A Review of the Predictions in Future News Article, "The Next Pope"

A Review of the Predictions in Future News Article, "The Next Pope"
Bill Tenuto
April 24, 2005

I posted "The Next Pope" on Future News on April 6, 2005. At the time there was much speculation about who the next pope would be.

Thirteen days later on April 19th, the College of Cardinals elected the next pope with surprising speed, "surging to election in a scant four votes over less than 24 hours of conclave." Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI. (See "A Swift Surge That Defied Expectations," by Daniel J. Wakin, The New York Times, April 21, 2005.) www.nytimes.com

While the specific details of some predictions in "The Next Pope" remain to be seen, verifications of several predictions already were streaming in on April 19th, immediately after Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected. Here is a listing of the predictions (in bold) from "The Next Pope" which already have been verified. Statements quoted from the news media provide verifications of each prediction.

1. Cardinals knowing in advance who the next pope would be.

"What I sense, however, is that most if not all of the 117 cardinals who will be voting know in advance who the next pope will be."

"I wonder if it [the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger] was almost pre-ordained", (Neil Cavuto in a conversation with Senator Rick Santorum. (R), PA, Your World w/ Cavuto, Fox News, April 19, 2005)

The fact that the cardinals came to a decision so quickly on the fourth vote "shows that they knew exactly the guy they wanted." (Bishop Arthur Serratelli, Bishop of Paterson, NJ, Your World w/ Cavuto, Fox News, April 19, 2005)

"I think the College knew what they wanted. They clearly knew what they wanted." (Paul Begala, Special Report with Judy Woodruff, CNN, April 19, 2005.)

"There was an overwhelming consensus among the cardinals going into the conclave that Cardinal Ratzinger was the frontrunner." (John Allen, CNN Vatican Analyst, CNN, April 19, 2005.)

2. The decision was made while John Paul II was alive.

"I feel this decision had been made while John Paul II was alive."

"When only three of the Cardinals going into the conclave were not appointed by John Paul II, then it's his agenda and his doctrine on orthodoxy" that they voted for. (Monsignor James Maroney, Special Report with Judy Woodruff, CNN, April 19, 2005.)

"The cardinals want to continue the legacy of John Paul II which Cardinal Ratzinger had a lot to do with." ( Delia Gallagher, CNN Vatican Analyst, CNN, April 19, 2005)

One parishioner from Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City said, "I think maybe it was the will of our prior pope that this man fill in next." (Special Report with Judy Woodruff, CNN, April 19, 2005)

3. The Cardinal in Black.

"I see a man who is dressed in black…. He may be Italian or Spanish, but I feel he is a Latin American cardinal."

"What I see could represent one specific cardinal who has a major influence, but the image could also represent a bloc of cardinals, perhaps all of the cardinals from Latin America."

"With 40% of all the world's Catholics living in Latin America, the cardinals from Latin America as well as Africa and other third world countries" are likely to have a major influence over the outcome of this papal election. (Fox News Report, April 18, 2005.)

"The prospect of a drawn-out battle scared off the liberal opposition, and their leader, [Cardinal] Carlo Maria Martini, sent his votes to Cardinal Ratzinger." (A Swift Surge That Defied Expectations," by Daniel J. Wakin, The New York Times, April 21, 2005.) www.nytimes.com
(Note: this quote suggests the literal cardinal in black, whom I saw in my vision, would be Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, whereas the symbolic cardinal in black, as represented by the cardinals from Latin America, Africa and other third world countries, would be what this New York Times article called "the liberal opposition."--B.T.)

4. My Vision of the Next Pope's Appearance.

"He has the appearance of an Asian man. I sense that the new pope could be from the Philippines or from China. His features are Asian. He is stocky looking, probably not too tall."

