WHEN the great 16th Century prophet Nostradamus stared into the future, he described the fate of the final pope with eerie detail. And the first sign will soon be in our skies.

The 266th pope now sits on the Throne of St Peter. According to the pen of several prophets, he will be the last.

One prophet, a Saint of the Catholic Church, counted down the popes until the end of the world. After Pope Francis there are no more on that list.

Nostradamus himself foresaw the end of a pope and the Church itself at a time when a great comet was to fill our skies. Comet Ison, said to be one of the brightest for centuries, will pass by later this year.

Their ancient words have set speculation ablaze on internet forums and in social media debates.

Anything mentioning Nostradamus is bound to fire up imaginations.

From his smoke-filled room in 16th century Renaissance France, the prophet wrote one of his characteristically tantalising four-line prophetic "quatrains":

Continue with videos at:  http://www.news.com.au/world-news/ancient-prophecies-point-to-pope-...

However, in this case, Nostradamus was not the only one to foretell the fate of the Catholic Church's final leader.

It is the writings of Saint Malachy, an archbishop of the 1100s, which definitively states this will be the pope of the end times.Malachy,