Revelation 13: 11 – 12: And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
In the message “Acts of the Holy Spirit” (December 19, 1954), the prophet of God spoke of how a pope will come out of the United States according to prophecy. The scripture Brother Branham drew this from is Revelation 13 where the second beast (which is the United States) would cause the whole world to worship the first beast (Rome). This scripture has already been in the process of fulfilment with the United States being the strong arm or military might of the Roman beast, but will find a more pronounced fulfilment with the rise of American cardinal Robert Prevost from Chicago, who succeeded Francis to the papal chair in May of 2025.
The prophet in no ways implied that an American pope would be the last to sit on Saint Peter’s chair. Unfortunately, this is the interpretation we default to. However, with the rise of an American cardinal to the position of pontiff, he may or may not be the last. It remains to be seen, because many scriptures must be taken into account when looking at prophecies for the last days.
When considering this statement of the prophet, it is very important to examine what he said with what the scriptures make plain to us. Unfortunately, many turn to the writings of Nostradamus and the prophecy of a certain Saint Malachy to help give clarity to what the prophet taught. This in turn has given rise to all manner of comical interpretations that have proven themselves incorrect with time. Pope Francis’ origin from the Americas (Argentina) was used to somehow be equated with the United States, and furthermore, the retirement of Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) to make way for Pope Francis was likened to Revelation 19: 20, where the Beast and false prophet are cast alive together into the Lake of Fire.
But Benedict XVI and Francis are both dead, Hillary Clinton did not become President (as many predicted she would), and every prediction for the year of the Rapture has come and gone because of a lack of wisdom in examining all things through what the Bible makes abundantly plain. An American pope is now sitting on Saint Peter’s chair, but that pope may also die. A woman may at a later date become President of the United States (as per the prophet’s series of visions in 1933), but she may be voted out afterward. So in order to correctly place the time in which we are living, we must take what the prophet said back to the scriptures, and let the Holy Spirit show us how to tie everything together, in order that our understanding on these things is sensible and balanced.