In my vision I saw a fair-skinned man, not too tall. Also he was stocky looking, perhaps because all the vestments he was wearing when he appeared for the first time in public made him look short and stocky. This could have been a picture of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, but my vision gave him Asian features (I saw folds at the corners of his eyes). This of course was inaccurate. I don't know why I saw this, but the face I saw definitely was that of a fair-skinned, Asian male.

I believe the personality traits I described, including the "mental and/or emotional disconnect and the potential impact on dividing and fragmenting the church," fit Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's personality. (Some verification of this appears below.)

As for the face in my vision, perhaps I simply saw the face of a man other than Pope Benedict XVI. It could be that the face I saw is representative of something which is yet to unfold.

For one Future News reader's view of this possibility, see Mike's comment under "The Next Pope." Mike made his comment on April 9th, before the conclave to elect the new pope had convened. At that time, Mike made a reference to the "secret" or "mystery cardinal," about whom we were hearing so much in the days immediately after John Paul II's death. At about the same time Mike posted this comment, the Vatican suddenly denied that a "secret" or "mystery cardinal" even existed. Anderson Cooper, host of CNN 360, said in a surprisingly brief statement, "The Vatican has announced there is no secret cardinal." From that moment on, there was no more discussion about it anywhere in the mainstream media.

Before the Vatican's denial, one popular theory put forward by the media stated the "secret" or "mystery cardinal" might be Asian--a Chinese cardinal secretly appointed by John Paul II. If there were a "secret cardinal" in China, the Vatican would want to deny his existence, guarding the secret to protect this cardinal from the Chinese Communist government. And the mainstream media, perhaps in the spirit of cooperation with the Vatican's wishes to protect this cardinal, may have agreed to back off of the story. I am curious to see what information may later surface about this possibility.

(If you are interested in reading more about how my vision works and how I analyze and interpret what I am "seeing," please see the note at the end of this post.)

5. Awkwardly political.

"But there is an energy about this gesture which feels awkwardly political to me. It may be literal or symbolic, but, as a symbol, the awkwardness I feel about it suggests something is not quite right about the cheering that the new pontiff asks for."

Something still feels not quite right to me. I feel this pope will operate his papacy on two levels. There will be the friendly and loving Pope Benedict XVI, but there will also be the rigidly structured and authoritarian Pope Benedict XVI. The former will be the seeker of peace; the latter will create a reactionary opposition.

On April 23rd, as I was preparing to finalize this piece, New York Times Op-Ed columnist, Maureen Dowd, published an article, "Uncle Dick and Papa," in which she had this to say about the new pope and his politics:

"It was a move so bold, accomplished with such backstage finesse, that it was worthy of Dick Cheney himself."

"Just like Mr. Cheney, once the quintessential deferential staff man with the secret service code name 'Back seat', the self-effacing Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has clambered over the back seat to seize the wheel (or Commonweal)."

"They are both old hands at operating in secrecy and using the levers of power for ideological advantage. They want to enlist Catholics in the conservative cause, turning confession boxes into ballot boxes with the threat that a vote for a liberal Democrat could lead to eternal damnation."

"As fundamentalism marches on…U.S. conservatives are thrilled about the choice of Cardinal Ratzinger, hoping for an unholy alliance. They hope this pope--who seems to want a smaller, purer church--encourages a militant role for Catholic bishops and priests in the political process." ("Uncle Dick and Papa," by Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, Op-Ed Section, April 23, 2005) www.nytimes.com

6. A mental and/or emotional disconnect; the church will become divided.

" I sense something is out of balance. There is a mental and/or emotional disconnect for the new pontiff. The church will become divided because of this new pope. His personality exhibits a flaw which suggests some sort of instability. For whatever the reason, the new pope will cause great division among the clergy and the Catholic laity. He seems to want to rally Catholics together in a common restoration of the spirit of the Church, yet he will create the opposite effect."

Immediately upon Cardinal Ratzinger's election questions came up, echoing the same problems and concerns described in the above prediction.

"Will he be a uniter or a divider?" (Paul Begala, Special Report with Judy Woodruff, CNN, April 19, 2005.)

