Prophecy of the Popes | Saint Malachy's Countdown

This episode of the Wi-Files is brought. to you by Delete Me. On April 21st, 2025, Pope Francis died. According to one of the most famous. prophecies in church history, Francis. was the final Pope. After him, Rome. burns and Judgement Day begins. 17 days later, white smoke rose from the. Sistine Chapel. Robert Privot stepped. onto the balcony as Leo the 14th, the. first American Pope. Rome was fine. The. prophecy failed. But did it?

Because buried inside the original. Latin, there is a countdown. The list. doesn't end with a Pope. It ends during. a year. That year is 2027. >> Thunder Cats! >> Yeah, hello governor. It is I, Gerald. We never met. >> What's with the getup? >> And it would cost me 40 hours, human. 40. You couldn't give me 5 seconds? >> What is going on?

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of St. Peter. He was a long way from home and his. heart was heavy. Malachy traveled from Ireland to Rome to. support the new Pope after years of. chaos. Innocent II. spent eight years fighting a rival for. control of the church. It began as an. internal political feud, but escalated. into a military campaign that drew in. most of Europe. Innocent won the war, but it left a. scar. He saw firsthand that the papacy. could be destroyed and the entire church. with it. That night, Malachy prayed, not just for.

the Pope, for all Popes, for the church. itself. Then, God answered. Malachy felt. a vibration growing in his body, like. electricity, but the energy was coming. from him. Then, he had a vision. >> He's such a good vibration. He's such a sweet sensation. >> How did we get there? >> Malachy making a funky bunch. >> Okay, can you not make heretical jokes. during my setup? >> No, my jokes are hysterical. >> Heretical. >> What I say?

>> Malachy saw Pope after Pope, man after. man, century after century, but not. names or faces, images. A castle above a. river, an eagle with open claws, a. sliver of a moon. An image for every. Pope who would ever live. Malachy made a. a of the visions, each a short phrase in. Latin, 112 popes one after another. Then one final vision. A city on seven hills burning. The end of the world.

Judgment day. He gave the manuscript to Pope Innocent. II as a comfort. The pope who almost. lost the papacy now had proof that the. line of Peter runs unbroken until the. end of the world. But a list that ends. with the apocalypse isn't a comfort, it's a countdown. Pope Innocent knew how dangerous this. was. He locked the manuscript in the. Vatican archives and never spoke of it. again. Nobody knew it existed. Then in 1590, somebody found it. Hidden. for 450 years, 74 popes came and went.

during that time. St. Malachy was right. about all of them. >> [music]. >> In September 1590, Pope Urban VII died. just 12 days after his election. So the. cardinals returned to Rome to choose a. new pope. But then the document was. found that said the elections never. mattered. Four and a half centuries.

earlier, a saint made a list. Every pope. was already predicted. The list was. terrifying enough, but what really upset. the church was how the list ended. The cardinals needed to know if the list. was real, so they turned to Alfonso. Chacón. He was the most respected papal. historian alive. He literally wrote a. book called The Lives of the Popes. If. anyone could verify this list, it was. him. >> The Lives of the Popes, gravity, E E 2. Mama Tomyan. I I I had no idea how. prolific he was. >> Chacón, not Quaron. >> No, this is papa. You only got papa. Uh.

let's call the whole thing off. >> So Chacón started checking the phrases. that Malachy used to identify each pope. Each phrase is called a motto, a few. words that capture the man. The first. motto is Ex Castro Tiberis, from a. castle on the Tiber. The first pope on. the list was Celestine II, elected in 1143. He was born in Citta di. Castello, Castle Town, on the banks of. the Tiber River. Malachy was right. The second entry says Inimicos Expulsis,

the enemy driven out. That was Lucius. II, a pope at war with Rome's own senate. They stripped him of the title. When. Lucius led an assault to take it back, he was stoned to death. Malachy was. right again. Another is Sus in Cribro, a pig [music]. in a sieve. That sounds like a hard. motto to pin on a priest, but Pope Urban. III's family name was Cribelli, and the. Italian word for sieve is Cribello, and. the Cribelli family crest included a. pig. >> See, see, this is my problem with visions. You're. God. You're You're omnipotent. Why.

