The Forty Years    127 

him.... Then they captured the king, and brought him up to the king of 

Babylon at Riblah, who passed sentence upon him. They slew the sons of 

Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him 

in fetters, and took him to Babylon.  (2 Kings 25:2.4 7). 

    This prophecy from Holy Scripture refers to the  second  Pope after John 

Paul II, to the Pope called  Peter the Roman  by St. Malachy. This Pope 

will have a short but holy reign. He will emphasize the authority and 

primacy of the Pope and of the Catholic Church. He will die a martyr. 

    At the beginning of the war of the Arabs against Europe, about the year 

A.D. 2011 or 2012, the Arab forces will attack Italy and Rome. At that time, 

in the year 2012, the Pope will be forced to flee the Vatican. (He will have 

waited to long to flee successfully.)  He will carry his own baggage on his 

shoulder. He will flee under  or through  the walls of the Vatican by night 

accompanied by members of the clergy ( the sons of Zedekiah ) and 

guarded by soldiers. They are able to get away from Vatican City, but they 

will not reach safety. They will be pursued by Arab forces. 

     The Pope  and the clergy with him  will be taken captive by the Arab 

forces.  They will be taken to  Syria (Riblah is an ancient city in Syria) and 

put on trial. The leader of Iraq ( king of Babylon ) will pass judgment 

against the Pope and the clergy who were captured with him and also some 

members of the clergy of Syria. Then they will slay these members of the 

clergy as the Pope watches. Next they will put out the eyes of the Pope, so 

that the last thing he sees is the death of his fellow clergy. Then they will 

bind the Pope in fetters and take him to Iraq, where he will be imprisoned. 

The phrase  yet he shall not see it  means that he will be held  prisoner 

without being able to see the country in which he is held captive because he 

has been blinded. The Pope will die in a prison in Iraq with no one to rescue 

him. This Pope will die a martyr for the Faith. 

    Notice that the leader of Babylon (Iraq) is holding a trial in Syria. From 

this I conclude that, during the small war among the Arab nations (prior to 

World War III), Iraq will invade and conquer and probably annex Syria. 

    The Pope whom Holy Scripture foretold would suffer and die in this 

manner is the second Pope after Pope John Paul II. Saint Malachy made a 

prophetic list of future Popes, each described by a phrase. Pope John Paul II 

is described with the phrase,  From the Labor of the Sun.  The next Pope is 

described with the phrase,  From the Glory of the Olive.  The second Pope 

after John Paul II is called,  Peter the Roman,  and his reign is described 

with a full sentence:  In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church 

there shall reign Peter the Roman who will feed his flock amid many