"Some Catholics at Saint Patrick's are very disappointed at the selection of the new pope. They really think he's too conservative." (Correspondent Debra Feyerich at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, New York, Special Report with Judy Woodruff, CNN, April 19, 2005.)

"It's clear that by some large number, they [American Catholics] would like to see some changes." (Judy Woodruff summarizing a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of American Catholics, Special Report with Judy Woodruff, CNN, April 19, 2005.)

"'He could be a wedge rather than a unifier for the church', said the Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Jesuit weekly magazine America." (MSNBC.com, "Pope Benedict XVI a wedge or a unifier?") www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7560325/?GT1=6428

And New York Times Op-Ed columnist, Maureen Dowd, also had something to say about this subject in her April 23rd article, "Uncle Dick and Papa":

"Unlike Ronald Reagan and John Paul II, the vice president [referring to Dick Cheney] and the new pope do not have large-scale charisma or sunny faces to soften their harsh 'my way or the highway' policies. Their gloomy world outlooks and bullying roles earned them the nicknames Dr. No and Cardinal No. One is called Washington's Darth Vader, the other the Vatican's Darth Vader."

"The Republicans can build their majority by bringing strict Catholics and evangelicals--once at odds--together on what they call 'culture of life' issues."

"But there is a risk, as with Tom Delay, Dr. Bill Frist and other Republicans, that if the new pope is too heavy-handed and too fundamentalist, his approach may backfire." ("Uncle Dick and Papa," by Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, Op-Ed Section, April 23, 2005.) www.nytimes.com

Other predictions I made in the "The Next Pope" remain to be seen. We can monitor upcoming events and check for possible confirmation of these predictions in reports we will be getting from the news media in the weeks and months ahead. Here are some of the predictions we can monitor:

1.) What about he "cardinal dressed in black"? The prediction in "The Next Pope" said, "the cardinal in black will exert a powerful influence over the next pope during his papacy." Does this refer to the influence of Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini and the bloc of cardinals from Latin America, Africa and other third world countries? Will this become evident in the news?
2.)Will Pope Benedict XVI be forced to "remove himself for a time from the public eye, perhaps for his own safety"?
3.)What will be the exact nature of Pope Benedict XVI's "mental and/or emotional disconnect" and how will it "cause division among the clergy and Catholic laity"? In her April 23rd article, "Uncle Dick and Papa" (quoted above), New York Times Op-Ed columnist, Maureen Dowd, may have begun to answer this question.
4.)Will Pope Benedict XVI divide and fragment the Catholic Church? Will "the people scatter"?
5.)Will Pope Benedict XVI "be so out of touch with the clergy and the Catholic laity that his authority will be diminished," and will the Church "become fragmented"?
6.)Will there be "a political link between the new pontiff, the Vatican and Asia"? Will this link be the source "that will stir unrest in Asia, perhaps in the form of religious, social or political upheaval and conflict"?
7.)In "The Next Pope" I said, "I see the new pope coughing. Possibly he is ill." I feel it is possible that Pope Benedict XVI would die because of an illness or resign from the papacy because of an illness. Will this happen?

8.)What about the start of World War III and the impact of this on the Vatican? The Mayan Elders have predicted World War III will start in March 2006. In "The Next Pope" I said, "Now I see an image of the ground under the Vatican cracking, causing the floor on which the new pope stands to break, separate and open." Will this prediction be accurate, and if so will it be literal or symbolic?

Note: how my vision works and how I analyze and interpret what I am "seeing."
As I reflect on "The Next Pope" and the vision I saw of a fair-skinned, male face with Asian features, it might suffice to say that this vision was completely wrong. This certainly is a possibility. But to leave it at that would also be wrong. I have learned over the years that it is usually not the pure vision itself that is off the mark when something like this occurs.

