1000-year-old prophecy predicted newly elected pope as the last with terrifying warning to humanity

Catholics around the world are currently rejoicing after the Vatican College of Cardinals has elected Pope Leo XIV to lead the church.

Pope Leo XIV - formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost - was confirmed as the new pontiff earlier today (8 May) just weeks after the death of Pope Francis at the age of 88 on Easter Monday (April 22).

The sight of white smoke drifting from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel should be a moment of joy for followers of the Catholic Church as well as the people of America and Peru, where Pope Leo XIV spent the majority of his career.

However there is one group of people who are treating the election of a new pope with hesitance.

Enter, the conspiracy theorists.

Catholics of the world, here is your new pope (Marco Mantovani/Getty Images)

That's right folks, enjoy the election of Pope Leo XIV while you can because a resurfaced 100-year-old prophecy suggests the 69-year-old will apparently be the last Bishop of Rome.

As some of you may already be aware, we've previously covered the resurgence of a text allegedly written in the 1100s by a fella by the name of Saint Malachy, known as simply 'Malachy' during his lifetime, titled 'Prophecy of the Popes'.

Following the theme of most texts which begin with the word 'prophecy' Saint Malachy's predictions don't see a pretty ending for mankind.

According to Malachy's text, there would be a further 112 popes after his lifetime.

But it could be bad news for humanity (Getty Stock Images)

The list ends with an ominous reference to a man named 'Peter the Roman' who is serving as the Bishop of Rome during end times.

According to text, Peter the Roman's tenure unfolds in the following manner: "Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The End."

Now of course the skeptics amongst us will be very quick to notice that 'Peter the Roman' sounds nothing like Pope Leo XIV. The pontiff's full birth-name, Robert Francis Prevost, doesn't even include the name Peter either. So it's pretty safe to assume ole' Saint Malachy missed the mark on that one.

The text also gets his nationality wrong, as Pope Leo XIV holds both American and Peruvian citizenship, not Italian, as a moniker such as 'the Roman' would suggest.

Fortunately for us, the prophecy has since been largely debunked (Public Domain)

Meanwhile, others have believed the late Pope Francis could've been the fateful 'Peter the Roman', however this theory has been completely rubbished over the years for similar reasons.

Josh Canning, director of Toronto's Chaplaincy at the Newman Centre, said in 2013, via Global News: "I don't know how you can connect Peter the Roman with Pope Francis."

So if we just happen to wake up tomorrow and find comets raining from the sky and nuclear missiles flying left and right then I'll happily hold my hands up and say I'm wrong.

But for now, I think Pope Leo XIV probably has more pressing matters than a prophecy which may or may not have been written by a guy named Saint Malachy.