The Pope will die within a year: Vatican 'assassination fears' revealed

Experts said the release of the document could be part of a power struggle within the Vatican administration to try and force Bertone to leave.

Internal struggle ping!

The story was broken on Friday by an Italian daily, Il Fatto Quotidiano, with the headline "Plot against the Pope – he will die within 12 months".

Within 12 months, eh?

Wow.......that's some prediction.

I mean the Pope is what........84, going on 85?

The last pope, just in time for 2012 ;-)

I believe Nostradamus predicted the current Pope would be the last. Take it FWIW.

If this plot is true, I sincerely hope the Holy Father will go ahead and release the rest of the Third Secret of Fatima. I think it would do much to defuse it, and bring many Graces upon the Church.

Paolo Romeo = Peter the Roman of St. Malachy? I am getting chills...

So who did he make so mad?

He is an old man, so saying he will die in a year isn't a great stretch. Saying someone will kill him makes me wonder what is going on behind the scenes.

BXVI was the first pope I can remember being actively prayed for in LCMS churches.

Um, no.

Paolo = Paul

Geez. A Cardinal from Sicily is talking about possible assassination. Does this guy know something no one else does? I still have may doubts surrounding the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978. That whole thing stunk and more and more evidence has come out that it might have been an inside job.

German, the Church’s secret cypher. Next time they’ll wise up and use Esperanto or Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Freegards, thanks for all the pings

So Why Would Cardinal Romeo announce this in China?

Why didn’t he report it directly to the authorities.

I am amazed at the level of work and appearances that he performs along with the pressures of the job.

May he continue with God’s blessings to lead the Catholic Church for as long as God allows.

They should have written it in Latin. No one reads that any more.

It is customary for Popes to assume a new name.

I have read a prediction that this Pope will have to go into exile. Could be related.

Did you see the episode of “Decoded” that talked about the death of Pope John Paul I? They had a bunch of information that showed how assasination was possible. It doesn’t make a prediction at the end, but it gives different points of view as to whether it could have happened.

BTTT!

That would be St. Malachay who predicted this. There is supposed to be one more pope, Peter the Roman, but whether he immediately follows or comes in after much turmoil is up for question. Combine this with the Mayan calendar carver and nearly every country on the planet being in deep you know what, well...

I'll tell you who'll do it... a group of Asian Amish people who'll be driving Ferraris and uses computers for their businesses...Casinos and Strip Clubs. /s

Maybe the peaceful MUSLIMS...will do it...

I despise this type of trash.

Viva il Papa.

I still have may doubts surrounding the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978.

I didn't believe he died of natural causes back in '78 and still don't. The more that comes out, the more suspicion falls on politics and the powers that be.

So who did he make so mad?

The devil.

Because he is restoring the Church.

Thanks so much for that information. You can also pray for Pope Benedict here on FR. Continue to Pray for Pope Benedict [Ecumenical]

There is a reason they did that episode. There is some evidence floating around now to show the Pontiff didn’t just die in his sleep. I tend to agree with it.

Somewhere I’ve read that the Vatican has called this “nonsense.” I’ll have to try and find that later.

For the record: Italian media in a frenzy - bizarre plot rumors. Lombardi: "Madness"
Update: Content

Almost all Italian online media are in a frenzy tonight about a letter to be revealed in one of Italy's largest national dailies, Il Fatto Quotidiano.

We post the following for the record (from Corriere della Sera):

Milan - "Vatican, plots and intrigues. A plot against the Pope, he will die in the next 12 months" This is the title in the first page of Il Fatto Quotidiano in its February 10 edition.

Written in German - The news would have been given in a letter handed by Cardinal Castrillon to Benedict XVI. Included in the note, a report of a conversation [in a trip to China in November 2011] of the Archbishop of Palermo, [Cardinal] Romeo, in which he affirms that the Holy Father is in great risk and that an attack is feared within 12 months. The document is dated from December 30 2011, but it was given to the pope in January 2012. ... Romeo would have also spoken of the probable successor and indicated [Cardinal] Scola, Archbishop of Milan. The author of the article is journalist Marco Lillo. The director of Il Fatto Quotidiano, Antonio Padellaro, has said that the document will be published in its entirety in the paper. ... Soon afterwards, the reply of the Vatican arrived through Father Federico Lombardi, spokesman of the Holy See: "These are clearly ravings, which are not at all taken seriously. This is madness."

We expect the actual text of the letter, whose authenticity has not been confirmed, to be published by Il Fatto Quotidiano and the eventual written response by the Holy See Press Office and by the Archdiocese of Palermo in the morning.

Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, president emeritus of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, was received in private audience by the Pope on January 13.

Update (0900 GMT): A translation of the text of the unsigned document.

It is a report on Cardinal Romeo's visit to Beijing in November 2011 and his words with his intelocutors, (in the Chinese government or in the Patriotic Association?), and, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano, the document's contents would have been written in German and delivered to the Pope by Cardinal Castrillón in January 2012.