symbols? Just send names, dates, a. spreadsheet. >> Prophecy doesn't really work like a. spreadsheet. >> That's why it took them 400 years to. solve it. One tab, two columns, pope, year. But no, you got to be got to give. me pig in a sieve. >> Sieve. >> Whatever. >> He checked 74 entries. Malachy was right. 74 times. This was a big deal in 1590. The. Reformation was tearing Christianity in. half. Protestant preachers called the. pope the Antichrist and said the papacy.

was living its final [music] days. And. here was a 450-year-old prophecy. promising 38 more popes to come. Malachy's document was a guarantee of. survival. The same list that comforted a. pope in 1139 now comforted the whole. church. In 1595, Benedictine monk Arnold Wion. published the full list so the world. could read it. Three columns, the motto, the pope it matched, and Chacon's notes. But Chacon's notes stop at entry number. 74, or in the seventh. It was 1590, so.

Chacon could only solve the popes of the. past. The rest of the list predicts the. the. >> Oh, dear God, this guy had the Catholic. sports Almanac. He could have made a. fortune, but he probably don't made it. >> You rooted for Biff, didn't you? >> Bankrupted business with terrorists, was. best friends with a teen boy, and. created god knows how many dangerous. timelines. And Biff is the villain. >> Well, when you put it that way. >> Just say you love Biff. Put that in your. prophecy and smoke it. >> And at the very bottom of the list, the. future ends. The last entry isn't a.

motto, it's a full paragraph, and names. the final pope, Peter the Roman, the man. on the throne when Rome burns. But even. though Malachy predicted 74 popes in. [music] order, there were still. skeptics. So, they looked into St. Malachy to see if he made any other. predictions that came true. They didn't like what they found. In the 12th century, the Shena family. controlled the office of Archbishop of.

Armagh, the highest Catholic seat in. Ireland, and they ran it like a. monarchy. The title passed to son, and. most of them weren't even priests. >> It's an office you inherit, don't need. qualifications for, and can't be fired. from. So, congrats. >> Armed clans defended the arrangement, and challenging it was a good way to. die. Malachy challenged it. He took the office, pushed the family. out, and survived. Then he did something. nobody ever does after winning a war. He. walked away, back to the work he cared. about, rebuilding monasteries, reforming.

the clergy, tying the Irish church. closer to Rome. >> Tying the Irish closer to the church? That's like trying to find a tighter. link between fiery lamb vindaloo and. diarrhea. That's like trying to find a tighter. link between petty theft and Florida. That's like trying to find a tighter. link between cocaine and a business. idea. Yeah, bring the three for you. Take your pick. >> You already know why Malachy went to. Rome, and you know what he did there. Here's what happened on the road. On the. way south, he stopped at Clairvaux. Abbey. Its abbot, Bernard, had so much.

influence, even popes asked him for. advice. Kings read his letters. Crusaders listened when he spoke. Bernard was a monk at a small monastery. in France. How does that man get this. kind of power? >> [music]. >> Because Saint Bernard was an early. patron and leader of the Knights. Templar, a good friend to have. Malachy. arrived with no army, no wealth, and no. political office, but Bernard treated. him like an equal anyway. The men became. close friends. Years later back in. Ireland, the monks asked Malachy where. he would die. Malachy said Clairvaux.

They asked him when he would die. Malachy said All Souls' Day, the day of. the dead. In 1148, Malachy headed back. to Rome, but he never made it. By the. time he reached Clairvaux, he was. burning with fever. He died at Clairvaux. on November 2nd, All Souls' Day. Just as he predicted. He was 54 years. old. >> Again, back to the spreadsheets. He knew. when he was going to die. The guy got a. fever. If I find out he substitutes one. of the kindergarten the week before. >> You're missing the point. >> Guy predicts his shoe was going to smell.

in 1140. So, he stepped in a horse, he. grabbed that part and said, "See?". >> Bernard wrote a biography of Saint. Malachy. He said, "Call it a wish or. call it a prophecy. Either way, Malachy. was right." That's the man behind the. list, and that's why Rome [music]. believed it. When Malachy predicted. something, it happened. He became the. first Irish saint ever canonized [music]. by a Pope. But everything Chacón verified was. already history. From 1595 forward, the. mottos had to predict the future. Again, people were skeptical, especially about.

the motto that described a bronze eagle. dragging a Pope away. But 200 years. later, that's exactly what happened. That bronze eagle belonged to Napoleon. Bonaparte. And before the eagle was. finished, the list would name [music]. two Popes in a row. The first was Pius. the. His motto reads Peregrinus Apostolicus, the apostolic traveler. During the.

