By David Moorcroft
Saint Francis |
Since the election of Pope Francis, certain factions on the fringes of the Catholic Church, in particular extreme traditionalists and quasi-sectarian groups gathered around spurious and patently false private revelations have been exploiting the Internet for the propagation of bogus prophecies attributed to Saints and Blesseds of the Church. The claim is made that these “prophecies” have foretold the election of Pope Francis and its dire consequences for the Church.
(1) A bogus prophecy falsely attributed to St Francis of Assisi which foretells the coming of an uncanonically elected “destroyer pope” has been widely circulated.