In this case, the pure vision itself may have been accurate, but I unwittingly may have put my own political spin on it. In the training I received many years ago, I was taught to be on the lookout for this sort of distortion, but nonetheless there are moments when my own political ideas or other viewpoints can slip in and obscure the clarity of a vision.

Also I am aware that when I receive these visions, they flash in an out of the "viewfinder" of my mind's eye very rapidly. It is possible that, while I was describing my vision of the next pope's face, two different visions came to me in extremely quick succession, with one overlaid on top of the other. The first of these visions would have been that of Cardinal Ratzinger's literal, future presence on the Vatican balcony where he stood after he was elected pope. The second of these visions may quickly have overlaid itself over the first, to show me a symbol of what I predicted would be the new pope's "link to the Vatican and to Asia" and the problems that would ensue.

It is not unusual for the information I receive to come to my awareness in exceptionally quick flashes, changing in a fraction of a second, with one bit of information after the next appearing my mind's eye in a rapid sequence. If I had been more sharply observant of this, it is possible I would have been able to discern between the literal picture of Cardinal Ratzinger as the new pope and the symbolic meaning of the face with Asian features.

A reader of Future News, Pam, suggested, before the conclave began, in her comment under "The Next Pope" that I may have seen a vision, not of the future Pope Benedict XVI, but rather of the next pope after Pope Benedict XVI.

As events unfold, it will be interesting to see which explanation best fits the facts reported by the media in the news of the future.

© 2005 by William L. Tenuto

Inflation & Interest Rates Are Going Up, Confirming Future News Prediction

Future News-Inflation and Interest Rates Are Going Up, Confirming Future News Prediction
Bill Tenuto
April 23, 2005
PBU16

On March 14, 2005 in "The U.S. Economy Headed For A Fall", I wrote:

"The economy will soon take a downturn, inflation will rise, [and] the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates…."

"Under building pressure from increased prices for oil, natural gas and gasoline, inflation is on the verge of abruptly springing upward. This is already happening. We are just not hearing about it yet in the national media."

"We know that the policy of Greenspan and the Federal Reserve has consistently been one of checking the rise of inflation by raising interest rates. Therefore, as inflation goes up, interest rates will go up too. Everyone…will be…paying higher prices for everything. This is coming soon."

By the time the month of March 2005 had ended, the Consumer Price Index had taken a one month jump of 0.6 percent and the core rate, which excludes food and energy, had jumped 0.4 percent, the largest one month increase in almost four years.

Perhaps because of "frothy, happy conditions back in March" and "investors believing the economy was moving at a good clip" (NBC Nightly News, April 15, 2005), the news media in March did not even hint that inflation was, by then, already on its way up. It was not until new data about inflation were recently released that the news media could tell us what really had been going on with inflation in March.

On April 21, 2005, the headline below appeared on the front page of The New York Times. (For the Web edition see, "Fears of Rising Inflation Send Shares to New Lows for '05": http://www.nytimes.com )

The front-page, print edition headline said:

"Inflation Fears Pummel Stocks; New Lows for '05. Consumer prices up 0.6%. Fed is Expected to Keep Raising Rates Even if Economy Slows."

The article beneath this headline reported:

"Fears of rising inflation sent stocks to new lows for the year yesterday after the government reported a sharp increase in consumer prices that all but guaranteed that the Federal Reserve would continue to push interest rates higher even as the economy may be slowing."

"A 0.6 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index last month was the largest in five months, the government reported. The 0.4 percent jump in the core rate, which excludes food and energy, was twice the forecast from analysts and the biggest monthly increase in nearly four years."

"With inflation to the top range that Fed policy makers consider acceptable, analysts said, they may have little choice but to push rates steadily higher even if such actions threaten to slow economic activity further."

© 2005 by William L. Tenuto

More News Confirms A Falling Economy

Future News-More News Confirms A Falling Economy
Bill Tenuto
April 17, 2005
PBU16

I posted "U.S. Economy Headed for a Fall" on March 14, 2005. I opened the piece with this brief prediction:

"The economy will soon take a downturn…."

