(Image: artist's depiction of Fra. Dolcino)
HERETICAL / FAKE PROPHET: Angelic Pontiff prophecy twisted by a heretical priest and his followers influenced by the prophecies of Bl Joachim de Fiori and the heretic, Segarelli.
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In Fr. Culleton's book, we find the following line attributed to a 'Dolcino (14th century)':
“Under a holy pope, there will be universal conversion”.
While yes, we do know from authentic prophecies given by real mystics there will be an 'Angelic Pontiff', I'm surprised Fr. Culleton didn't research the heretical Fra. Dolcino and quoted the man as though he were an authentic prophet making his own prediction.
Fra. Dolcino was a 'would be reformer' that formed a 'sedevacantist' cult around himself using well known prophecies and refused obedience to the Holy See. His own prophecies proved false as well. The rest of his fake prophecies were conveniently cut out, not to mention his scandalous history!
Here is what I found about about 'Dolcino' and his followers, the 'Dulcinists':
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“A priest and native of Novara, Italy, who followed Segarelli (q.v.) as leader of the Apostolici (q.v.), about AD 1300. He and his followers, being put under the ban, fortified a mountain in Novara, where they were taken prisoners. "He was charged with contempt of the Catholic hierarchy; also with asserting a succession of three theocracies — that those under the Father and the Son were already passed; that the third, under the Holy Spirit, was then in operation. His followers called themselves 'The Spiritual Congregation and the Order of the Apostles.' 'We alone (they said) are in the perfection in which the apostles were, and in the liberty which proceeds immediately from Jesus Christ. Wherefore we acknowledge obedience neither to the pope nor to any other human being; nor has he any power to excommunicate us . . . The pope can give no absolution from sins unless he be as holy as St. Peter, living in entire poverty and humility . . . so that all the popes and prelates since St. Sylvester (b. 285-d. 335 AD), having deviated from that original holiness, are prevaricators and seducers, with the single exception of pope Celestine, Pietro di Morone, etc.' (See Fleury, 54:91, sec. 23) Lastly, to consummate his odium, his followers, who were not very numerous, were assailed with the primitive and accustomed calumny of promiscuous prostitution" (Waddington, Church History, chapter 22). Extracts from two of the writings of Dolcino are given in the Historia Dulcini, and in the Additamentum ad Historiam Dulcini in Muratori, Script. Rer. Ital. 9:425 sq., cited in Herzog, Real-Ecyklop. 3:468 sq., from which we condense the following statements. (…) Dolcino predicted that in the year 1303 his opponents should be destroyed; that he and his followers should then, without molestation, preach publicly, and in these last days all Christians should embrace his doctrines. As this prophecy was not fulfilled in 1303, he postponed its fulfilment to 1304, under the pretence that God had especially called him, and made known to him the import of the Bible prophecies.”
(Source: https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/D/dulcinists.html)
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However, there is some doubt as to him being a priest, a brother, yes, but perhaps not a priest.
His movement than took a rather violent turn as I've discovered from Wikipedia:
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“According to the Roman Catholic Church and most historians of the period, Dolcino and his followers, in reaction to attacks by Catholic troops, became criminals (today they would be probably called guerrilla fighters), who would not hesitate, for their own survival, to plunder and devastate villages, killing any who opposed them, and burning their houses. He justified the actions committed by his followers in this period citing Saint Paul (Epistle to Titus 1:15): "To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure; their very minds and consciences are corrupted", as reported by the Anonymous Synchronous Dolcino maintained: "[...] that it was legitimate for him and his followers to hang, behead, [...] people who obey the Roman church and burn down, destroy, [...] because they were acting to redeem them and thus without sin".
Despite this, he was considered by some to be one of the reformers of the Church and one of the founders of the ideals of the French revolution and socialism. In particular he was positively reevaluated toward the end of the 19th century and was dubbed the “Apostle of the Socialist Jesus" and thus in 1907 left wing workers of Biella and the Sesia Valley erected a monument on mount Rubello, the place of its last resistance. The monument was later (1927) symbolically gunned down by the Fascists and rebuilt in a smaller size and different shape in 1974.”
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fra_Dolcino)
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I also found evidence from latter sources that he believed the Antichrist was coming into the world in his time c. 1299-1300, that his followers would be raised up to Paradise and escape the persecution, but return to preach to those who survived, (aka something we see in the Protestant 'Rapture' nonsense!), and, he also taught he was the destined 'Holy Pope' foretold to reform the Church. (Source: 'A Rapture Citation in the Fourteenth-Century', Francis Gumerlock,1 Bibliotheca Sacra 159 (July-September 2002):349-362, ( p. 8)
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Dolciano was burned at the stake in 1307 for his heresies.
In conclusion, the man was a heretic who used the prophecies for his own ends
and formed a 'reformist' cult around himself. His own prophecies as the reformer
of the last days where all would follow his doctrines in 1303
obviously didn't come to pass. He and his followers turned to
pillaging and violence to support themselves, believing they had the
right to kill those who obeyed the 'corrupt' Roman Church in order to
further the 'reform'. He preached a 'rapture' event for his followers, and, also thought he was the 'Angelic Pontiff'.
He cannot be considered an authentic prophet and should not be quoted as such.
Return to the Great Catholic Monarch and Angelic Pontiff ProphecyTimeline, click here.
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May 5, 2021
