Now onto St. Peter and his relationship to St. Peter the Roman. As already stated, but to repeat for emphasis, St. Peter, the first pope, cannot literally rule the Church from Heaven because that goes against dogma. Therefore, using the exact same Biblical precedent of St. John the Baptist, recall that he was called “Elijah” (Elias in old naming convention) as explained in Matthew 11:14. Obviously St. John the Baptist was not literally Elijah (e.g. not reincarnated) and so the interpretation means that St. John the Baptist has the spirit of Elijah. The Douay-Rheims Bible notes for that verse say “He is Elias: Not in person, but in spirit. St. Luke 1. 17.” Luke 1:17 includes the text “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah).” Hence, Peter the Roman is a real human man on earth who will have the spirit of St. Peter in Heaven. The last pope has the spirit of the first pope. Logical, isn’t it? God’s bookends for the Vicar of His Church. And, in fact, there are prophecies about that.
“After the three days of darkness [the first set associated with the Warning], St. Peter and St. Paul, having come down from Heaven, will preach in the whole world and designate a new Pope. A great light will flash from their bodies and will settle upon the cardinal who is to become Pope. Christianity, then, will spread throughout the world. He is the Holy Pontiff, chosen by God to withstand the storm. At the end, he will have the gift of miracles, and his name shall be praised over the whole earth. Whole nations will come back to the Church and the face of the earth will be renewed. Russia, England, and China will come into the Church.” [Note: the second set of 3 days of darkness is the Great Chastisement, that is immediately before the Second Coming. That is when the real rapture occurs.]
Therefore it is not a problem to interpret MDM and other prophecies in accordance with Church dogma on the last pope, Peter the Roman, a real human man on earth. As a corollary, realize that this last pope will live a very long life, until the end of the world. That is not new either, since in the early days of the world people lived a very long time, such as Mathusala for 969 years, and that is in an era of sin. Remember that death is the result of sin (Romans 5:12), hence a very long life is not a problem for an era without sin.
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