One month later, on April 15, 2005, the following reports about an economic downturn appeared in the news:

From NBC Nightly News (April 15, 2005)
"A huge mood swing as investors believing the economy was moving at a good clip suddenly fear the economy is slowing down. Frothy, happy conditions in early March, and now you're seeing investors bleeding and hurting everywhere."

From CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight (April 15, 2005)
"Stock prices today plunged on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrials fell almost 200 points. That's the worst single day decline in nearly two years, in fact. The Dow over the past three days has fallen more than 400 points. A new report today showed consumer confidence at the lowest level in a year and a half. All of the major markets suffered huge losses on the week."
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0504/15/1dt.01.html

And from Briefing.com, Live Market Analysis (April 15, 2005)
"Stocks got hammered for the third straight day, as an earnings miss from IBM and disappointing economic data further exacerbated concerns of a weakening economy."
http://news.moneycentral.nsn.com/briefing/StockTicker.asp

It appears an economic downturn has begun.

Copyright 2005 by William L. Tenuto

News Reports Are Confirming Predictions in Future News Article, "U.S. Economy Headed For A Fall"

News Reports Are Confirming Predictions in Future News Article, "U.S. Economy Headed For A Fall"
Bill Tenuto
April 13, 2005
PBU16


Occasionally my gift of foresight manifests some interesting points of accuracy when the same words and phrases I use in writing a prediction appear later in a news headline, article or report. This recently happened.

(In the examples below, the words used in my predictions and the corresponding words that appeared later in the news are printed in bold.)

On March 14, 2005 in "U.S. Economy Headed For A Fall," I predicted:

"Under building pressure from increased prices for oil, natural gas and gasoline, inflation is on the verge of abruptly springing upward. …Economists say that when the economy falls, there are two possible ways for it to hit bottom. Either it will hit bottom with "a soft landing" or it will hit bottom with a "hard landing". Either type of "landing" will bring financial hardship to the lives of many Americans."

Compare my prediction of upcoming financial hardship for many Americans to what was written in a CNN.com article posted three weeks later on April 4, 2005. The article was titled, "Gas prices a 'hardship' for majority in U.S.": http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/04/04/gas.poll/index.html

"(CNN) -- Gas prices are causing financial hardship for a majority of Americans, according to a poll released Monday."

"Fifteen percent of respondents said the current gas price…is causing them 'serious hardship' that jeopardizes their standard of living, while 43 percent described 'moderate hardship', the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll said."

In "U.S. Economy Headed For A Fall"," I also predicted:

"Those of us who are not independently wealthy soon will have to shoulder the burden of an economy in decline…. I see America's standard of living falling lower…."

On April 11, 2005 during the CNN news program, Lou Dobbs Tonight, viewers were asked to cast their votes in response to the following question: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0504/11.1dt.01.html

"What phrase best describes the change in your standard of living over the past year -- improving, worsening, or the same? "

The results of the vote were announced at the end of the show:

"84 percent of you say the standard of living is worsening when we asked you; 12 percent of you say it's the same. Only 4 percent of you say it's improving."

Increasing financial hardship and the worsening standard of living are newly developing problems, but they also are symptoms of more serious trouble ahead. The increasing worldwide demand for oil seems to be at the source of this trouble, which now is posing a threat, as a perceived by some, to U.S. national security.

Frank Gaffney, President of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C., while appearing on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight (April 11, 2005), was asked the following questions by news anchor Kitty Pilgrim: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0504/11/1dt.01.html

"Our demand for oil, still rising. We consume more than 20 million barrels of oil a day. Some 60 percent of that oil comes from other countries. Well, some Americans are now concerned about our dependence on foreign oil and what that means for our national security."

