Rather, he said, it may allude to a non-apocalyptic incident and perhaps a country’s leader’s judgment.
Taking his papal name from Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis is the 266th pope in Vatican history and the 101st pope the Church has acknowledged since Malachy’s lifetime.
However, Weiss asserts that since the Catholic Church formerly had many leaders claiming to be hope at the same time, some people think Francis is the 112th and last pope.
According to USA Today, “those who believe in Malachy’s prophecy include in the count a few of those antipopes – figures not formally recognized by the Vatican.”
