And on the fringe…

the prophecy and private revelation chasers will have their hour to speculate about Doom. Look for lots of talk about Petrus Romanus and the alleged prophecy of St. Malachy. Particularly since the announcement comes on the Feast our Our Lady of Lourdes. When none of this comes true, look for fascinating mental gymnastics to account for this, followed by a swift return to other alleged private revelations.

A not-inconsiderable portion of Catholics navigate their faith, not so much by listening to the Magisterium as by dipping a ladle into a large stew of swirling rumor and private revelation both approved and alleged and trying to divine the future by means of it. It’s kind of survival of the Roman augurs into the present day. Some people simply cannot rest with what God has already revealed and are always trying to get the inside track on predicting the future. It’s a natural human impulse in times of uncertainty and the Church accomodates it as it accomodates all us fragile people. But it’s definitely an impulse that requires us to ride the brakes a lot since it’s easy for people to fly off on all sorts of false “prophetic” tangents. Treat with extreme caution.