Italians have always been particularly fascinated by mysteries, prophecies, predictions, etc. Several of the main TV channels have long-running series focusing on the great Italian unsolved mysteries as well as conspiracy theories from all over the world.
It's no wonder then that the latest piece of mystery trivia to catch the attention of the Italian press is a book, written in 2000, which predicts the election of Joseph Ratzinger.
An Italian daily, Il Giornale, reported on Wednesday that catholic writer Alberto Bassoli wrote in his 2000 book Mille Non Piu Mille that John Paul II's successor had to be Ratzinger because only he satisfied three key conditions.
Bassoli cited a 17th-century German nun who said that the very last pontiff would be a humble, peace-loving man from her country. Then he referred to a post-war French seer who predicted
that the 265th pope would be a man whose surname contained the letter Z.
Finally, Bassoli recalled how Pope Pius X (1903-1914) had a vision in which he saw a future pontiff with his own first name. Pius's Christian name was Giuseppe, the Italian form of Joseph. Putting these three predictions together in 2000, Bassoli said the next pope could only be Ratzinger.
In 2000, few Vatican experts saw the German as standing much chance of rising to the papacy. He only emerged as a front-runner in the final days before John Paul's death on April 2 this year.
