The Prophecy of Saint Malachi is said to have been revealed to Saint Malachy, Archbishop of Ireland, on his finishing a pilgrimage to Rome around 1140 A.D., even though it was unknown until many years later. It consists of two parts, of which the second and most famous corresponding to the Popes (the first part refers to Ireland) was first published towards 1595. According to some, it lay in the Vatican Secret Archives for over four hundred years.

            The Prophecy, short and concise in form, contains a series of mottos in the form of short phrases, both ambiguous and esoteric in nature, and refers to 112 popes. It begins with Celestine II (1143-1144) and ends with what supposedly marks the end of History. According to what is said there, the present moment would be the penultimate of the series: Benedict XVI, who has as his motto De Gloria Olivae (of the glory of the olive tree).  The motto of Petrus Romanus (Peter the Roman) relates to the last on the list who will mark the end of Time – that is, the moment at which the Supreme Judge will appear and will preside the over the Final Judgment for all men who have lived throughout History.

            Needless to say, since this Prophecy is of the class of private revelations, it has no official status. The Church has never approved it, although neither has it been condemned. As such, anyone may consider himself free to believe it or not, without it seeming just to label such a person as being naïve for accepting it nor as incredulous for rejecting it.

            The text in which the mottos appear is obscure. This should not seem odd since prophetic language is always mysterious and ambiguous by nature. Sometimes it is easy to discover the meaning of the mottos of certain popes, to the extent that frequently the conformity of the text to the subject (or to the circumstances that surround his pontificate) is frankly surprising. On the other hand, other mottos either make it difficult to find an application to the pope at hand, or the task seems impossible and the meaning remains indecipherable.

            Of course, the mottos may be interpreted in different ways without any of the interpretations being absolutely certain. Yet some may come closer to the truth than others, in that they seem more plausible or fit closer to the historical data. However, none can be considered definitive.

            Either way, we must take into account that prophetic language was not made for everyone to understand. It may even occur that that said language is designed to be understood by very few persons or even nobody, this being the norm when dealing with the charisma of prophecy. And this notwithstanding that it is present and very clear at times, To you it is granted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of God; for the rest it remains in parables so that they may look but not perceive, listen but not understand (Lk 8:10). The prophecies of Jesus Christ about the end of the world are clear and entirely understandable; the signs of which they speak have little mystery to them while, at the same time, they are very tragic and powerful.  And yet they will be accepted by practically no one, something which was also foretold.

            Sometimes, Jesus Christ spoke prophetically with the express intention that he who is able would understand what He said, as if using the common expression: let him who can, get it. Therefore, it is here understood that there may be someone who understands Jesus’ meaning, although it is also possible that nobody comprehends it: When you see the abomination of desolation, of which the Prophet Daniel spoke, erected in the holy place –let the reader understand—... (Mt 24:15). The prophecy is there, if by chance anyone can understand it; although it so happens that, until now, no one has managed to know for sure what the abomination of desolation set up in the holy place really means. Yet, the prophecy has been uttered so that the disciples may know that, when such a circumstance is present, the time for the Final Moment of the History of Humanity has come.

            In view of this, it seems reasonable to think that the prophet does not speak just for the sake of talking, as if he spoke in the knowledge that his announcement would be meaningless because it would not be understood by anyone. Since the prophet is dealing with important things, such consideration is not admissible; and it is even less admissible when the prophet is Jesus Christ. Therefore, it must be assumed that in his mind the prophet considers that his words will always be understood by some people; who, without a doubt, are more likely to be a small minority –perhaps the elect, or some of them. They, in turn, will certainly not be believed by anyone.

            The Prophecy of Saint Malachi –let us not forget its character of private revelation—possesses all the appearances of belonging to the latter genre. Everything seems to indicate that the mottos that relate to the person and the work of each one of the Popes –or to the events or their environment and to their era—are there to provide a key for him who is able to unravel their meaning.

            Here we are not going to favor them, nor are we going to reject them. We do recognize, at any rate, their disturbing and mysterious character. For in quite a few of them, once they have been thoroughly examined, one is able to establish a clear concordance between the motto and its corresponding character.          

            Keeping in mind all that we have said, we will study the motto referring to the present Pope, Benedict XVI: De Gloria Olivae, in Latin; of the glory of the olive tree in English.

            And the first thing one has to ask himself is this: Is it really reasonable to believe that this motto contains a more or less obvious meaning which may seem to go well with the present Pontiff? For our part, we feel inclined to believe that the answer is in the affirmative, as we are going to try to show.