So glad to see someone else say this! Since Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, lots of people have been referring to Nostradamus's Black Pope and to Saint Malachy's reference to the last pope.

Well I've been looking for the "Black Pope" reference in Nostradamus's prophecies and haven't found it yet, and the couple of (different) quatrains that supposedly refer to him, don't do it for me.

The two suns mentioned in this forum's Nostradamus post could just as easily be referring to when Planet X/Nibiru arrives in our solar system again which could give the appearance of a second sun (if you want to believe THAT end-of-the-world theory). The great pontiff changing country could easily have meant the last two Popes who were both non-Italian.

As other sites have said, Pope Benedict XVI could have fitted the bill as the "black" Pope because he has the face of a brown person on his coat of arms; he took the name Benedict which has connections with the Benedictine order (who dress in black); and I read somewhere recently he has also appointed a number of Jesuits to positions of power in the Vatican (Jesuits are another religious order that wears black robes). The "Black Pope" is also the nickname of the Head of the Jesuits so perhaps he's in the running too!

Even if there is an oblique reference to a Black Pope somewhere in prophecy, wouldn't it be just a tad too obvious to actually appointed a dark/black-skinned cardinal to the position? Prophecies are always vague and you have to think really hard on how to connect the dots and try and argue your case.

And if you believe Malachy meant that this Pope will be the last one before "Petrus Romanus" - Peter the Roman - wouldn't it be more likely that the Vatican would want to get back to having an Italian (Roman) Pope rather than any more 'outsiders'? By the way, is Petrus Romanus Latin as opposed to Italian because I couldn't get "Peter Roman" through the Italian/English Google translate page at all. I did find out that Petrus in German translates to Peter in English......and isn't Pope Benedict XVI German?