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j. l. navarro The Last Pope |
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It is
widely believed that the last pope of the Catholic Church will succeed Pope Benedict XVI. Many people believe that we
are in "the end times." That the signs are all around us. St. Malachy,
(d. 1148) Irish Bishop and Seer, produced an accurate list of future popes which began with Pope Celestine II in the year
1143. His list consists of a single line which gives a clue to the characteristics of each pope. From this
list of 112 popes there is to be just one more after Pope Benedict XVI. His predictions regarding the popes have
been for the most part pretty accurate regarding the identifying characteristics that each line reveals. St. Malachy doesn't
give any predictions or information about what happens after the last pope. However, according to other seers, we will
have arrived at the end times.
Here are the final popes from Malachy's list (including the 112th). 106. Pius XII
1939 - 1958 Eugenio Pacelli 107. John XXIII 1958
- 1963 Angelo Gueseppe Roncalli 108. Paul VI
1963 - 1978 Giovanni Battista Montini 109. John Paul I
1978 - 1978 110. John Paul II 1978
- Died April 2, 2005 Karol Josef Wojtlya 111. The next pope (The
glory of the olive) chosen on April 19, 2005, was Cardinal Ratzinger, the favorite to win. He will
be known as Benedict XVI. In the future (?)
Besides Malachy, Popes themselves have made prophecies:
Source: Prophecies of Saints and Popes.
THE NEXT POPE Friends, "The Last Pope: The Decline and Fall of the Church of Rome" (http://www.hogueprophecy.com/lastpop.htm), is available on
Amazon.com through my web site and can be found in your local book stores or ordered from Barnes and Noble in America.
Here is a brief synopsis of "The Last Pope":
In 1139 St. Malachy set out from Ireland on a harrowing pilgrimage to Rome. On sighting the Eternal City he fell to the
ground and began murmuring cryptic Latin phrases, each signifying the future destiny of the popes. For four hundred years
the manuscript was locked in the labyrinth of the Vatican. On its rediscovery in 1595 it was rejected by the Church authorities
as fraudulent but the content of the prophecies remains remarkably and chillingly accurate: to this day 90 percent have come
true.
In examining the context of St. Malachy's life, his pilgrimages and his miracles, "The Last Pope" presents a fascinating
account of the fates of the popes and eight hundred years of Catholic prophecy; including those of contemporaries, Hildegard
von Bingen, Joachim de Fiore and the 16th-century Catholic seer, Nostradamus, whose vision of the papal succession closely
resemble that of St. Malachy.
In this first complete study of St. Malachy's prophecies in over a hundred years, "The Last Pope" provides new revelations
regarding the authenticity of the Latin mottoes. As the Roman Catholic Church continues to witness an eclipse in papal power
this work uncovers the truth about St. Malachy's prophecies and reveals their significance as an account of the papal progression
which Vatican policy makers have found too threatening to acknowledge.
St. Malachy prophesied an end to the Roman Catholic Church and predicted the fates of the popes until Judgment Day. Pope
John Paul II has died. Only two popes remain on the doomsday list. Are the Catholic prophecies warning humanity of a great
chastisement and apocalypse at hand? "The Last Pope" tries to answer these questions from outside of doomsday dogma's box.
The end times may presage something unexpected and wonderful for Catholic and non-Catholics alike.
* The conclave to elect the next to last pope will begin a week from the writing of this article (18 April). Today, I wish
to briefly go over those parallel prophecies about the next pope written by the 16th-century French prophet, Nostradamus.
If he is speaking about "Gloria Olivae" (Glory of the Olive)--the Latin motto St. Malachy uses for the next pope--does Nostradamus
provide a hint from where in the world the next pope comes?
A new interpretation, if correct, of Century 5 Quatrain 49 of Nostradamus' prophetic masterpiece "Les Propheties," would
cool the ardor of odds makers who bet that the next pope will be a Latin American. Nostradamus' inference to Spain includes
candidates arising from her former colonial territories, such as Cardinal Carrera of Mexico, Cardinal Maradiaga of Honduras
or Cardinal Hoyos of Columbia. Hence, the new pope will not hail "from [the empire of] Spain [as Nostradamus knew it] but
from ancient France."
