(LifeSiteNews) — A priest attacked online for allegedly making a “false prophecy” is defending himself, explaining that he trusted a small group of people to keep the prophecy confidential and that many Christians misunderstand the point of prophecies.
On today’s episode of The John-Henry Westen Show, Father Michel Rodrigue of Quebec and lay theologian Xavier Ayral sat down with me to discuss the real role of prophecies in the Christian faith, namely to call the faithful to sincere repentance and conversion, not to infallibly predict details about the future.
Ayral described Father Rodrigue’s leaked prophecy as follows: “That the time would come when the Catholic Church in Rome would go through tremendous upheaval, that the Pope would be forced to flee, and … Pope Francis would die a martyr. In the course of this period of time, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI would, in that particular moment of gravity, try to gather the Church and form some sort of council … And from what I read, in the course of this timing, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI would pass away after Pope Francis. Also, he would pass away a martyr, when he would be caught by the anti-Christian enemies of the Church.”
As Father explained, someone at a retreat in California secretly recorded his prophecy and then posted it online in violation of his trust. But, he added, a prophecy is a “gift of God … a kind of a call from God Himself, who asks His people to pray that this evil will be changed or will not arrive.”
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“We have the example of Jonah. And the fact is, when the [prophecy] doesn’t arise, we have to rejoice,” he said. “Because our prayer has been heard by the eternal Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit … They want to save the world. They don’t want to condemn the world. So this is why they send the prophet: to remind the people to come back to them with all their heart, with all their being.”
In this episode, Father Rodrigue also shared some prophecies vis-à-vis the Antichrist. He said the world is currently in a “time of purification,” which means that it is all the more urgent we pray and listen to what Christ instructs us to do in the Gospels.
He stated that the COVID pandemic and the prevalence of gender ideology are part of the “structure that the Antichrist needs before he arrives,” since they attack the family, our health, and destabilize society.
But Father Rodgiue urges us to remember that “the Lord wants to help us,” and a few ways we can take advantage of His help during these trying times are by making a general confession, consecrating ourselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (as Our Lady of Fatima recommended to Sister Lucia), and consecrating our family, our home, and even the ground outside our home with holy water (you do not actually need a priest for this!).
“The message of Sister Faustina, in the beginning of the messages she received, God said, ‘First, I will come as merciful Lord, and after I will come as judge.’ The merciful year has been proclaimed … and has been passed also. And now what we are facing: the coming of the One who will make the truth in everyone by the indictment of conscience.”
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