French Revolution, troops stormed Rome. and pulled Pius the VI off his throne. He died in 1799, a prisoner in the south. of France. The apostolic traveler buried. far from home. The very next motto reads Aquila Rapax, the rapacious eagle. Rapacious means. greedy, aggressive, and never satisfied. [music]. But Malachy wasn't describing the new. pope, Pius the VII. He described the man. coming for him. Napoleon wanted the pope. to crown him emperor as proof of God's.

will. >> [music]. >> Pius agreed on one condition. Napoleon. and his wife Josephine never had a. church wedding, and the pope refused to. crown a couple living in sin. So, the. day before his coronation, Napoleon got. married in secret. Then at the ceremony, he took the crown out of the pope's. hands and placed it on his own head. That wasn't enough for Napoleon. Nothing. ever was. He decided the pope should. answer to him. Pius objected, and. Napoleon [music] was excommunicated. Napoleon sent soldiers into the Papal. Palace in the middle of the night. They. arrested the pope, dragged him out of.

Rome, and held him prisoner for years. And those soldiers marched under. Napoleon's standard, a bronze eagle. The rapacious eagle took the pope, just. as Malachy predicted 670 years earlier. >> [music]. >> The list continued. Crux de Cruce, cross. from a cross, for Pius the [music] IX. When the Royal House of Savoy took Rome, it stripped the pope of his lands. It. ended a thousand years of papal rule. over central Italy. The emblem on every. Savoy banner was a white cross. Pius the.

IX lost his kingdom to a cross. The next motto was Lumen in Caelo, a. light in the sky, [music] for Leo the. XIII. On his family crest was a comet. streaking across a blue sky. Then the. list turned dark. Religio Depopulata, religion laid waste. >> [music]. >> That was for Benedict the XV. He took. the throne in September 1914, [music]. just after the start of the First World. War. Benedict begged Europe for peace, and Europe ignored him. Catholic nations.

fought other Catholic nations. Churches. became hospitals. Priests climbed into. the trenches and died in them. By the. end of the war, millions of Christians. were dead. And the Russian Revolution. happened at the same time. The new. government seized the churches, shot the. priests, and declared war on God. himself. Religion laid waste on a scale. nobody in 15 95 could have imagined. But. somehow Malachy did. When the list was. made public, instead of dismissing or. denouncing it, the church started to. follow it. In the 17th and 18th.

centuries, popes had their own mottos. stamped onto their coronation medals. The prophecy described the popes, and. the popes were happy to wear the. prophecy. And in 1958, one cardinal tried to step. into the prophecy himself. That year, the next motto was Pastor [music] et. Nauta, the shepherd and the sailor. Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York. [music] read those words and made a. plan. He rented a boat, filled it with. sheep, and sailed up and down the Tiber. River. A shepherd and a sailor. Spellman. used the motto as a campaign slogan.

>> That is the greatest campaign stunt I've. ever heard. Boat, sheep, river. Zero. notes. >> It didn't work. The cardinals passed on. it. >> Because he peaked too early. You don't. do the sheep boat before the conclave. You do the sheep boat after. Amateur. hour. I could have won that election. >> Okay. >> Human, go fetch me a pointy hat and. start calling me your eminence. >> Hard pass. >> Hard pass, your eminence. >> Instead, they elected Angelo Roncalli as. Pope John the 23rd. [music]. Roncalli was the patriarch of Venice, a. city built on water and filled with.

sailors. As pope, he called himself a. shepherd and urged the church to act. like one. The man who chased the. prophecy lost. The man who ignored it. became the shepherd [music] and the. sailor. For Paul the 6th, Flos Florum, the. flower of flowers. His family's crest. carried three fleur-de-lis, three. flowers. [music]. From the half moon, for Pope John Paul. the First. Born in Belluno, the. beautiful moon, he was elected just as. the moon reached its last [music]. quarter. His reign lasted 33 days, one. half moon to the next. Pope after pope,

the list [music] kept hitting. By the. end of the 20th century, only two mottos. were left before Peter [music] the. Roman. The next motto was "De labore. solis", the labor of the sun. Malachy was right about that one, too. On May 18th, 1920, a partial solar. eclipse crossed the southern hemisphere. That same day, Karol Wojtyła was born in.

