FWIW, other prophecies say Francis was to be the last pope.... apparently too many scandals can't be covered up anymore which would greatly shake the papacy heirarchy. We'll see by the end of the year..

I thought it was a very well-written essay... sent it to a catholic friend whom I'm not sure will read it. While he said he has cautioned his kids that the pope is not necessarily the church, yet when the pope was in Singapore just a few months ago, they were among the huge crowds that signed up for the lottery to see him in person in some stadium etc. This friend was barred from attending Mass for almost 2 years when the local catholic church went along with the govt diktats that the unvexed were unclean. As I often reminded him, did that make him less of a 'catholic' by not being able to go to church? He was adamant that since his faith is sincere, he was fine. So when the church reopened it's doors fully, he rushed back in with his family. *sigh* Somehow he couldn't see the obvious ... that true spirituality and sincerity comes from within, not via a over-arching church organization. Sadly he is like most people, doesn't have to be PMC class though they're the worst, where the obvious lies and contradictins are right in front of them, and they blithely ignore it and move on as programmed.