague. Like, really vague. This has led most serious scholars to believe the prophecy was actually a clever forgery designed to help Cardinal Girolamo Simoncelli get elected during the conclave of 1590. Simoncelli’s hometown was Orvieto, which in Latin is Urbevetanum (old city). The motto for that pope in the list? "Ex antiquitate Urbis"—from the antiquity of the city.
Coincidence? Probably not. Simoncelli didn't even win.
Decoding the Saint Malachy Last Pope Motto
The final entry on the list is what keeps the conspiracy theorists up at night. Unlike the short, two or three-word phrases used for the other 111 popes, the entry for the Saint Malachy last pope is a full paragraph of doom. It reads:
"In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End."
It’s heavy stuff. If you follow the chronological order of the list, the 111th pope was Benedict XVI, described as Gloria olivae (the glory of the olive). When Benedict resigned in 2013—a move that shocked the world—it left the door wide open for the 112th man.
🔗 Read more: Chuck E. Cheese in Boca Raton: Why This Location Still Wins Over Parents
Enter Pope Francis.
Now, you’ve probably noticed his name isn't Peter. He’s Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He’s Argentine. So, how does he fit the "Peter the Roman" description?
Die-hard believers argue that because he took the name Francis after St. Francis of Assisi (whose father's name was Pietro), he fits. Others say that as the Pope, he inherently holds the "Chair of Peter," making him a "Peter" by default. Some even point to his Italian heritage to satisfy the "Roman" part. It’s a bit of a stretch, isn't it? But that’s the thing about prophecy; if you squint hard enough, you can make almost anything fit the frame.
Why People Still Believe It
Humans love patterns. We crave them. When things in the world feel chaotic—pandemics, wars, shifting social norms—we look for a roadmap. The prophecy of Saint Malachy provides a weird sort of comfort because it suggests there is a plan, even if that plan ends in fire and brimstone.
There have been some "hits" that are genuinely creepy, though. Take Pope John Paul II. His motto was De labore solis (from the labor of the sun). He was born on the day of a partial solar eclipse in 1920 and buried on the day of a partial solar eclipse in 2005. That’s the kind of detail that makes even the skeptics pause.
Then there was Pope John Paul I, De medietate lunae (of the half moon). His reign lasted only 33 days—basically one lunar cycle. He was born in the diocese of Belluno (beautiful moon).
But for every hit, there are a dozen misses that people conveniently ignore. Pope Pius VII was labeled Aquila rapax (rapacious eagle), but he was actually a pretty mild-mannered guy who was bullied by Napoleon (who was the real eagle in that scenario). If the prophecy has to jump through hoops to describe someone else near the pope rather than the pope himself, it starts to lose its teeth.
The Church's Official Stance (And It’s Not What You Think)
The Vatican basically ignores this.
💡 You might also like: The Betta Fish in Vase with Plant Setup: Why Your Fish Is Probably Miserable
You won't find the Prophecy of Saint Malachy in the Catechism. It’s classified as "private revelation," which is a fancy Catholic way of saying "you can believe it if you want, but you don't have to, and it’s probably wrong."
The Church is generally wary of end-times predictions. They’ve been around for 2,000 years, and so far, every single "date" set for the apocalypse has passed without incident. For the Church, focusing on a 16th-century list of mottos distracts from the actual mission of the Gospel.
Still, the Saint Malachy last pope narrative is great for clicks. It’s great for headlines. In 2013, when lightning struck the dome of St. Peter's Basilica just hours after Benedict XVI resigned, the internet nearly broke. People were convinced it was a sign that the "final" pope was coming.
Examining the "Peter the Roman" Identity
Is Pope Francis actually Petrus Romanus?
If we're being intellectually honest, the evidence is thin. Francis has focused his papacy on the periphery—the poor, the environment, and the Global South. He’s the first pope from the Americas. He’s the first Jesuit. He’s a man of "firsts," not necessarily a man of "lasts."
Some theologians argue that "Peter the Roman" might not be a single person at all. It could represent the office of the papacy itself returning to its roots during a time of crisis. Or, and this is the most likely historical explanation, Arnold Wion or his sources simply ran out of space or inspiration and tacked on a generic "end of the world" paragraph to finish the book.
The list actually ends with 111 popes in some editions, with the "Peter the Roman" section appearing as a separate, unnumbered coda. This suggests that even the original creator didn't necessarily see the 112th pope as immediately following the 111th. There could be a gap of hundreds of years between the "Glory of the Olive" and the final destruction of Rome.
Misconceptions That Just Won't Die
One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking Saint Malachy actually wrote this.
📖 Related: Why the Siege of Vienna 1683 Still Echoes in European History Today
Modern paleography and historical analysis have basically nuked that idea. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who was Malachy’s close friend and wrote a detailed biography of him, never mentioned the prophecies. Not once. It seems impossible that a biographer would skip over the fact that his subject could see the entire future of the Church.
Another misconception is that the prophecy is a "doomsday clock." Even if the prophecy were real, the "destruction of the city of seven hills" (Rome) doesn't necessarily mean the end of the universe. In apocalyptic literature, "the end" often refers to the end of an era or a specific institution, not the literal explosion of the planet.
How to Approach These Prophecies Without Losing Your Mind
It's easy to get sucked into the rabbit hole. You start looking at Latin translations, checking dates of eclipses, and suddenly you're convinced the world is ending next Tuesday.
Don't.
Take the Saint Malachy last pope story for what it is: a fascinating piece of historical mystery and ecclesiastical folklore. It tells us more about the political anxieties of the 1590s than it does about the 2020s.
If you want to dive deeper into this, here is how you should actually vet the information:
- Check the Latin: Many "translations" online are tweaked to make them sound more ominous or to fit a specific current event. Always look for the original 1595 text.
- Look for the gaps: Notice which popes the prophecy doesn't fit. If it only works 50% of the time, it's not a prophecy; it's a series of lucky guesses and "Texas Sharpshooter" fallacies (where you fire a gun at a barn and then draw a bullseye around the bullet hole).
- Read the context: Study the Conclave of 1590. When you see the political infighting between the Spanish and Italian factions of the time, the "forgery" theory makes way more sense.
The allure of the Saint Malachy last pope prophecy lies in its mystery. We want to know what’s coming. We want to feel like we have the inside track on the future. But history shows that the future is usually much more surprising—and much less scripted—than a list of Latin mottos from 400 years ago would suggest.
Whether Francis is the last pope or the 266th of 500, the fascination with Malachy reminds us of our eternal obsession with the end of the story. We’ve been waiting for the finale since the first century. It’s a long wait. We might as well get the history right while we’re sitting in the theater.
Actionable Insights for the Curious
- Audit your sources: If you're reading about this on a site that also sells survival gear and "end-times" seeds, the information is likely biased toward fear-mongering. Look for academic journals on ecclesiastical history.
- Study "Vatican II" history: To understand why people apply these prophecies to Pope Francis, you have to understand the internal divide in the Church. Traditionalists often use Malachy as a weapon to argue that the modern Church has "fallen."
- Visit a library: Look for René Thibaut's La Mystérieuse Prophétie des Papes. It's one of the most exhaustive (though controversial) attempts to analyze the list mathematically. Even if you don't agree with his conclusions, the depth of research is staggering.
- Focus on the "Why": Ask yourself why this prophecy is trending now. Usually, it’s a reflection of current geopolitical instability. Understanding the psychology of prophecy is often more useful than trying to decode the prophecy itself.