Benedict XVI

And so, the world has a new Pope. The conclave has ended, the white smoke has come forth, and the TV cameras may be shipped back to California to cover Michael Jackson.

And it's the first German Pope since the 11th century. My less serious thought involves whether Jacques Chirac will be surrendering to Vatican City later tonight. My real thought is that he's got one heck of an act to follow.

I don't know squat about Pope Benedict XVI. Okay, I know a little bit about the former Cardinal Ratzinger, but I'll stick to pretending to be an expert on the American League pennant race. Church politics is one of the areas where even my arrogant know-it-all attitude defers to the experts.

But Professor Bainbridge and Andrew Sullivan have their thoughts, and they're in line with what one might expect from each of them (hat tip: Instapundit). I'd prefer to concentrate on scarier points, like this one noted by loyal reader RB, about the future and the Popes...

About the year A.D. 1139, Saint Malachy O'Morgair, Archbishop of Armagh, Ireland, wrote down a list of Popes. He listed 112 future Popes, each described by a phrase in Latin. There has been increasing interest in this list among Roman Catholics, for two reasons. First, the descriptions of Popes #109 and #110 match the pontificates of Popes John Paul I and John Paul II to a tee. Second, there are only two more Popes on the list, and the last Pope on the list is given a long apocalyptic description, instead of a quaint and cryptic phrase.

... Pope #111 on St. Malachy's list is given the phrase: “From the Glory of the Olive.” This prophetic phrase has several meanings which correctly apply to the next Pope after John Paul II.

... Pope #112 on St. Malachy's list is given this description: “In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there shall reign Peter the Roman who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the terrible judge will judge the people.”

Yeah, that's reassuring. Especially since RB informs me that Cardinal Ratzinger took the name of Benedict XVI because "he has a great devotion to the Benedictine Order, also known as the Olivetans."

At least we know the seven-hilled city is Rome. I think I'm going to try to get those Italian vacations completed prior to the end of Benedict XVI's reign.