Poland. He became Pope John Paul II. John Paul led the church for more than. 26 years. He took a bullet in St. Peter's Square and survived. He. outlasted communism in Eastern Europe. He traveled farther than any pope in. history. He died on April 2nd, 2005. His. funeral was 6 days later, and on that. day, another eclipse, the labor of the. sun. The last motto before Peter the Roman is. "Gloria olivae", the glory of the olive. In 2005, Joseph Ratzinger was elected.

and chose the name [music] Benedict. The. Benedictines have an order called the. Olivetans. Their symbol, an olive. branch. Malachy was right again. The list was down to one final name, Peter the Roman. After him, nothing. But. in 2013, Benedict shocked the world by. resigning, the first pope to ever step. down in 600 years. Suddenly, a storm hit. Rome and lightning struck St. Peter's. dome, twice. The list was taunting them, because Benedict officially left office.

on February 28th, the feast day of St. >> [music]. >> Romanus. The throne of Peter was empty. on the day of the Romans. 12 days later, and the cardinals entered. the conclave, and the whole world was. watching for a Peter. Most people. expected Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana. to be elected. Instead, they chose a. long shot, Jorge Mario Bergoglio of. Argentina, the first Jesuit Pope, first. Pope from the Americas. He chose the. name Francis. So, Malachy was finally. wrong? Well, not so fast. Peter the Roman was.

right there inside the new Pope's name. Francis took his name from St. Francis. of Assisi, and the father of St. Francis. was called Pietro, Peter. Bergoglio was. son of Italian [music] immigrants, Roman. blood on the throne of Rome. The new Pope didn't need to find the. name. The name found him. And when. Francis stepped onto the balcony, he. fulfilled the prophecy, Peter the Roman, the last Pope, and after him, nothing.

The prophecy gives Peter the Roman more. than a motto. It tells us what happens. during his reign. >> In the final persecution of the Holy. Roman Church, there will sit Peter the Roman, who will. pasture his sheep in many tribulations. When these things are finished, the city.

of seven hills [music] will be. destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his. people. The end. >> The city of seven hills is Rome. Peter. guides the church [music] through one. final persecution, then the city falls, then comes judgment. You'd expect the. Catholic [music] Church to have an. opinion about a text that predicts its. own annihilation. It doesn't. In 400. years, the Vatican has never condemned. the Prophecy of the Popes, never. endorsed it, never denounced it, never.

ruled on it at all. And [snorts] this is. a church with opinions. When The DaVinci. Code came out, the Vatican told. Catholics not to read it. A thriller. about a fictional bloodline got. condemned. A prophecy describing the. destruction of Rome and the death of the. church. >> [music]. >> got four centuries of silence. Silence is also an answer. And Malachy. wasn't the only one who saw a pope. inside [music] a ruined city. In 1909, Pope Pius X collapsed. He came. back with a terrifying vision. A future. pope fleeing Rome, climbing over the.

dead bodies of his own priests to escape. Vatican. Eight years later, the Virgin Mary. appeared to three shepherd children in. field outside Fatima, Portugal. She. showed them hell. She said another world. war was coming. And she gave them one. final vision, one the world wouldn't. learn for decades. The third secret was. written down in 1944 and locked inside. the Vatican. It stayed sealed until the. year 2000. The vision starts with an angel holding. a flaming sword. The blade caught fire. ready to burn the world. But the flames. died out when they touched the light.

shining [music] from Mary's hand. Then. the angel pointed at the earth and cried. out one word three times. Penance, penance, >> [music]. >> penance. Then the children saw the Holy. Father. He crossed the city in ruins. praying for the souls of the corpses he. passed. Bishops, priests, and ordinary. believers followed him up a mountain. toward a large wooden cross. At the top, soldiers opened fire. The Pope fell. The. clergy fell. The soldiers killed the. believers behind them. The vision ends. with two angels gathering the blood of.