"So much of our oil is dependent on areas where terrorism is a problem. I refer you to a Goldman Sachs report that says that if a disruption in oil happens it could spike to $105 a barrel."

"Do you think that is a credible scenario?"

"And how vulnerable are we to that kind of thing?"

Gaffney replied:

"…that's part of this perfect storm…that is giving rise to conditions, both with respect to supply and demand, that are going to create a national security crisis for this country. If it isn't already upon us, it will be probably shortly."

"Much of our oil is coming from places that are at best unstable, and at worst actually hate us. The prospects of one of those other suppliers being unwilling to supply us or perhaps terrorists taking down the infrastructure makes that Goldman Sachs scenario, I think, entirely credible."

Regardless of possible terrorist threats to oil production or the potential impact of political tensions between the U.S. and oil producing countries, geologist Kenneth S. Deffeyes predicts we are fast approaching a worldwide oil shortage anyway. As worldwide demand for oil continues to climb to new highs, Deffeyes says worldwide oil production soon will peak, after which production will drop off into a permanent decline.

Kenneth S. Deffeyes is a professor emeritus of geology at Princeton University. In his article, "What Happens When the Oil Runs Out" (The New York Times, Op-Ed Section, March 25, 2005), he wrote:

"In 1997 and 1998, a few petroleum geologists began examining world oil production using the methods that M. King Hubbert used in predicting in 1956 that the United States oil production would peak during the 1970s.

These geologists indicated that world oil output would reach its apex in this decade -- some 30 to 40 years after the peak in American oil production. Almost no one paid attention"

"I used to work with Mr. Hubbert at Shell Oil, and my own independent research places the peak of world oil production late this year or in early 2006."

"A permanent drop in world oil production will have serious consequences."

With the addition of Deffeyes' research findings to other information I have written about 2006, the year 2006 appears to take on an even more somber tone as a pivotal year of great importance for the planet earth and all of humanity. In "Nuclear War: A Futurist's View, The Bible Code, Mayan Prophecy and My Vision of World War III," I quoted two other references pointing to the potential for serious danger in 2006.

Author and former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reporter, Michael Drosnin, said in his book, Bible Code II: The Countdown (published in 2002),

"The dangers will peak in the Hebrew year 5766 (2006 in the modern calendar), the year that is most clearly encoded with both 'World War' and 'Atomic Holocaust'."

And Carlos Barrios, a priest of the Mayan people, in a presentation he gave on October 14, 2004, said,

"And now the [Mayan] Elders say the year 2006 is very dangerous, and that it is going to happen in the period of March to November when humanity can come in a big war, in a destruction…in a very…I can say the freak energy, because we can destroy ourselves."
(Carlos Barrios from his presentation at The Prophets Sedona Conference, The Great Rethinking, Sedona, AZ, October 14, 2004.)

The threat of a world war, of an atomic holocaust so widespread and devastating that humanity virtually could destroy itself, is so horrible and repulsive that we automatically want to avoid thinking about it and just go on with our normal lives and loves.

Yet the possibility of this destruction actually happening becomes more realistic with every passing day. Carlos Barrios has told me, "The Elders have said that between 66% and 75% of humanity will be destroyed." This Mayan prophecy may not be well known to us "westerners", but it is not meant to be some esoteric, closely held Native American secret either. Quite to the contrary, the Mayan Elders want their prophecies to be heard by all, and they do not understand why so few are listening. Perhaps it is the gap between our cultures.

Carlos says that to stop the destruction "we need to change our hearts. …Take action and create action because that is the work we need to do… We don't have time. We need to change and create the balance."

Copyright 2005 by William L. Tenuto

The Next Pope

Future News-The Next Pope
Bill Tenuto
April 6, 2005

I see an image of Pope John Paul II, dressed in white, with a few Cardinals standing to his right side. He is waiving a handful of papers at them, telling them to remember to do what they have all agreed to do. John Paul II and a handful of cardinals have made an arrangement for who will become the next pope. They already have discussed this and agreed to it.

