an interesting page on the pope:
http://www.spiritdaily.com/johnpaulseers.htm
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'SPARK FROM HEAVEN': POPE SEEN AS SIGN OF COMING EVENTS AND WAS LINKED
TO SEERS
With the passing of John Paul II the prophetic adrenaline is flowing
as seldom before, and for good reason: the Pope not only changed
history -- making himself the focus of prophecy -- but was himself
wide open to supernatural manifestations.
Under John Paul II the great mystic Padre Pio was canonized, as was
Sister Faustina of Poland, who received the Divine Mercy revelations.
A statue exuding tears was approved in Italy, as were apparitions in
such places as Kibeho, Rwanda, Cuapa, Nicaragua, and Betania,
Venezuela. It was John Paul II, through Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who
in 1986 stopped a local bishop from rejecting the apparitions at
Medjugorje (in Bosnia-Hercegovina).
Meanwhile, and meaningfully, his passing comes quickly in the wake of
the deaths of famed mystics Maria Esperanza and Sister Lucia dos
Santos of Fatima -- speeding the prophetic pulse. There is also Terri
Schiavo: even secular outlets are calling it an uncanny "coincidence"
that the "culture of life" Pope, who lobbied hard for Terri's life,
and who was reportedly deeply upset on hearing news of her death, died
two days after she did -- the Pope passing in a disabled state but
with the dignity he wanted for everyone.
The connection to Fatima remains the strongest mystical link. The Pope
credited Our Lady of Fatima with saving his life in 1981 and is
believed to be the "bishop in white" mentioned in the legendary "third
secret" -- which he released in 2000.
He may also be connected to the revelation of St. Faustina Kowalska of
Poland -- the Divine Mercy saint who had quoted Jesus as saying, "I
bear a special love for Poland and if she will be obedient to My will,
I will exalt her in might and holiness. From her will come forth the
spark that will prepare the world for My final coming" (Diary 1732).
Many have long believed that John Paul II was that "spark," and such
speculation can only gain momentum by further "coincidences,"
especially the fact that John Paul II died Saturday -- at the end of a
more than weeklong Divine Mercy novena -- and on the vigil of the
Feast of Divine Mercy that he himself had instituted. The first Mass
offered for him was a Mass of Divine Mercy.
Thus, by that calculation, the death of the Pope is the harbinger of
huge events. The death of this deeply Marian Pope also came on the
First Saturday of the month, and was followed by suddenly fierce winds
in Italy.
The Pope's passing also brings into play the prophecies of St. Malachy
O'Morgair, an Irish monk who supposedly had a vision of the future
popes while visiting Rome in 1139. The authenticity of the event is
greatly disputed, and like all mysticism should be strictly discerned,
but St. Malachy is said to have prophesied the list of popes through
short, esoteric nicknames.
By this reckoning, if we accept it as a legitimate prophecy, John Paul
II was De Labore Solis ("from the labor of the sun"), and would be
followed by only two more popes -- the next being De Gloria Olivae
("from the glory of the olive") and then Petrus Romanus ("Peter the
Roman").
The prophecies about the number of popes are many and often differ
markedly from one another. At the popular and controversial site of
Garabandal in Spain, a seer named Conchita Gonzalez once noted, "The
Blessed Virgin said in 1962 that there will be only two more popes
after Paul VI."
There was also St. John Bosco, who foresaw a time when a pontiff would
stand at the helm of a noble ship in turbulent seas and guide it to
safe passage between twin pillars that represent the Blessed Mother
and the Eucharist. No Pope in history was more dedicated to the Virgin
Mary than John Paul II, and he had declared the current year as the
"Year of the Eucharist"!
"When this Pope will have completed the task which Jesus has entrusted
to him and I will come down from Heaven to receive his sacrifice, all
of you will be cloaked in a dense darkness of apostasy, which will
then become general," asserted the locution of an Italian priest who
is likewise as interesting as he is controversial. "There will remain
faithful only that little remnant which, in these years, by accepting
my motherly invitation, has let itself be enfolded in the secure
refuge of my Immaculate Heart. And it will be this little faithful
remnant, prepared and formed by me, that will have the task of
receiving Christ, who will return to you in glory, bringing about in
this way the beginning of the new era which awaits you."
Such alleged claims have sparked fervid monitoring of the Pope and his
potentially prophetic implications. Many are those who expected him to
the proclaim a new dogma, believing that this declaration would lead
to huge events.
Lesser and vastly more controversial prophecies claimed that John Paul
II would end up in exile and die outside of Rome -- prophecies that,
obviously, have turned out to be invalid. There are those who have
predicted that the next Pope will be an "anti-Pope" or even the
antichrist -- a drastic and dangerous prognostication.
But major events are on the horizon and matters that deal with the
Church are said to be in the secrets of Medjugorje. There is now the
searing question of what the next Pope will do when it comes to that
apparition site: Will the next Pope reverse course and allow the
bishop to now make a negative judgment?
John Paul reportedly read the monthly message from Medjugorje, often
making statements that paralleled what Mary said there. Indeed, "Youth
Day" followed messages on youth from Medjugorje.
Smiling when two pictures of the Pope were brought by a woman from
Osijek in 1982, the Blessed Mother of Medjugorje reportedly said, "He
is your father, my angels."
Concerning the Pope, who was briefed on the apparitions in an urgent
letter from the pastor at St. James church in Medjugorje, the Blessed
Mother also said, "Have him consider himself the father of all mankind
and not only of Christians. Have him spread untiringly and with
courage the message of peace and love among all mankind." According to
a locutionist who was not part of the formal group of six seers, she
also asked that he try to bring together Christians.
This John Paul II certainly did -- traveling the globe in subsequent
years, as if he heard the same voice. At one apparition on April 2,
visionary Ivan Dragicevic was recommending intentions to Our Lady
when, allegedly, the newly deceased Pope appeared on her left. (He was
smiling, young and very happy, all in white with a long gold cape,
claim e-mails that are flying about the internet. Our Lady supposedly
said to Ivan: 'This is my son; he is with me.")
What are we to make of it all? Could we be ready for things to occur
in quick succession? Haven't matters (Esperanza, Lucia, Schiavo, and
now the Pope; hurricanes; tsunamis) been moving fast as it is? And how
should the Church deal with mysticism?
At the same time that many bishops have hardened their stance against
mystical claims, the Pope did the opposite, even receiving seers in a
few instances. Ukrainian mystic Josyp Terelya -- who saw the Blessed
Mother while imprisoned in a gulag -- met with the Pope both privately
and in a formal session (right); and visionaries from Medjugorje
(left), South America, the U.S., Asia, Europe, and other parts of the
world presented him or his representatives with their messages -- many
of them asserting, rightly or wrongly, that John Paul was a fellow seer.
When asked if she felt the same way, famous Venezuelan seer Maria
Esperanza, who asserted that the Pope bilocated to her, and who on a
visit to the Vatican once presented the Pope with a picture of the
Virgin (as Mary, "Reconciler of Peoples and Nations"), only smiled at
the question and said, "He will never say."
[see also: Did St. Malachy predict final popes?]
[resources: The Bridge to Heaven, Queen of the Cosmos, and Medjugorje
and the Church]
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