Nul de l'Espaigne mais de l'antique France, Not from Spain but from ancient France, Back in 1986, I surmised that a candidate hailing from within the borders of "ancient France" could include southwestern
Poland, the birthplace of John Paul II. It lies within the outer frontiers of Charlemagne's early medieval empire.
What if this prophecy instead pinpoints his successor? And rather than the broadest extent of France's oldest Empire, the
poetry meant us to look for the successor in the "oldest" and earliest holding of France?
The most ancient plot of French territory would be the holdings of the Merovingian Dynasty of the 5th and 6th century.
Paris along with Reims was their chief city. The current Archbishop of Paris is Cardinal Lustiger, one of the late John Paul
II's closest theological disciples. The late pontiff made Lustiger Archbishop of Orleans in 1979. Orleans is another region
of "ancient France." John Paul II made him Archbishop of Paris in 1981.
Lustiger can be applied to my earlier interpretation of this prophecy as well. Like John Paul II, he comes from the frontiers
of Charlemagne's ancient 8th-century Carolingian empire. Lustiger was born to Jewish parents in southwestern Poland. He survived
the Holocaust, became a French citizen and converted to Catholicism. Today he remains a dark "Jewish" horse candidate for
the next pope. His Jewish origin, however, and his age (79 years old) makes him a long shot. The Vatican avoids responding
to what it calls polemicists (like myself) who might infer that their choice of a Jewish born pope fulfills some end-time
prediction for the papal succession. If the first pope (the Apostle Peter) and the last pope should be both Jews, it closes
destiny's circle, ending the papal succession.
Let us look again at the last three lines of the prophecy:
...[he] will be elected for the trembling ship [the bark of Peter], John Paul II trembled with Parkinson's disease and died as a result of complications from that illness. In my earlier interpretations,
I noted that a great plague did appear during his pontificacy--AIDS. But if this prophecy is about the trembling John Paul's
successor, then perhaps we face at last the long overdue visitation of a global pandemic during the new pope's reign.
Signs are already there that hemorrhagic fever plagues are on the rise in Africa. Doctors at the CDC (Center for Disease
and Control) openly admit that the Bird Flu from South East Asia and China could mutate at any time from a bird-to-human to
a human-to-human contagion. A form that can spread the deadly infection rapidly around world killing tens of millions.
What if the plague is manmade?
Another post John Paul II interpretation would imply that the future pope who St. Malachy calls "Glory of the Olive" makes
a promise to enemies in a future war. This motto invokes the symbol of a dove of peace with olive branch in beak. The next
pope could be a great peace maker. Taking Nostradamus' final line in mind, the next pope, in the name of peace reaches out
to radical Islam. Unfortunately, the enemy turns on him, and the great plague foreseen comes out of biological or chemical
weapons of mass destruction used by terrorists. A number of Nostradamus' prophecies infer such attacks on Rome will take place,
forcing the evacuation of a future pontiff.
Gloria Olivae begins his reign as a pope bearing the "olive" branch of peace, but later he becomes the pontiff enduring
Christ's apocalyptic prophecies from the Sermon on the Mount of "Olives." In other words, his reign marks the beginning of
apocalyptic wars and rumors of apocalyptic wars spreading out from the Holy Land across the whole world.
Century 5 Quatrain 92 gives us another clue to the next pope. My interpretation made back in 1997 for "Nostradamus: The
Complete Prophecies" (http://www.hogueprophecy.com/ncomplet.htm) remains unchanged:
Apres le siege tenu dixsept ans, After the [Holy] See kept for seventeen years, This is what I said then:
"This could be about modern popes. Pius XI (1922-1939) ruled the Vatican for 17 years. The five successors would be Pius
XII (1939-58), John XXIII (1958-63), Paul VI (1963-78), John Paul I (1978), and the current pope, John Paul II. When he dies
a new pope will be elected that will not please the Vatican status quo. Perhaps he will be as revolutionary as Pope John Paul
I."
