Michel de Nostredame—better known as Nostradamus—the famed French astrologer and seer, is now being linked to a prophecy about Pope Francis’s imminent death and the emergence of his successor.
Often dubbed the “prophet of doom,” Nostradamus is credited by some with predicting cataclysmic events throughout history, including the Great Fire of London, the rise of Adolf Hitler, the September 11 attacks, the COVID-19 pandemic, and even Japan’s New Year’s Day earthquake.
In his renowned 1555 work, Les Prophéties, Nostradamus unveiled a series of cryptic forecasts that spanned wars, plagues, natural disasters, civil unrest, and political assassinations. Among these enigmatic predictions, one passage has recently attracted attention as it appears to hint at the current crisis facing Pope Francis.
The text reads: “Through the death of a very old Pontiff… a Roman of good age will be elected. Of him it will be said that he weakens his see… but long will he sit and in biting activity.”
He continued, foretelling that “in the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End.”
Today, the 88-year-old Pope Francis has been hospitalized for ten days, battling complications from a lung infection that has also initiated early kidney failure, according to Vatican reports.
Although his condition remains critical, there have been moments of relative calm, and he is said to maintain a hopeful spirit. Nonetheless, doctors caution that his fragile health, compounded by his age and pre-existing lung issues, renders his situation precarious.
In New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan addressed the faithful, emphasizing the unity felt by Catholics gathered “at the bedside of a dying father.”
He noted that Pope Francis is “in very, very fragile health, and probably close to death” while expressing his hope and prayers for the pontiff’s recovery.
As the Church grapples with the possibility of a leadership transition, skeptics point out that Nostradamus’s prediction—of an elderly pontiff being succeeded by a seasoned Roman—is hardly unexpected given the natural course of aging and succession.