Fr. Heimerl: Pope Francis marks the fulfillment of Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich's ‘dark church’ prophecy - LifeSite
Tue Apr 21, 2026 - 2:47 pm EDTTue Apr 21, 2026 - 2:47 pm EDT
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on September 19, 2024. LifeSite has decided to republish it for the one-year anniversary of Pope Francis’ death, which occurred on April 21, 2025. We continue to pray for his soul and for his successor, Leo XIV.
The following essay is the first in a two-part series on the prophecies of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, the ‘synodal church,’ and Pope Francis. Part two can be found HERE.
(LifeSiteNews) — Two hundred years ago, the German mystic Anne Catherine Emmerich died in Dülmen, Westphalia. The stigmatized nun saw not only the life of Jesus in her visions, but also the future of the Church. Shortly before her death, she said: “There will be an after-church.”
During Emmerich’s time, such a thing was hardly imaginable, and what would an “after-church” be on top of that? I admit: I wondered about that as well, at least until with Pope Francis the “synodal church” …