OTHER PAPAL POSSIBILITIES GLORIA OLIVAE If the College of Cardinals convening on 18 April takes the short-lived caretaker route in their balloting then Cardinal
Ratzinger has the best chance. My sense is the reign of this 77-year-old will be short. Maybe just four years. He will exhaust
himself--as would any other elderly candidate in their late seventies--trying to keep up the pace that John Paul II set in
his globe trotting ways.
St. Malachy's prophecies often describe the details of a pope's family arms or Papal heraldry. If the coat of arms of a
candidate for Gloria Olivae should bear olives and olive branches, then expect it to be the current Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal
Tettamanzi (his name means "bull's tits"). Then again we may toast the new pope with a Martini--a Cardinal Martini, that is.
He is the previous Archbishop of Milan and noted Biblical scholar who now lives in Jerusalem for half of each year. Both the
current and former archbishops of Milan are in play because the seal for the Archbishop of Milan bears olive branches.
I think the chances for a Latin American are quite high, but I believe European cardinals in the Conclave will see to it
a European, if not an Italian, will be the next pope.
The top conservative Italian candidates include Biffi, Tettamanzi and Sodano. Tettamanzi's association with Opus Dei is
key to an Italian conservative takeover. Then again, Tettamanzi has been best at hedging his spritual-political bets by also
warming up to more liberal Catholic organizations. He at least has put on a good show as a moderate.
Of course we cannot rule out the importance of the Israeli connection with prophetic symbols of the olive and olive branch.
Martini spends half of each year in Jerusalem and his potential candidacy enjoys that ever popular word play in prophecy:
the double entendre. Read the "olive" branch of Israel along side the "olive" branch in the coat of arms as the previous Archbishop
of Milan and it could equal "Gloria Olivae."
Martini is progressive so he is much more of a long shot. Tettamanzi is perhaps the late John Paul's choice for successor.
It is traditional for a pope in his final years of life to appoint his successor as Archbishop of Milan, the largest Catholic
Archdiocese in Italy. For example, John XXIII appointed his successor, Cardinal Montini (Paul VI) to that post.
The inclination to a conservative or progressive future pope depends on whether the College of Cardinals meeting in the
conclave seek to sustain John Paul II's conservative agenda. If they do then do not expect John Paul III will heed to pressures
from the laity and regional bishops to soften dictatorial control from Rome in their local affairs. Those who read the history
of papal succession in my book, "The Last Pope," cannot fail to notice how often a conservative or liberal pope tries to stack
the college with his own theologically sympathetic cardinals. Then, after his death, they choose a successor from the opposite
pole. As the old Vatican saying goes: "A fat pope is followed by a thin pope, is followed by a fat pope, etc..."
I guess that makes the corpulent Tettamanzi the man of the white smoking stove piped hour because John Paul II was thinner
than Tettamanzi. The latter is a native of the Milan region. That brings greater emphasis to his olive branched coat of arms
as the Archbishop. He is 71. His mother is still alive and well and in her early 90s. The long living gene pool of the Bull
Tits clan could confer on Tettamanzi more than a short rule of a caretaker pope. He might rival John Paul II in longevity
sitting upon St. Peter's throne longer than a quarter century.
There is perhaps a deeper message hidden underneath the layers of peace making and a tie with Israel hinted in the cryptic
motto "Glory of the Olive."
Christ's sermon on the Mount of Olives.
The next man in St. Peter's chair, and the second-to-last pope on St. Malachy's list before Judgment Day endures an apocalyptic
pontificacy. This would be especially true if he does turn out to be one of the younger candidates from Latin America, such
as Honduran (Maradiaga), the Mexican (Carrera), or the European Schonborn the German and Daneels the Belgian Cardinal.
