Bartholomew's Notes

One in a series of pieces from WND:

An author who predicted Pope Benedict XVI would be the first pontiff in nearly 600 years to resign is keeping close watch on the conclave of cardinals through the lens of a medieval prophecy that indicates the man they select will be history’s “final pope.”

Tom Horn, co-author of the book “Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope is Here,” told WND he has a list of 10 men among the 115 sequestered in the Sistine Chapel who best fit St. Malachy’s “Prophecy of the Popes,” said to be based on a prophetic vision of the 112 popes following Pope Celestine II, who died in 1144.

As WND reported, Horn and his co-author, Cris Putnam, predicted in their book Benedict would step down last April, and it turns out that April apparently was when Benedict made the historic decision he announced to the world last month.

The article, of course, deliberately obscures the detail that Horn’s “prediction” was not based on scrutinising some ancient manuscript; rather, he took to the internet, where he would have found reports such as this one, from September 2011:

…There is one front page news story that will certainly not go unnoticed: that is, that the Pope is thinking about resigning during the Spring of 2012. Journalist Antonio Socci has confirmed the same in the Italian daily, Libero.

For some reason, WND also fails to mention another book by Horn, which it was promoting back in 2008 and after; this was Nephilim Stargates: The Year 2012 and the Return of the Watchers, in which he explained the “timing of Enoch’s 70 generations and a catastrophic soon return of the Watcher’s offspring”. In 2012 itself, WND recalled – in a piece entitled 2012 Doomsday: It’s Not ust Mayan Claim – that:

Last year [i.e. 2011], WND reported on Tom Horn’s efforts to let everyone to know calendars besides the ancient Mayan one predict the demise of human civilization in 2012, and he claims a demonic plot bringing about the end date could be hiding in plain sight inside the U.S. Capitol.

The “Prophecy of the Popes” first appeared in 1590, although it claims to record a vision received by St Malachy in 1139. According to the story, Malachy was given details about all the future popes, and and the list of 112 popes is now about to reach its end. However, the document consists of obscure mystical titles; there are no actual names or dates, and many commentators note that the “prophecies” referring to the period between 1139 and 1590 are rather more impressive than those given for Popes after the document’s publication.

Hal Lindsey is also an enthusiast, although “Glenn Beck’s End Times Prophet” Joel Richardson, who also writes for WND, dismisses the document as a “proven fraud”. Richardson, of course, would rather we focus on the prospect of an Islamic Anti-Christ.

Meanwhile, Thomas Horn’s “Defender” publisher has a website here; another book by Horn for sale there is Exo-Vaticana: Petrus Romanus, Project L.U.C.I.F.E.R. and the Vatican’s Astonishing Plan for the Arrival of an Alien Savior.

UPDATE: With the election of Pope Francis, WND now adds:

[Horn] also sees significance in Bergoglio naming himself after Francis of Assisi, an Italian, or Roman, priest whose original name was Francesco di Pietro (Peter) di Bernardone, “literally, Peter the Roman.”

What a charlatan. Francis of Assisi’s full name reflects that of his father, Pietro di Bernardone. “Bernardone” itself means “son of Bernard”. Francis’ mother was French and his father did business in France, which is why “Francis” was chosen. Further, Francis of Assisi was never a priest, although he did become a deacon. The notion that Francis’ name could in any way be construed as “Peter the Roman” – thus fitting the pseudo-prophecy’s “Petrus Romanus” name  – is ludicrous.

Filed under: Uncategorized