The content itself, that is, that Cardinal Romeo visited Beijing and spoke in confidence to specific persons, does not sound implausible - only at the end the curious "prophecy" of Cardinal Romeo mentioned. (Source: Il Fatto Quotidiano - Tip: Papa Ratzinger blog).

Voyage to Beijing:

In November 2011, Cardinal Romeo arrived on a tourist visa in Beijing, where, in fact, he did not meet any personality of the Catholic Church in China, but rather Italian businessmen, who live or work in Beijing, and some Chinese interlocutors. In Beijing, Cardinal Romeo declared to have been personally sent by Pope Benedict XVI to move forward, or rather, to follow up with, the conversations launched by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos in China in March 2010. He also claimed to be the interlocutor designated by the Pope to be in charge, from now on, of the matters between China and the Vatican.

In a confidential conversation, Cardinal Romeo informed his interlocutors in China of having taken care, during his activity in the diplomatic Service of the Holy See, of the papal representation in the Philippines, of contacts with the Clandestine RKK [Roman Catholic Church, in abbreviation in the German original], and of being, due to this experience of his, the appropriate interlocutor to take care of the questions between China and the Vatican. He also declared to have been, between 1990 and 1999, the Apostolic Nuncio in Colombia and to have collaborated, precisely in that period, with Cardinal Castrillon. Cardinal Romeo surprised his interlocutors in Beijing by informing them that he - Romeo - formed, along with the the Holy Father - Pope Benedict XVI - and Cardinal Scola a troika. For the most important matters, therefore, the Holy Father would consult him - Romeo - and Scola.

Cardinal Romeo was told by the Chinese side the following: many Cardinals have visited China, but the most relevant visit in the relations between China and the Vatican was the one by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos in March 2010.

STRETTAMENTE CONFIDENZIALE 30.12.2011

Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone:

Cardinal Romeo harshly criticized Pope Benedict XVI, because he was concerned mostly with the liturgy, neglecting "current affairs", entrusted by Pope Benedict XVI to Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State of the Roman Catholic Church. The relationship between Pope Benedict XVI and his Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was very conflictive. In an atmosphere of confidentiality, Cardinal Romeo mentioned that Pope Benedict XVI litterally hated Tarcidio Bertone and would replace him willingly with another Cardinal. Romeo added, however, that there was not another candidate suited to occupy this position and that for this Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone would continue to fulfill his job.

Also the relationship between the Secretary of State and Cardinal Scola was untoward and troubled.

Succession of Pope Benedict XVI:

The Holy Father was secretly taking care of his succession and had already chosen Cardinal Scola as a suitable candidate, because he is closer to his personality. Slowly but surely, he was thus preparing him and shaping him to fill the position of Pope.

On the initiative of the Holy Father - thus said Romeo - Cardinal Scola was transferred from Venice to Milan in order to prepare his Papacy from there calmly. Cardinal Romeo continued to surprise his interlocutors in China by feeding them rumors.

Confidently, as if he knew it in detail, Cardinal Romeo announced that the Holy Father would have only 12 months to live. During his conversations in China, he prophesized the death of Pope Benedict XVI within the following 12 months. The declarations of the Cardinal have been leaked, by a person probably informed of a serious criminal plot, with such certainty and firmness, that his interlocutors in China thought, frightfully, that an attack against the Holy Father is in the works. Cardinal Romeo seemed sure of himself and could not imagine that the declarations made in this round of secret conversations could be relayed by third parties to the Vatican.

Also sure of himself, Romeo prophesized that it seemed at the moment certain, even though still secret, that the successor of Pope Benedict XVI would be in any event a candidate of Italian origin. As described before, Cardinal Romeo emphasized that following the death of Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Scola will be elected Pope. Also Scola had important enemies in the Vatican.

Sonds like the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith needs to inquire into Cardinal Romeo

OH BOY are we going have ending like Godfather 3 LOL!

If you ever seen Godfather 3 you know how thing works out it better with no witnesses RIGHT????

No. Actually you are going to have an ending like Revelation, Chapters 17 and 18.

NOT "LOL!"

Well it is Italy so I think more of Godfather 3

No, Nostradamus did not predict the current pope would be the last. The prophecy this usually refers to is St. Malachy. The NEXT TO LAST pope on St. Malachy’s list would correspond to Pope Benedict, but there’s nothing to suppose that his list was meant to be exhaustive. THE LAST POPE on St. Malachy’s list is a spurious addition, over two hundred years’s later, and in no way indicates that there aren’t dozens or even hundreds of popes between “the Glory of the Olives,” which corresponds to Benedict and “Peter the Roman.”

Paolo is Paul. Put a sweater on; you’re acting like a 12-year-old.

Bertone is already on the way out, due to his age, 77. According to Catholic-hierarchy.org, the only older Cardinals who haven’t retired are the archbishop of Cologne /Koln, the vatican archivist, and a basilica archpriest. Now, when he leaves, however, the gossip rags can proclaim, “A-ha! We told you Benedict hated him!”

