NEW POPE...OLD PROPHECIES FULFILLED

NEW POPE...OLD PROPHECIES FULFILLED

http://www.newswithviews.com/Ryter/jon86.htm

By Jon Christian Ryter

April 20, 2005

NewsWithViews.com

Only two days and four ballots into the election process to select a new
pontiff for the Roman Catholic Church, Germany's Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
emerged as the new pontiff, taking the name Pope Benedict XVI, and raising
the specter that he may have unwittingly—at and least partially— fulfilled
a prophecy uttered by St. Benedict (b.480-d.547AD) that the last pope of
Roman Catholic would be a Benedictine. While Ratzinger was never an
Olivetan monk, there is a certain prophetic irony in the papal name he
chose.

A second irony may come from St. Malachy's prophecy itself. In his
prophecy, the 12th century cardinal described the last pope by the symbol,
Glory of the Olives. While those speculating what the term means naturally
connected olives with the olive branch—which denotes peace—and saw the last
pope as a peacemaker who would likely help bring peace to the Middle East.
A peaceful solution to the dilemma between the Palestinians and the Jews is
a precursor to Bible prophesies concerning the endtimes. Perhaps the
analogy is even more simple: the Benedictines were Olivetan monks, and its
leader, rightfully, can be construed as the glory of the olives. Time will
tell. And time is running out.

With respect to the conclave that met and selected a new pontiff in what is
either the second or third fastest election in papal history, if popes were
picked like ponies, the bookmakers favoring Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany
would have crowned him with a wreath of roses, By the time of Pope John
Paul II's funeral Ratzinger had 50 of the 78 votes he needed to assure his
victory already in his pocket. With only 115 eligible voters (two eligible
cardinals, one from Mexico and one from the Philippines were sick and did
not come) Ratzinger would still have to pull 28 additional ballots out of
his hat to win in the opening rounds of voting where 2/3 of the cardinals
had to agree on one candidate for the pontificating of a candidate to
occur. It did not seem likely, with the cultural differences of the
cardinals, and the agendas that each carried with them to the Sistine
Chapel, that any front-runner would win since it appeared more likely that
gridlock would ensue with Ratzinger and Italian Cardinal Dionigi Tellamanzi
killing each other's chance of winning. When Ratzinger failed to score a
first or second ballot victory, the oddsmakers raised him from the 4-to-1
favorite to a 7-to-1 challenger.

Many of the newly anointed bishops and cardinals favored Cardinal Angelo
Sodano who greatly influenced the decisions of John Paul II and played a
key role in selecting all of the cardinals appointed from 2001 until the
death of his benefactor and friend, John Paul II. Although popular with the
Italian laity, Sodano was clearly out of the running before the running
even began. He knew he would never get the nod from the conclave because
his influence died as the last breath passed from the lips of John Paul II.

The three most influential voting blocks in the conclave were the
Italians—with 20 votes, the United States—with 11 votes and the Spanish-
speaking nations, which collectively had 22 votes. There were 17 votes each
in North and South America, giving those the western hemisphere a voting
bloc of 34 votes. Europe has enough votes to elect a pope without the
consensus of any other continent—58 votes—if ten days elapsed without
naming a pope. Had that happened, either Cardinals Tellamanzi or Martini
would likely have received the nod.

But, in the final analysis, Cardinal Ratzinger, who had a deliberate, well-
calculated plan to win the job, won the job. Reportedly Ratzinger was
already campaigning for the job when the Vatican announced that the death
of John Paul II was imminent. Ratzinger wanted to be the pope (unlike his
friend, Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtkyla who not only did not campaign for
the job—but was surprised when he got it).

As the Conclave of Cardinals met on Monday, April 18, 2005 to select the
replacement for Pope John Paul II, few people in the world knew that the
bizarre hybrid eclipse witnessed by millions of people around the world on
April 8, 2005 was prophesied by a Catholic cardinal in 1140 AD specifically
as a sign for that pontiff. Pope John Paul II was described by 12th century
Roman Catholic Cardinal Malachy as "De Lobaore solis" (Of the eclipse of
the sun).

The Malachy Prophecy, penned by Cardinal Malachy while on his way
to Rome for the coronation of Innocent II, described by symbol, the papal
succession from Celestine II (the pope would succeed Innocent II) to the
end of the world. Interestingly, on the day of his birth, a solar eclipse
occurred that was visible over Poland, the nation of Karol Wojtkyla—the man
who become pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

Thus far, the Malachy Prophecy has proven to be 99% accurate. Whether or
not it proves to be 100% accurate will depend on whether or not any other
pontiffs follow the pope who was symbolically described as Gloria Olivae
(the glory of the olives)—and whether the event know as the Tribulation
commences with three and a half years of global prosperity followed by
three and a half years of global economic and political devastation during
the reign of the pope about to be selected by the Conclave of Cardinals in
the Vatican.

When the description of this uncommon hybrid type of eclipse appeared in
the article The Malachy Prophecy on my website, the site received scores of
emails from readers poophahing an eclipse that would circumvent the globe,
alternating from a total to a partial eclipse and back again as it
traversed the world. While it is a rare phenomenon, hybrid eclipses are not
unknown. The April 8 hybrid was visible from within a wide angular corridor
that was predominantly visible from the southern hemisphere.

The total eclipse, which began southeast of New Zealand traveling on a
narrow band 28 kilometers wide quickly narrowed to a sliver within the
first 13 minutes of its journey past of Tahiti on its way to Pitcairn
Island. It continued on a northeastern course as it crossed the Pacific
Ocean to Panama, Columbia and Venezuela. (One of the photos, above, was
taken on Pitcairn Island). The moon's penumbral shadow cast a wide swath
across half of the planet, covering all of New Zealand, Australia, the
South Pacific islands and much of South and North America from southern
California on the west coast to New Jersey on the east coast. Over a period
of 3 hours and 24 minutes, the eclipse traveled 14,200 kilometers.

The first annular eclipse (a hybrid that switches from a total to a partial
eclipse and back again) occurred on May 6, 1464—30 years before Christopher
Columbus set sail on a journey that would bring him to the New World. The
next hybrid eclipse will occur on April 20, 2023.

© 2005 Jon C. Ryter - All Rights Reserved

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