White smoke, dark skies

So Opus Dei has its Pope, and St Malachy of Armagh is either right again, or just lucky. Like I've said before about the curse of living in interesting times, at least they're interesting.

I wrote a little here about Opus Dei and why it deserves our distrust. If you don't yet, I suggest familiarizing yourself with the content of the Opus Dei Awareness Network. Opus Dei has been an organ of fascism (by the 1960s Franco's cabinet was stacked with Opusdeistas, and they rose again under the Aznar government), and has amassed for itself a Templar-worthy fortune, and an international network of influence that rivals, or perhaps complements, that of Freemasonry. ("Many of its 85,000 worldwide members work in legal, medical, financial and media professions," according to today's Los Angeles Times. In a post last week I considered the Masonic cultivation of similar segments of society.) Its ritualized mortification of the flesh and psychological self-battery, as well as the inference of unspoken agendas, is highly suggestive of a mind control cult. You don't need to believe The De Vinci Code to believe this bunch deserve a close watch.

While Ratzinger is not a member of Opus Dei, he is its man. He has been a longstanding champion of the Order, and the two Opus Dei cardinals, Julian Herranz of Spain and Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne of Peru, are reported to have been enthusiastic supporters of his candidacy.

It's true, Ratzinger was a Hitler Youth, but I find better reasons to regard him as a discouraging choice. Membership was compulsory after 1941, so his joining wasn't even a "youthful indiscretion" on the order of Robert Byrd's flirtation with the KKK, let alone an act worthy of Kurt Waldheim. The boy was forced to join the Hitler Youth, but no one made the man support Opus Dei.

And it's not what is known about Opus Dei that is the most disturbing, but as with many secret orders, it is what remains unknown, and surmised. Since 1982, it is the Pontiff's "personal prelature" - answerable not to local bishops, but to the Pope alone - so its power and influence, and potential for excess, are certain to increase. (And it's worth noting that the 1982 measure was coincident with the exposure of the Masonic infiltration of the Vatican.)

It's possible the infiltration of Freemasonry into the Vatican was stymied by Pope John Paul II's patronage of Opus Dei. While the two organizations may appear at odds, that may be largely for exoteric consumption. They may be unlikely bedfellows, but bedfellows just the same, if it's possible to speak of unlikely bedfellows and the priestly class without sniggering.

It's my observation that the worst abuses in the Church, even its Luciferian excesses, have been perpetrated under the cloak of conservativism. John Paul II and his "enforcer," Cardinal Ratzinger, targetted liberation theology and the progressive strains of Catholicism, while their coddled "conservative" clergy continued, largely unchecked, in the molestation, rape and ritual abuse of young children. While Ratzinger has condemned gay relationships as "deviant and evil," he has been an enabler of sexual abuse, by "accusing the media of exaggerating the extent of paedophilia in the American Church."

That this man is now Pope, and the secret society Opus Dei his legionaires, I wonder whether our already interesting times are about to become unbearably fascinating.



Now, about the 12th Century Prophecy of Malachy, which is said to have predicted the succession of 112 Popes to follow Celestinus II:

265 John Paul I (1978) 109 De medietate Lunæ (of the half of the moon)
Hist.: Albino Luciani, born in Canale d´Agardo, diocese of Belluno, (beautiful moon) Elected pope on August 26, his reign lasted about a month, from half a moon to the next half...

266 John Paul II (1978-2005) 110 De labore Solis (of the eclipse of the sun, or from the labour of the sun)Hist.: Karol Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920 during a solar eclipse. He also comes from behind the former Iron Curtain (the East, where the Sun rises). He might also be seen to be the fruit of the intercession of the Woman Clothed with the Sun labouring in Revelation 12 (because of his devotion to the Virgin Mary). His Funeral occurred on 8 April, 2005 when there was a solar eclipse visible in the Americas.

267 ??? 111 Gloria olivæ The Benedictine order traditionally said this Pope would come from their order.

The Benedictine Order is also known as the Olivetans. Ratzinger assuming the name Benedict appears to me to be a nod at the Malachy Prophecy, and perhaps its self-fulfillment.

Malachy called Number 112 Petrus Romanus - "Peter the Roman" - and wrote this:

In persecutione extrema S.R.E. sedebit Petrus Romanus, qui pascet oves in multis tribulationibus: quibus transactis civitas septicollis diruetur, & Judex tremêdus judicabit populum suum. Finis.

In extreme persecution, the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman, who will feed the sheep through many tribulations, at the term of which the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the formidable Judge will judge his people. Finis.

"Finis" doesn't need translating, does it?

Ratzinger is 78, so it may not be long before we see Petrus Romanus. What we see after that, we'll see.