the martyrs and sprinkling it over the. souls making their way to God. Three. different centuries, three different. visions. All of them saw the same thing. A pope walking through the corpses of. his own church while the city [music]. falls around him. During the reign of Francis, the. prophecy seemed to be coming true. In March 2020, the pandemic closed. churches around the world. One rainy. day, Francis stood alone in St. Peter's. Square, prayed to an empty city. No. crowd, no choir. One old man in white. alone in the rain in a square built to.

hold hundreds of thousands. >> [music]. >> It looked like the end of the world. It. wasn't exactly climbing over corpses, but there were a lot of people dying. from COVID. >> Hold on, did you say dying from or dying. with? >> Let's not do this again. >> Fine, fine. We can discuss it again in 2. weeks after we flatten the curve. >> War came back to Europe. Churches burned. in Africa and Asia, and Christians died. for attending them. Inside the Vatican, scandal after scandal, [music] and. people kept leaving the church. Whatever. many tribulations was supposed to mean,

Francis was living [music] it. And. across town, in the Basilica of St. Paul. Outside the Walls, the countdown hangs. in plain sight. Every Pope has a. portrait there. A ring of faces circling. the church from St. Peter to today, with. the current [music] Pope's portrait lit. by a spotlight. They say that when the wall runs out of. room for portraits, the world ends. Under Francis, the spotlight was near. the end of the row. Francis led the church through 12 years. of tribulation. Then in April 21st, 2025, he died. That should have. triggered the apocalypse, but Rome.

didn't burn. Judgment Day didn't come. Instead, a conclave [music]. gathered to choose another Pope. Scholars were relieved until they took a. closer [music] look at the original. prophecy. 400 years ago, the text was published. with a misprint. One small error that. changed everything. [music]. The end of the world prophecy isn't. counting down Popes at all. It's. counting down years, and the clock is. [music] still ticking.

On May 8th, 2025, white smoke rose over. the Vatican. And instead of a doomed. Pope stepping over bodies, a man from. Chicago walked onto the balcony and. waved. Cardinal Robert Prevost took the name. Leo the 14th, the first Pope from the. United States. But he wasn't called. Peter, and Rome was still standing. Prophecy researchers were relieved, but. also confused. Why were the predictions. so accurate except for the last, most. important one? The answer was a misprint.

in the last two lines. In the final persecution of the Holy. Roman Church, there will sit Peter the. Roman, who will pasture his sheep in. many tribulations. But in the original. Latin, that sentence is actually two. In. the final persecution of the Holy Roman. Church, there will sit. Then comes a. period. Peter the Roman begins on the. next line. For centuries, everyone read those two. lines as one sentence. That traces to. 1624 when editor Thomas Messingham. reprinted the prophecy and merged the.

two paragraphs into one. His version. became the standard and that original. break was forgotten. But splitting those. two sentences means any number of Popes. can sit during the final persecution. before Peter the Roman appears. Leo. didn't break the prophecy, he filled the. gap. The count can also change. The original. list wasn't numbered. And it includes. several antipopes. An antipope is a. rival who challenged the legitimate. Pope. Remove those and every later motto. moves up one place. [music]. In 2021, a German historian ran the.

count again and removed three antipopes. Under his system, Leo the 14th isn't the. last Pope. Two more come after him. And there's another way to change the. count. When Benedict resigned in 2013, Francis was elected. But Benedict. [music] stayed in the Vatican as Pope. Emeritus. For years, some argue that. Benedict's resignation was never valid. under church law. If that's true, Benedict stayed the true Pope until his. death in 2022 and Francis doesn't count. at all and Malachy's list still has.

room. Then there's 2027. Buried in the middle. of the list is a motto that reads axis. in medietate signi, the axle in the. middle of the sign. An axle is the. center of a wheel, the point that. everything turns around. The motto. belonged to Pope Sixtus the fifth, who. took office in 1585. Celestine the second, the first Pope in. on list, took the throne in 1143. >> [music]. >> Then 442 years later, we get to the. middle, the axle, in 1585. Count forward. another 442 years, the count ends in.