There is also Hummes of Brazil, but Nostradamus made it clear that the next pope would not come from the Spanish Empire of
his day. Brazil belonged to Portugal. In any case, the youngest is 60 (Schonborn), the eldest is 71 (Daneels). Like Tettamanzi,
there are enough relatively youthful heir apparents in the short list for becoming the next pope who may not be so short lived.
He can linger long enough to see his pontificacy enter the 2020s--the same decade of catastrophe that so many prophets date
as the beginning of humanity's true tribulation. Thus, the rule of St. Malachy's last pope, Petrus Romanus (Peter of Rome)
may be a long time off in the future. There is still time to make St. Malachy's dire coda for the last pope a future avoided:
During the last persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there shall sit Peter of Rome, who shall feed the sheep amidst
many great tribulations, and when these have passed, the City of the Seven Hills [Rome], shall be utterly destroyed, and the
awful Judge will judge the people.
THE NEW POPE: Friends, The prophecy in question is Century 5 Quatrain 49 from the 16th century seer's work "Les Propheties." It reads:
Nul de l'Espaigne mais de l'antique France, Not from Spain but from ancient France, The Papal Conclave elected the late--and some would say "great"--John Paul II's grand inquisitor of orthodox Catholic dogma,
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, on 19 April 2005 in a fourth ballot landslide. Either the Holy Spirit or shrewd political maneuvering
worked to isolate progressive cardinals from picking their aged candidate for a caretaker pope--Cardinal Martini. Instead
the pope who would oversee the pause before the next course taken for the Church will be the staunch conservative Prelate
of the Congregation of the Doctrine and the Faith. He is the man who for the past 23 years was unaffectionately known by dissenting
priests as "Cardinal Panzer" or John Paul's "rottweiler" enforcer of strict doctrine. The message of the Conclave vote is
clear. A shaky Holy See, has a new fisherman who with unwavering hand they expect will keep the Catholic fold on a straight
and narrow dogmatic course as per the late pontiff's prayers. Metaphorically speaking, this 265th successor to St. Peter,
may be a fisher of converts that throws back a majority of the errant catch if they protest too much about his tightening
grip on the net. More on that later.
How does a German cardinal come "from Ancient France"?
With more prescient persuasion than one might think. It all depends on whether Nostradamus intended us to take the cryptic
statement in line 1 of the prophecy above as minimally specific or broad. For decades I advanced one interpretation that line
1 targeted John Paul II, who was born in Southwest Poland, which happened to be part of the frontiers of French King Charlemagne's
sprawling and ancient Frankish empire. In my previous article I introduced a new and minimalist variant, posing that the quatrain
could be about John Paul's successor. He might be a cardinal coming from the most smallest political boundary generally accepted
as the first and most ancient "French" kingdom: the region surrounding Paris. Thus Nostradamus' habit of juxtaposing ancient
places for the advent of modern people has the cardinal's priestly "habit" be that of an Archbishop of Paris, like Cardinal
Lustiger--long shot though I believed he would be.
As it turned out, Lustiger was not more than a ballot pusher in the Conclave. And, as I said over seven years earlier in
my book "The Last Pope," Cardinal Martini did turn out to be the best chance for the progressives to take St. Peter's chair
from another conservative candidate. Martini was the only liberal to make a real run against Cardinal Ratzinger at grabbing
one of the holiest of brass rings in Christendom--St. Peter's ring. Nevertheless it went to a Teutonic cardinal born 78 years
before in Marktl Am Inn, near Traunstein, Germany.
Looking at this development in hindsight, you cannot get more "Ancient France" than that. Here's why. As many of you have
reminded me, the new pope's birthplace is in the heart of what once was Charlemagne's ancient Frankish Empire. The Franks
are a Germanic tribe. Their homeland ran along the west bank of the Rhine River, which is just a short distance west from
Ratzinger's birthplace in eastern Bavaria. Even before Charlemagne's stretched his empire to the frontiers of southwestern
Poland, Bavaria was a Frankish kingdom ruled by Frankish kings in Paris from as early as the mid 6th century, starting with
Clotaire I. Later, Ratzinger's homeland became again a part of a unified "ancient" French Empire under the heir of Clotaire
II, Dagobert I, in the year 629. For two more centuries Bavaria slipped in and out of French domination until Charlemagne
in 787 incorporated Ratzinger's homeland into his Carlolingian Empire for a longer time.
