Pope Peter II

This article is about a hypothetical Pope or Bishop of Rome. For the Patriarch of Alexandria, see Pope Peter II of Alexandria.

Pope Peter II is a hypothetical papal name and, in recent times, a common name for sedevacantist group leaders styling themselves as popes.

Name connotations

Out of respect for the Apostle Saint Peter, the first pope, no pope has ever adopted the name Peter II. It is considered unlikely that any future pope would choose the name. Many popes have, however, had the saint's name as their baptismal name, most recently Benedict XIII (Pietro Orsini).

The likelihood of such a choice is further diminished by the final passage of the Prophecy of the Popes attributed to St. Malachy, a text which is well known in Catholic circles, though having no official standing. The prophecy refers to a Petrus Romanus (Peter the Roman) as the final pope: he would "feed his sheep in many tribulations" and in the days of the "final persecution." This text invests the name of Peter II with an apocalyptic connotation.

Use

The name Peter II has been adopted by several modern-day conclavists who claim to be the legitimate pope, particularly those whose claim to the papacy derives from a claimed personal divine revelation.

Pope Peter II is the name assumed by Manuel Alonso Corral who is the second pope of the Palmarian Catholic Church, a small schismatic Traditionalist Catholic church with an episcopal see headquartered in El Palmar de Troya, Spain. Coral (Pope Peter II) succeeded Clemente Domínguez y Gómez the initial Pope known as Pope Gregory XVII. Corral as Pope Peter II ruled for more than 6 years from 22 March 2005 to 15 July 2011 and was succeeded by Ginés Jesús Hernández known as Pope Gregory XVIII. The incumbent pope of the church Joseph Odermatt is known as Pope Peter III.

Fiction

In the Left Behind series, Peter Mathews, a corrupt Catholic bishop, is elected pope and takes the name Peter II, subsequently becoming a leader of the Enigma Babylon One World Faith.

In The Third Secret by Steve Berry, an ambitious Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Alberto Valendrea, is elected pope and chooses the name Peter II.

The novel The Accidental Pope by Raymond Flynn and Robin Moore (2000) has a widowed American fisherman with four children elected pope by a fluke. He chooses the name Peter II in honor of Pope Peter I, who he describes as also having been a fisherman who had been married.

The Fifth Seal: The Rise of Petrus Romanus by Dennis R. Berry portrays Cardinal Vitale Milani, an evil and ambitious man who stops at nothing to assume the papacy, including mass murder. He chooses Peter II as his papal name.

In A Short Story of the Anti-Christ by Russian Orthodox philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, Cardinal Simon Barionini is elected Peter II. No direct mention is made of the Prophecy of the Popes, but he, along with the Orthodox Elder John and the Protestant Professor Ernst Pauli, leads the reunited Christian Churches against the titular Emperor in the Battle of Armageddon.