Chilling ancient prophecy says Pope’s death could be about to ignite Armageddon

It was announced earlier this week on Monday (21 April) that Pope Francis passed away at the age of 88.

The Vatican previously revealed the Bishop of Rome's cause of death was a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure, prompting an outpouring of tributes across the globe.

Nine days of mourning are now set to commence following Francis' death with the church set to enact a series of rituals before a successor is eventually chosen. The attention has now turned to the question of who will replace Pope Francis as the head of the Catholic Church, with a number of possible candidates having been put forward.

The potential successor could align with a prediction made by French astrologer Michel de Nostredame (known as Nostradamus) back in 1555.

Nostradamus, who was responsible for the text Les Propheties, which depicted his predictions in the form of poems once wrote: "Through the death of a very old Pontiff / A Roman of good age will be elected / Of him it will be said that he weakens his seat / But long will he sit and in mordant activity."

He then added: "A young man of dark skin with the help of the great king will deliver the purse to another of red colour."

Talking of ancient prophecies, there is another chilling prophecy which was made in a book called Prophecy of the Popes, written in 1139 by Irish holy man, St Malachy.

According to the book - which is based off St Malachy's trip to Rome where he claimed that he received a vision of the future, including the name of every single Pope from that moment until the end of days - the death of Pope Francis could 'spark the day of judgement', the Express reports.

The legitimacy of the St Malachy prophecy has been greatly contested over the years (Public Domain)

Sharing details of over 100 future popes in the book with Pope Francis being the last, St Malachy wrote: "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End."

The text also lists a series of very cryptic phrases which have just so happened to correspond with the people who made it to the head of the Catholic church - hence the reason why so many people are convinced of its authenticity.

With that said, however, the prophecy's legitimacy as been greatly challenged by historians throughout the years so, with all ancient prophecies, take them with a heavy pinch of salt.