St. Malachy was an Irish bishop in the 12th century. The first native-born Irishman to be canonized, he is known in the Roman Catholic Church for his work as a healer, a miracle worker, and as a reformer of the Church in Ireland.
But what he is most known for today is prophecy. St. Malachy was summoned to Rome in 1139 by Pope Innocent II, and while there, he experienced a vision of future popes, which he then recorded as a series of short phrases. This transcript was then placed into the Vatican Secret Archives, where it lay until 1590.
First published in 1595 by Arnold de Wyon, a Benedictine monk, Malachy’s prophecy consists of 112 short Latin descriptions of future popes. Each of these descriptions identifies one outstanding trait for each of these future popes, beginning with Pope Celestine II, who was elected in 1130. This list stretches all the way from the time of St. Malachy to the present, describing, among many others, Pope John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and finally, Pope Francis.