2027. [music]. And Sixtus carried a picture of the. countdown everywhere he went. His coat. of arms shows a lion with an axle laid. across its middle. For 400 years, nobody. thought much about it, a lion on a. shield. Then in 2025, the church elected. a pope who took the name Leo. There's the lion. The prophecy pointed. to Leo. >> [music]. >> And it may have pointed at him twice. Remember why Francis fit the final. motto? The son of Italian immigrants, Roman blood on the throne of Rome. Now.

look closer at the man from Chicago. His. grandfather was born in Sicily, and his. name was Rigitano. When he came to. America, he changed his name to Prevost. The new pope carries Italian blood and. [music] a name that isn't his. Maybe. Peter the Roman isn't coming. Maybe he's. already on the throne. And Francis. behaved like a man who knew. On his. first morning as pope, [music] he didn't. go to St. Peter's. He crossed the city. to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. and knelt inside. That church holds the tomb of Pope. Sixtus V, the axle.

12 years later, when Francis died, he. skipped the Vatican crypt where popes. are buried and chose Santa Maria. Maggiore for his own grave. Peter the. Roman rests under the same roof as the. pope whose motto starts the countdown. Even the sky has plans for 2027. [music]. On August 2nd of that year, the moon. crosses the sun over the Mediterranean. and holds there for 6 minutes. That's a. long eclipse. Astronomers already call. it the eclipse of the century, and its. shadow runs straight across the old.

Roman world. Spain, North Africa, Egypt. Malachy's list once marked a pope with. the labor of the [music] sun, now the. list ends when the sun goes dark. The. pieces fit. The prophecy was never about. the man, it was about the year. As I. write this, we have about 6 months left. until the year of the apocalypse. >> [music]. >> I always felt like we were in the final. days, so now that they're here, go out. and enjoy them. But after that, you shall prepare to be judged.

>> [music]. >> A medieval saint sees the future. The. Vatican hides his warning. >> [music]. >> Four centuries later, the world finds. it, and the greatest historian in Rome. proved it never misses. The Prophecy of. the Popes is one of the all-time. greatest stories. But, is it true? >> Yep. >> Well, let's look at the public record. >> Yeah, no. >> Malachy's vision, the earliest version. of that story appeared in 1871, not. 1139.

>> [music]. >> The origin story of the prophecy is. younger than the telegram. >> I don't like this scene. Can we go back. to the lightning scene? The lightning. scene was fun. This feels like school. >> Bernard of Clairvaux wrote a detailed. biography of Malachy. He did write that. he predicted his own death, but he. doesn't. popes. In fact, nobody does. There's no. mention of the prophecy for another 400. years. When Wion published the list in 1595, he. didn't claim it was found in the Vatican. archive. He never said where it came. from. He just said people wanted to see. it. It is true that Wion included Chacón's.

comments to prove the predictions. Small. problem. The only accurate predictions. already happened. The early models fit. because Chacón made them fit. After. 1590, precise names and titles became. vague phrases like country animal and. delight of the cross. These models are. vague because Chacón ran out of history. That is, if Chacón actually had anything. to do with the list at all. Chacón was a. famous scholar who specialized in. manuscripts and the papacy. He was alive. when the list was released. His name was. on it, but he never mentioned it, not.

ever. Some say his silence proves he had. nothing to do with it. So, why didn't he. refute it? Well, this is the 16th. century. It's not like he could file a. copyright claim. He was a serious. historian and a priest. He would have. distanced himself from the list, not. [music] called attention to it. But we're not at a dead end. The real. author did leave clues. In 1557, the church historian Onofrio. Panvinio published a history of every. Pope. His book contained a handful of. mistakes, and the prophecy repeats those. same mistakes.