Keep your snot to yourself. I am well aware that Paolo means Paul. Are you aware of a remote possibility that Cardinal Romeo may become the next Pope? And Popes usually assume new names, keeping the surnames? Don’t bother answering, such struggle may be beyond your mental capacity.

St. Malachy, actually. Pretty spooky stuff.

Peter the Roman is the last (and next) Pope.

It’ll be interesting.

It’s funny, because in Ezekiel it talks about a war in Israel where God’s own angels shield Israel from harm, while the army from the North, spoiling to take a great plunder, dies on horseback in the mountains to the North.

After this brief war, the Israelis use the fuel from the weapons they recover to ‘warm’ them for 7 years.

Russian and Iran share a border. Do we currently have a President that would fail to retaliate were the US struck with nuclear missiles? I think you chances are even money, actually.

In end times prophecies, almost no mention of the west is made, except to say the coast lands are all destroyed.

It wouldn’t surprise me in the least, and it is God’s general mode, that he sets Israel up against impossible odds, and then to show Israel that “I am the Lord”, he defeats Israel’s enemies, who once again return to God.

Nostradamus = occult

Avoid it.

Not only Nostradamus, but several Popes going back centuries including the recently departed Pope John Paul, said that the next Pope in line after our current Pope will be in league with the Anti-Christ...that may be why Nostradamus said our current one would be the last Pope...the last “real” Pope. The next one will be a false prophet, probably heading up or organizing a one world religion for the Anti-Christ. Time is short...”Let every person work out their own salvation in fear and trembling”...Can’t remember what verse, but it’s just one of many that come to mind about the last days. It’s something we should all give great thought to because when we die we are all by ourselves before God and must give an account for our lives. Whether we believe in him or not. Some people are going to have one hell of a rude awakening. I hope I’m not one of them.

A few points:

1) Cardinal Romeo is eligible to be pope, but as a 73-year-old who’s still in a backwater, he’s hardly on anyone’s list of papabile, and shooting his mouth to Chicoms about the Pope being assassinated and diving into Italian gossip rags didn’t exactly earn his any positive attention.

2) Yes, Popes take new names. But then why does a name like “Paolo Romeo” get you all goose-pimply.

3) Fortune-telling is for basic-cable slack-jaws. tabloid papers and snake-charming hicks. There’s plenty of Catholic prophesying out there (St John Bosco, Fatima, etc.), but none of it having much to fortune-telling.

Grow up.

Already grown, wish you likewise.
Comparing gossips and childish conspiracy theories to the Prophesy of St. Malachy is immature, to say the list - the prophecy was remarkably accurate to the date. As of “papability”, nobody really knows what are the chances of Romeo - remember 0bama in 2006-2007? Who would have thunk?!
The name Romeo could be significant, or could mean nothing, time will tell, but it certainly rang the bell in me.

In case you are wondering:

Romeo - From the Italian Medieval religious name meaning “pilgrim to Rome” (Late Latin Romaeus, a derivative of Roma).

http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/meaning_of_Romeo.html

Even better:

True, but who specifically I wonder? What, or who, is the next step and why?

That would be as opposed to someone who WAS Roman? Peter the Roman meets Paul the not Roman?

You wrote:

“That whole thing stunk and more and more evidence has come out that it might have been an inside job.”

Actually there has never been any such evidence. He died or natural causes. Happens all the time.

Actually there has never been any such evidence.

He got a clean bill of health soon before his death and the fact that he was trying to clean up the Vatican banking system that had mob ties is suspicious. Let's not forget how the Vatican got their status as a county in a country. Mussolini. They were also involved with getting Nazis out to South America after the war. That is why reformers like John Paul and John Paul II made waves that upset the old school folks. There was one good thing that came from the death of John Paul. That was John Paul II taking over and was very important in defeating Communism with Lady Thacher and Ronald Reagan in the 80's. I feel he was one of the most important Pontiffs since Pope Pius X.

BXVI was the first pope I can remember being actively prayed for in LCMS churches.

you're kidding, right? wow...

You wrote:

“He got a clean bill of health soon before his death”

No, he did not. He had a heart condition.

” and the fact that he was trying to clean up the Vatican banking system that had mob ties is suspicious.”

It was suspicious that he was doing something? No, it was not.

“Let’s not forget how the Vatican got their status as a county in a country. Mussolini.”

False. The Papal States were always a country in a series of countries. Mussolini merely ended a stand off and restored some of what always was for about 1200 years.

“They were also involved with getting Nazis out to South America after the war.”

False. A few clerics, monks, and nuns did that. The Vatican did not do that.

“That is why reformers like John Paul and John Paul II made waves that upset the old school folks.”

No, actually much of what you listed had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO with either John Paul of John Paul II.

“There was one good thing that came from the death of John Paul. That was John Paul II taking over and was very important in defeating Communism with Lady Thacher and Ronald Reagan in the 80’s. I feel he was one of the most important Pontiffs since Pope Pius X.”

Okay, fine. But you need to learn about cause and effect. What you’re doing otherwise is linking together things that are unrelated as if they have something to do with one another.