So, we have a new Pope.

I am not any less freaked-out than I was two weeks ago.

Since I'm sure most of you didn't follow the link in that post, I was talking about the prophecies of St. Malachy. Malachy was an Irish clergyman and the first Irish Catholic saint. Among other more conventional achievements, he supposedly had a vision on a trip to Rome of all the Popes from his day to the present, and wrote a motto to summarize each of them. Whether that story is true or not, the list of prophecies has been on record since 1590, and has been not-noticeably-inaccurate compared to other prophecies of similar specificity. (Wikipedia has a very basic overview, although somebody has altered it sometime today to be substantially more skeptically slanted than it had been. Bah, Wikipedia.) By St. Malachy's list, we are now on our last pope. The motto given for him was "Gloria Olivae": Of the glory of the olives. Which is not, granted, a paragon of clarity, and I expected we'd need a certain amount of time and fudging to make it fit. But when I did a quick look-round the web several weeks ago, the consensus among disinterested interpreters seemed to be that it meant that the new pope would be either a Benedictine or take the name Benedict XVI (for the olive branches that are used as a symbol of St. Benedict) and that he will "take up the banner of peace".

... yeah.

The only thing left on the list after Benedict XVI is the long description of Peter of Rome, who will lead the church "during the final tribulation, after which Rome will be destroyed and the terrible Judge will judge his people. The End."

Yup, that gave me nightmares enough when I was twelve. Of course, I don't so much believe in the paranormal and the fringe as I believe that studying it with an open and playful mind is a fun and useful way to test the boundaries of both scientific and religious faith. But Pope Benedict XVI is *scary*-- my solution to my original nightmares was that, knowing about the prophecies about Peter of Rome and the End Times (Malachy's isn't the only one), no pope would ever dare take the name Peter. But that sure didn't stop Cardinal Ratzinger, did it? Does the Catholic Church *want* to bring on the End Times?

... well, actually, that has historically been a goal of Christianity, although I don't honestly know current Catholic doctrine on the matter. But every so often something happens that makes me feel like my utter lack of interest in my own future is actually justified. Of course, all times are the End Times, that's both a basic teaching of Christ and an objective fact. But. Less than eight years, guys.

Spend each day as if you were to live forever and as if the world were to end tomorrow, says the Christian teacher. The sun's rising yesterday does not mean it will rise always, or even tomorrow, and a single counterexample will be enough to disprove the theory, say the skeptic. I for one am not wasting any time worrying about my Social Security checks. (I'm wasting it reading fanfiction, which is much more fun.)