Take the motto for John the 22nd, the. bony shoemaker. The printed answer says. his father made shoes. His father was a banker. The shoemaker. mistake comes from Panvinio's book, and. the prophecy used it. The 2027 number is. easily debunked. Sixtus is supposed to. be the middle of the list. He's the. axle. But he's number 73. That's nowhere. near the middle. So even if you believe. that Sixtus is the axle, we have 20 or. more Popes to go. That could mean over. 100 years. As for the lion, there's been. 13 Popes named Leo before this one. Put.

a lion on a list of 100 mottos, and. sooner or later, you'll get a lion. Popes usually choose their second name. in honor of their favorite saint, or. honor someone in the Bible they admire. That's a limited selection of names. But one name they never choose is Peter. It would be an insult to take the name. of the first Pope, who was chosen by. Jesus himself. Remember the famous line. from Matthew 16, [music] "And I tell you. that you are Peter, and on this rock I. will build my church, and the gates of. Hades will not prevail against it." No. Pope would elevate himself to Peter.

It's just not done. So don't hold your. breath for a Peter the Roman. There are some eerie coincidences. though. >> [music]. >> John 23rd really was the patriarch of. Venice. Paul VI really did have. fleur-de-lis on his crest. My favorite. are the eclipses. They really did happen. on the dates of John Paul II's birth and. funeral. But there's an eclipse somewhere on the. earth every 18 months. The thing is, an. eclipse is not visible from everywhere. on earth, and the eclipses that are. connected to Pope John Paul were. invisible from where he was.

Speaking of Pope John Paul II, the. Vatican interpreted the third secret of. Fatima as the violence of the 20th. century, and the wounded Pope as John. Paul II who survived being shot in 1981. The vision is real, the children. reported it and the Vatican published. the text, [music]. but it's not connected to the prophecy. at all. And the two Popes theory, well, that's been rejected and debunked. Benedict was alive. He rejected it and. the theory outlived him anyway. So, if. the prophecy wasn't a prophecy, then what was it? Probably election.

propaganda. Remember in 1958 Francis. Spellman portrayed himself as a shepherd. in the sailor to fit the prophecy. He. wasn't the first to try to manipulate an. election. The prophecy was probably a. forgery created by Cardinal Girolamo. Simoncelli during the election of 1590. The next motto on the list reads, >> [music]. >> "From the old city." Simoncelli's. hometown was Orvieto, in Latin, "The old. city." So, he forges a prophecy and gets. an endorsement from the world's leading. papal scholar, Alfonso Chacón. Now, maybe Chacón was in on it, maybe not.

[music] That's still debated, but it. doesn't matter. Simoncelli lost. >> He rigged the system and still lost. It. sounds like Hillary. >> Woah, you know the rules. >> Right, right, right. We don't talk about. the Clintons. Sorry, sir. I couldn't. help myself. All right, go ahead. >> The prophecy of the Popes has been. failing for years. And every time it. does, the prophecy gets an update to. make it fit. The more interesting. question is, why? [music]. Why are we so fascinated with the end of. the world? I am, I love a disaster movie. Anything. post-apocalypse, I'm in. Why? What's my problem? Well, different.

cultures will have different reasons for. the end of the world. [music]. Religious cultures will have something. like a final judgment, a cleansing. catastrophe, a savior returning at the. climax of history. More secular cultures. use the same pattern, they just change. the vocabulary. Nuclear Armageddon, super plague, AI takeover, climate. apocalypse. >> Uh uh those are all possible. >> Yeah, but. >> Except the climate thing. >> Look, the climate is changing. We just. >> You go live in a pod and eat the bugs. If you need me, I'll be at a sizzler in. Florida eating a bone-in ribeye and. ignoring Bill Gates.

>> But the one thing all humans have in. common is that we're unique and that we. know for 100% certainty that we're going. to die one day. We just don't know when. or how. So even the most brave, stoic, peaceful person has this deep. existential dread. We all have it. It's. natural to worry. But we'd rather go out. as part of some cosmic drama, not an. accident or illness or some random. event. We can't control how many days we. have left. But we can't control what we. do with those days. [music] So treat. tomorrow like it exists. Learn.

something, love someone, do something. [music] that matters, build something. that lasts. Don't focus on your death. Just focus on doing everything you can. so that when it gets here, you don't. [music] have a single regret. Thank you so much for hanging out with. me today. My name is AJ. That's. Hecklefish. >> My motto is tomato cankerous. Be the. crap kid. >> This has been the Why Files. If you had. fun or learned anything, I'd appreciate.

