|
Now this next theory is very interesting, and we should find out, probably within the next week or so, if the guy who came up with it is full of shit, or not.
Basically, he thinks the first "reign" of the Roman Catholic Church ended when Napoleon captured Pius VI and ended the papacy's political rule in Europe around 1798.
Then he takes all the pope's names after 1798 (The RCC's new "reign") and adds them up in a certain way. For instance, since 1798, there have been 7 names used by popes:
1. Pius
2. Leo
3. Gregory
4. Benedict
5. John
6. Paul
7. John Paul
Now all through the RCC's history, there have been 12 Pius's. He counts the first Pius with a 1. Pius II gets a 2. Pius III gets a 3, etc. Thus, 12 Pius's (Pius 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12) = 78
Here's where it gets fun:
Here are the totals of all the popes names since 1798:
1. Pius 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12 = 78
2. Leo 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13 = 91
3. Gregory 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16 = 136
4. Benedict 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14 = 105
5. John 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16+17+18+19+20 +21 = 231
6. Paul 1+2+3+4+5+6= 21
7. John Paul 1+2=3
78 + 91 + 136 + 105 + 231 + 21 + 3 = 665
as of John Paul II
So according to him, the next pope will be number 666. But ONLY if he takes a name that hasn't been used before... He has to be the "1st", so that it can be counted as a "1" to equal 666.
I personally don't feel that this theory is particularly good, he really had to stretch for it, but if the next pope does pick a new name from all the others in the past, it will certainly make me go, Hmmmm.
|