As cardinals cast their votes in the Sistine Chapel, speculation swirls around Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the leading contender for the papacy—according to bookmakers and some of the most controversial voices in modern spiritual and political spheres.
“If the church still has a shred of rationality, it must elect Pope Pietro Parolin,” said Giuliano Di Bernardo, former Grand Master of the Freemasons. “It is the only way to restore its authority.”
That endorsement alone should raise eyebrows, especially given the Freemasons’ long-standing opposition to the traditional Catholic faith. But it doesn’t stop there.
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As reported by LifeSiteNews, Parolin is “the darling of Rabbi Shmuley” and a favorite among elite Vatican diplomats maneuvering behind the scenes to secure his election while downplaying his involvement in a massive financial scandal involving a 140 million euro London property deal.
So has the decision already been made on who will become the next pope outside of the halls of the Sistine Chapel?
/**/Beyond politics and scandal, Parolin’s potential election invites a haunting question among prophecy watchers: Could he be Peter the Roman, the final pope predicted in the Prophecy of St. Malachy? This centuries-old vision—though dismissed by many as apocryphal—names the last pope before the destruction of Rome as “Peter the Roman,” under whose reign the church would face great tribulation.
The alignment is hard to ignore: Parolin’s first name is Pietro (Peter), and he is unmistakably Roman, serving as the Vatican’s Secretary of State.
Whether or not Parolin fulfills that prophecy, his rise comes at a time when many believe the Church is teetering on the edge of schism. French Abbot Claude Barthe warns of a “latent schism,” where “Christ’s faithful no longer know where the boundary lies between faith and error.” The Vatican, he argues, now merely manages a “consensus in diversity” rather than defending Catholic truth.
As the conclave proceeds under the shadow of prophecy, scandal, and ideological division, one cannot help but recall the words attributed to the final pope of Malachy’s vision: “In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will sit Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations…”
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Only time will tell if Cardinal Pietro Parolin fulfills that chilling line. But one thing is certain: the eyes of the world are watching Rome.
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