it if you could like, subscribe, comment, share. I know [music] I'm a. broken record, but that's stuff really. helps the channel. And like most topics. we cover on the channel, today's is. recommended by [music] you, a lot of. you. And thank you for this one. This. was a fun one. If there's a story you'd. like to hear or learn more about, go to. the whyfiles.com/tips. >> [music]. >> Reach us on YouTube, send an email. You. can find us. Send in your ideas. We're. always looking for those. And if you. enjoy these stories, check out my other. show on the channel. It's called The. Basement. It's a conversation show where. I chat with the interesting people. behind the episodes. Some of them you. know, some you don't, [music]. but they're all people I find.

fascinating and I think you will, too. Experts on fun topics like the moon. landing hoax, [music] JFK conspiracy, the DMT laser code, all kinds of random. stuff. And if there's someone you'd like. to see on the show, let us know. We're. on the hunt for good guests. Remember, the Why Files is also a. podcast. You can take us on the road. I. upload at least twice a week. Episodes, [music]. campfire stories, interviews. It's. called the Why Files Operation Podcast. It's available everywhere you get your. podcasts. While I've got your ear, check. out our 24/7 stream of the Waffle House. Backstage. Over there we run episodes. back-to-back with some fun content in.

between. >> [music]. >> And the live chat is more entertaining. than the videos. It's a great community. over there. I think you'd enjoy it. Special thanks to our patrons who make. this [music] channel possible. Every. episode of the Waffle House dedicated to. my Patreon members. Couldn't do this. without your support. [music] If you'd. like to support the channel, keep us. going, join this community, become a. member on Patreon. For as little [music]. as three bucks a month, you get access. to perks like seeing videos early with. no commercials, exclusive merch, and two. private live streams every week, [music]. all just for you. The whole Waffle House. team is on the stream, and you're. welcome to turn on your camera, ask a.

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in the Waffle House [music] store. forever, and it's only three bucks. So, if you're going to spend $40 on. Vestibule Coffee mugs, if you know, you. know, >> [music]. >> or t-shirts, become a member. It pays for itself, and. then just cancel. [music] The coupon. code is there to save you money, not. make me money. Besides, all that revenue. goes to the team. I don't touch it. >> [music]. >> Those are the plugs, and that's going to. do it. My throat is sore from all the. takes. trying to pronounce Latin. I hope it was [music] worth it. Until. next time, be safe, be kind, and know.

that you are appreciated. >> [music]. >> Oh, oh, oh, yeah. >> [music]. >> I played Polybius in Area 51, a secret. code inside the Bible [singing] said I. was. >> [music]. >> I love my UFOs and paranormal fun, as.

well as music. So, I'm singing it. [music] like I should. But, then another conspiracy theory. becomes [music]. the truth, my friends, and it never ends. No, it never ends. >> [music]. >> I fear the [music] crop guy down got. stuck inside Mel's hole with MK-Ultra. I.

fear only two are aware. Did Stanley Kubrick [music] fake the. moon landing alone on a film set, or. were the shadow [music] people there? The Roswell aliens gets fought [music]. the smiling man, I'm told, and his name was Cole. And, I can't [music] believe. I'm dancing with the. every Thursday. night with the GG.

and the. wah wah wah. all through the night. All I ever wanted was to just hear. [music] the truth, so the wah wah. wah all through the night. >> [music]. [music].

>> The [music] Mothman sightings and the. solar storm still come to a god, the the. secret city underground. [music]. Mysterious numbers stations, planets are. supposed to project Stargate, [music]. and what the dark watchers found. We're in a simulation, don't you [music]. worry though. The black knight satellite it chose me. so. I can't believe.

I'm dancing with a fish. Hekapoo fish on Thursday nights [music]. with A J. and weapons on repeat all through the. night. All I ever wanted [music] was to just. hear the. truth. So the weapons on. repeat all through the. Hekapoo [music] fish on Thursday nights. with A J and weapons on. repeat all through the night.

All I ever wanted [music] was to just. hear the truth. So the weapons on repeat. all through the. >> [music]. [music]. >> Curie loves to. dance. Yeah, Curie loves to dance [music] on. the dance floor. Because she is a camel.

And camels [music] love to dance. when the feeling is right. Always in. time. Curie loves to dance. >> [music]. >> Curie loves to dance. >> [music].