A THEORY that is part of a 20th-century fictional novel plot – there is no real academic proof this text ever existed.
St. Malachy's famous prophetic list of Popes up until the chastisement of Rome is credible, however, a new theory has surfaced in 2001 saying there is an entry that was 'lost' or 'missing' – 'Caput Nigrum', 'Black Head', and that it should be situated before the entry “De gloria olivae” (Glory of the Olive).
According to this theory, Pope Benedict would not be 'De Gloria Olivae' but the 'Caput Nigrum' or 'black head' as he has a Moor's Head on his coat of arms. This would make Pope Francis 'Gloria Olivae', and we would still have one more pope to go before the chastisement, 'Petrus Romanus'.
However, this is complete nonsense.
This theory of 'Caput Nigrum' first appeared in a novel called 'The Lost Prophecy of the Black Pope' (“Profezia perduta sul Papa nero”) by Schmeig Maria Olaf published by the Italian publisher Fazi in 2001, which was no doubt inspired by an old ANONYMOUS Italian prophecy about a 'black pope'. The protagonist in the novel who is supposed to be the next pope, aka 'Petrus Romanus' of St. Malachy's prophecies, 'discovers' this lost prophecy of the 'Caput Nigrum' on a the wall of a church in Viterbo, not in the text of St. Malachy, so this is a complete fictional tale. This book is not an academic non-fiction work.
The authentic earliest texts of St. Malachy's prophecies from the time it was discovered c. 1590 / 1595 to the various reprints over the next 400 years in no way mention a 'Caput Nigrum'. There is hardly any mention of this 'Caput Nigrum' online except for Italian sites thanks to this novel, and if it was a real rediscovered text, it should be making serious waves by now, but it isn't. There is no other credible academic source that supports this theory at all.
As mentioned, the author seems to have mashed this up with another centuries old anonymous Roman prophecy that 'one day' there would be a 'black pope', but this is in no way is one of St. Malachy's prophecies.
Obviously, we have a case of an author putting out a sensationalist 'new discovery' into a novel similar to the 'Da Vinci Code' book, which is causing confusion with the prophecies. It would be interesting if the author was gambling on the very real possibility that at the time the Church might soon elect a pope of African heritage, or, perhaps put in a liberal modernist who would also fit under the title of 'black head'. Another possibility, eventhough this book was published only four years before Pope Benedict's election, they could very well have guessed in 2001 Cardinal Ratzinger might be the next pope after Pope John Paul II as he was head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and therefore a very good candidate. From hindsight we can see that the author did a pretty good job at guesswork with the Moor's head and that pope Benedict might include it in his arms as Benedict is from Bavaria. A crowned Moor's head is common in the Bavarian heraldic tradition, it is known as the 'caput Ethiopicum' or the 'Moor of Freising'.
Still, just a piece of excellent guesswork by a novelist, there is no academic basis in fact his prophecy was ever made by St Malachy, or part of the original prophecies attributed to him.
Unfortunately, people are falling for the plot of this novel and spreading this as a real prophecy, similar to those who fell for the heresies in the fictional novel the 'Da Vinci Code' and started spreading them as factual or 'real' Church history.
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(Oct. 24, 2020)
