Hello, Last week I was watching an A&E presentation on who was a candidate for the next pope. The following is a list that they gave (some of the spelling is off because their names weren't put up on the screen) Carlo Maria Martini - Italian, Jesuit Pio Laghi - Italian Angelo Sodano - Italian Achille Silvistrini - Italian Godfried Danneels - Belgian Stephen Nweke Ezeanya - Africa Bernadine Gandet - Africa Francis Arinze - Africa Jean-Marie Lustiger - France The one that I found most interesting was the last one: Jean-Marie Lustiger. The current pope really likes him and has "stacked the deck" of the conclave that picks the next pope, so the scoop is that he is the most likely (with Martini) to be chosen. There are a few especially interesting things about Lustiger. For one, he's of Jewish descent, and his name used to be Aaron. "The Europeans have other papabili, among them Godfried Cardinal Danneels, 61, of Belgium. And then there is another prominent convert: Jean-Marie Lustiger, 68, the Archbishop of Paris. Lustiger was born a Jew, the son of Polish emigres to France (his mother would die in Auschwitz). Abandoning his original name, Aaron, he adopted Catholicism as a teenager, a move that hurt his parents terribly. Lustiger is a trusted confidant of John Paul's; when he first visited the Pope, John Paul's secretary, Monsignor Stanislaw Dziwisz, grabbed the Frenchman's arm and told him, "Remember, you are the fruit of the prayers of the Pope. The Pope prayed long and hard over his choice." "Asked by TIME about his chances of succeeding John Paul, Lustiger replies, "Me? Totally excluded. Out of the question." Lustiger fidgets silently with his breviary in its brown leather case, then suddenly announces, "I had a dream. I dreamed that the President of the United States was black, the President of the ex-U.S.S.R. was a Muslim - and the Pope was Chinese. And in my dream I asked God to let me die before that day would come. Because if ever we had a Chinese Pope" - he clenches his fist and makes a screw-turning gesture - "they know what administration is!" (Time, Cover: Man of the Year, Who Will Be First Among us? by Kevin Fedarko) ******************** "Jean-Marie Lustiger was born on September 17, 1926 in Paris, France. His parents were Jewish Poles who perished in the Nazi deportations. Lustiger was spared because he was received into a Catholic family of Orleans. He converted to Catholicism and was baptized on August 25, 1940." (www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Inside/01-97/BIOGRAFI.html) ******************** This is the more striking when considering the recent overtures the Vatican has been making with Israel: "Vatican hails pact with Israel, seeks guarantees on Jersualem Copyright 1997 by Agence France-Presse / Mon, 10 Nov 1997 7:35:46 PST "VATICAN CITY, Nov 10 (AFP) - The Vatican on Monday hailed an accord with Israel granting the Roman Catholic Church legal status in the Holy Land, but said it still wanted guarantees to protect religious assets in Jerusalem." ******************** Further down in the same article: "Israel's occupation and annexation of east Jerusalem in 1967 has never been recognized by the Vatican." ******************** Another article from the same news service: "'This is the first time that the legal status of the Roman Catholic Church has been recognized in the Holy Land for 500 years, a foreign ministry spokesman said." ******************** And: "Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro Valls confirmed Monday that the Church position remained that sovereignty over the Holy City can only be legitimately exercised by a power or powers with 'a special statute under international guarantee.' "Monday's agreement, negotiated nearly 18 months ago but only approved by the Israeli government in September, follows up on the "Fundamental Agreement" reached between Israel and the Vatican in December 1993 which led to the formal establishment of diplomatic relations in June 1994." ******************** From: FYI - Israel In The News (http://www.tzemach.org/fyi) "VATICAN TO LIGHT HANUKKIYAH: The Vatican will light a Hanukkah menorah next week for the first time in history during a ceremony in the Vatican Gardens, Yediot Aharonot reported. According to Catholic leaders, they will light the menorah in honor of Israel's 50th anniversary." ******************** I also found this interesting: "...there are those who definitely believe that Antichrist will be a Jew. In tracing the rise of this view one finds that Irenaeus of the second century seems to be the first to teach it. He based his view upon the following points: (1) The name Antichrist is Jewish. (2) Daniel wrote these words about Antichrist: 'Neitehr shall he regard the God of his fathers' (Dan 11:37). (3) He is from the tribe of Dan since this tribe is among the missing of those mentioned in Revelation 7:4-8. (4) To be parallel to Christ he must come from Israel...There is just not enough abundant Scripture for anyone to be dogmatic on whether Antichrist will be Jewish or not." (The Next Invasion From Outer Space, Reg Dunlap) ******************** Lustiger is "noted for his Marian piety" and I can't help but make the connection of the Roman Catholic Mary to the woman who rides the beast ******************* "Now, let's look at the motto St.Malachy gave to the pope after Pope JPII. It is "De Gloria Olivae" (the glory of the olive / olive tree). It is widely interpreted to indicate that the next pope would be of Jewish origin since olives / olive tree were a common Roman symbol for Jedea/Palestine. Amazingly, one of the leading potential popes is a Jew. He is Cardinal Lustiger, the very popular Archbishop of Paris. It seems likely that he'll be the next pope and fulfill the prophecy of St.Malachy. But in April '96, something happened which gave the motto, "De Gloria Olive", even more depth. "In Italy, April 21 '96, just 2-3 days after the crucial window of April 18-19, for the first time in 50 years, Center-left government was elected (voter turnout in the election was whopping 82.7%!). This was a MAJOR event for Italy, because one of the reasons Italy has had 55 governments in the last 50 years through all the political maneuvering by the Center-right was to prevent this from happening. But what's really stunning here is that the center-left coalition (which has the support of the former communists) that won the general election is called... "Olive Tree"! Now we're beginning to really see what the motto, "the glory of the olive tree", that St.Malachy gave to the next pope refers to!" www.concentric.net/~adachi/prophecy/prophecy.html ******************** Lustiger still considers himself a Jew (I read this but and have misplaced the reference). ******************** Found this on the net and it seems pertinent: a=6 b=12 c=18 d=24 e=30 f=36 g=42 h=48 i=54 j=60 k=66 l=72 m=78 n=84 o=90 p=96 q=102 r=108 s=114 t=120 u=126 v=132 w=138 x=144 y=150 z=156 l=72 u=126 s=114 t=120 i=54 g=42 e=30 r=108 lustiger=666 (The Unofficial 666 Faq, Arno van Goch, avg@xs4all.nl) ******************** For a very interesting "take" on all this goto: http://www.planet.net/ptgermine/ Just something to watch, Moza ============================================ moza@butterfly.mv.com www.mv.com/ipusers/butterfly/rev/00index.htm ============================================