I see a man now who is dressed in black, and he is wearing the hat of a Catholic Monsignor. This man has a dark, long moustache. He may be Italian or Spanish, but I feel he is a Latin American cardinal. The image I see here is probably as this cardinal once looked when he was a younger man, with dark hair and a long moustache. His dark hair seems long on the back of his head, but maybe what I see is something which hangs from the back of his hat. His black garments are probably a symbol for me. I doubt that he literally wears black garments now. The personality characteristic which stands out for me is that this cardinal is demanding and frightening.

To interpret the image of this man further, the image may have a broader meaning. What I see could represent one specific cardinal who has a major influence, but the image also could represent a bloc of cardinals, perhaps all of the cardinals from Latin America. Whether the image represents one cardinal or a bloc of cardinals, I will refer to the image I see as "the cardinal in black." The cardinal in black appears to be the driving force at the upcoming conclave to elect the next pope, having a decided influence over the outcome of the election. Later, the cardinal in black will exert a powerful influence over the next pope during his papacy.

The image I see is that the cardinal in black will insist on being heard at the conclave. The very sound of his voice and the words he speaks will create a kind of shaking in the conclave. Most if not all of the other cardinals already understand that they must fall in line with what the cardinal in black is telling them. He is insisting on who must be elected as the next pope, reminding the cardinals of their previous agreement.

Now the cardinal in black is reading something from an old scroll. He is saying a prayer in front of the other cardinals, invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit to elect the right man to become the next pope. This prayer seems like a concession to the necessity of presenting at least the outward appearance of adhering to the Church tradition of asking for spiritual guidance to elect a pope. What I sense, however, is that most if not all of the 117 cardinals who will be voting know in advance who the next pope will be. I feel this decision had been made while John Paul II was alive.

Now the image I see changes. I see the next pope standing in front of a window at the Vatican to greet the people outside. It is raining. The new pope is wearing white. He is holding a staff. He has the appearance of an Asian man. I sense that the new pope could be from the Philippines or from China. His features are Asian. He is stocky looking, probably not too tall. He addresses the people, and then he lifts up his staff indicating to the crowd that has gathered that they should all cheer for something. But there is an energy about this gesture which feels awkwardly political to me. It may be literal or symbolic, but, as a symbol, the awkwardness I feel about it suggests something is not quite right about the cheering that the new pontiff asks for.

I sense a political link between the new pontiff, the Vatican and Asia. This link seems to be the source that will stir unrest in Asia, perhaps in the form of religious, social or political upheaval and conflict. This link appears to be at the root of escalating trouble for the Vatican in Asia. This new pope will have problems. They seem to be political problems which stem from who this pope is and where he comes from. I see him being forced to remove himself for a time from the public eye, perhaps for his own safety.

I see another image now. I see the new pope coughing. Possibly he is ill. With this I sense something is out of balance. There is a mental and/or emotional disconnect for the new pontiff. The church will become divided because of this new pope. His personality exhibits a flaw which suggests some sort of instability. For whatever the reason, the new pope will cause great division among the clergy and the Catholic laity. He seems to want to rally Catholics together in a common restoration of the spirit of the Church, yet he will create the opposite effect.

Now I see an image of the ground under the Vatican cracking, causing the floor on which the new pope stands to break, separate and open. It is like an earthquake or an explosion under the Vatican. I see the new pope now wearing black, not white. Again, something is not right with this pope. He is shown to me in black garments. This is a symbol, and it suggests some sort of shadow around him. I hear, "he scatters the people" or "the people scatter."

Perhaps the next pope will be so out of touch with the clergy and the Catholic laity that his authority will be diminished. I feel the Church will become fragmented. I see cardinals standing in the Vatican, unable to find a solution, feeling as if they no longer have anything of substance to hold onto. They appear to be questioning. They look puzzled.

Copyright 2005 by William L. Tenuto