In the Book of Revelation, the Antichrist is assisted by a false prophet, who tries to convince the world to worship him. Rev 16:13, 19:20, and 20:10 use the term “false prophet”. But I understand this figure to be a woman, not a man. Revelation explicitly refers to a false prophetess, Jezebel.

[Revelation]
{2:20} But I have a few things against you. For you permit the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication and to eat the food of idolatry.

Jezebel is an apostate Catholic Christian. She is among the Christians at the Church of Thyatira, which God rebukes in the above passage. He calls herself a prophetess, indicating that she is the false prophet who assists the Antichrist (Rev 13).

In His eschatological discourse, Jesus warns us: “there will arise false Christs and false prophets.” (Mt 24:24) As time passes, many false Christs and false prophets plague the world, until the very end times, when the false Christ (the Antichrist) and the false prophet try to lead the faithful astray. Just as the Antichrist is a perverse imitation of Christ, the false prophetess is essentially a perverse imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (an Anti-virgin-Mary).

The only two human bodies in heaven, before the general Resurrection, according to the revelations to Saint Bridget, are those of Jesus and Mary. Conversely, the only two human bodies that will be in Hell, before the general Resurrection, will be the Antichrist, a man, and the false prophetess, a woman. For Revelation tells us that “the beast” (the Antichrist) and “the false prophet” (Jezebel) are “apprehended”, after Jesus returns, and then “These two were cast alive into the pool of fire burning with sulphur” (Rev 19:20), which is Hell. They are sent to Hell alive, with body and soul united, not in soul only, while Jesus and Mary are sent to Heaven with body and soul united, not in soul only. This explanation also weighs in favor of the false prophet being a woman.

[Revelation 17]
{17:1} And one of the seven Angels, those who hold the seven bowls, approached and spoke with me, saying: “Come, I will show you the condemnation of the great harlot, who sits upon many waters.

This chapter from Revelation repeatedly refers to the harlot, who is a woman, and who helps the Antichrist lead the peoples of the world astray. She can only be the false prophetess, since her position of authority in the kingdom of the Antichrist, and her wickedness, according to the description throughout that chapter, is second only to his.

Thus, the false prophet of the Antichrist, is the same as the Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess (but who sins greatly), and the same as the woman called the harlot.

{17:4} And the woman was clothed all around with purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand, filled with the abomination and with the filth of her fornication.

The false prophetess is dressed ornately, in purple and scarlet, with gold, precious stones, and pearls, because she is at the head of the false religion of the Antichrist. The cup in her hand is filled with the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel, spoken of by Jesus:

[Matthew]
{24:15} Therefore, when you will have seen the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, may he who reads understand,
{24:16} then those who are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains.

The abomination is part of the false religion of the Antichrist, devised by the false prophetess. It is a false Eucharist, which is why it is called “the food of idolatry” (Rev 2:20), and yet also a drink in “a golden cup in her hand, filled with the abomination”. The false religion of the Antichrist is patterned perversely after the Sacraments and other elements of Catholicism — because the false prophetess is an apostate Catholic.

Does the Antichrist wish to be Pope, or claim to be Pope? No, he claims to be God, and he wishes to be worshiped. He hates the Catholic Church, so he certainly does not want to be the head of the Church. Instead, he establishes his own false Church, and tries to convince Christians to apostatize from Christianity, to worship him.

Similarly, the false prophetess does not wish to be the head of the Christian Church. She is appointed by the Antichrist as the head of his competing false Church. Since the two Churches are opposed to one another, it will not seem as if she were the Pope, nor will she claim to be the Pope. In addition, women cannot be Bishops or Popes in the Catholic Church, so no woman could credibly claim to be Pope.

This idea that some Catholics have adopted, that the Antichrist or the false prophet will be a Pope is entirely untenable. It does not fit any of the prophecies of Sacred Scripture, nor the interpretations given by the Saints. The prediction that Rome will apostatize and be led by the Antichrist (or the false prophet) refers to the secular city of Rome, not the Roman Catholic Church, and not the See of Rome (the Holy See).

At the start of the Antichrist’s reign, the followers of the Antichrist kill the Pope (Antipas, Rev 2:13). He is the last Pope before the Return of Christ. Then, during the entire reign of the Antichrist, there is no Roman Pontiff over the Catholic Church. For the kingdom of the Antichrist will not permit the Cardinals and Bishops to gather for any reason, neither for a conclave, nor for a Council. And the Antichrist closes all the houses of worship of the world, so that no religion will compete with his false religion. Thus, no one will mistakenly think that the Antichrist or his false prophet is the Pope.

Much more about the end times in my books.

by
Ronald L. Conte Jr.
Roman Catholic theologian
* My books of theology
* My translation of the Bible (the CPDV)
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