Not from Spain but from ancient France....
...comes a pope, cassocked and capped in one of Nostradamus' ways to miter his point across time to us, with a classical
reference to geography.
Line 2 says this pope...
...Will be elected for the trembling ship [the bark of Peter]...
Here we have the double entendre describing the previous pope's enfeeblement from Parkinson's disease, plus an allusion
to the enfeebled Church Ratzinger inherits. The new pope must shore up a shaking Church suffering pederast sexual scandals,
a decimation by old age of the priesthood and a wholesale abandonment of European and American Catholics. Some might add that
the exodus is a direct result of a rigid dogma defended and policed by John Paul's theological "rottweiler" and successor
for over two decades. Ratzinger as the new Benedict XVI also inherits a priestly hierarchy that lost collegial freedom under
the autocratic Polish "Papa." Many Cardinals believe--whether they lean to the left or right of late pope's interpretation
of theology--that John Paul's dictatorial reign was a detriment to the church and had planted seeds for a future crisis.
What then might Nostradamus hint Pope Benedict will do? Line 3 says:
...He will make a promise to the enemy...
If we regard recent developments against the record of the man who is now the new pope, the "enemy" is not outside of the
Church but within. The enemy is what Raztinger, the once and perhaps future inquisitor of the faith, decried as the "dictatorship
of relativism." In layman's--or the laity's--terms, that means those Catholic priests or lay followers who pick and choose
those parts of Catholic teaching and dogma that satisfy their temperament. The enemy of this new pope, is a progressive or
liberal interpretation of Vatican II reforms. Thus the "promise" made to such an enemy could be the one Ratzinger delivered
while fresh in his new white cassock and cap of Benedict XVI. He promised to be a more collegial and tolerant pope than his
predecessor. If this interpretation is correct, I would expect Pope Benedict will be as much a uniter of his flock, as the
American President, G. W. Bush was a uniter for his. Look for Benedict to divide his church between "blue" and "red" (progressive
and conservative) Catholics, especially in North America and Europe during his relatively short reign.
The last line of the prophecy says that this pope makes a promise to an enemy...
...Who will cause great plague during his reign.
If we take this line into the light of the present new pontificacy, the great plague could be a schism in the Church. Moreover,
it could stand for some promise made for ecumenism by Benedict XVI towards the Islamic world that falters when the war on
terror widens. The pestilence might even include a man-made "plague" coming from weapons of mass destruction, either unleashed
by the US or by her enemies in the war on terror. Indeed Nostradamus often returns to the theme of Rome's destruction by such
weapons, as do other famous Catholic seers of the past millennium.
Then again, the "plague" may be a coming pandemic in Ratiznger's rule as pope. He is one of the oldest pontiffs to ever
ascend St. Peter's throne. Even if his pontificacy was short, there are disturbing indications that the next pandemic may
be with us within a year. The CDC (The Center for Disease and Control) caution that a spread of Chinese bird flu is imminent.
Could this be the "great plague during his reign"?
The syntax leans more to a plague of commission by the hands of an enemy against the Church rather than a mishandling of
sick chickens. Still, the view of our world from so many centuries back might be vague enough for a seer from the 1550s to
mix and misread the signs.
DE GLORIA OLIVAE Joseph Ratzinger bears the 111th and final Latin prophetic motto attributed to St. Malachy's famous medieval prophecy purportedly
written in 1140.
Today I will provide a brief summary of how the new Benedict XVI fits Malachy's motto for second-to-last pope before the
onset of Judgment Day. A more detailed examination will be forthcoming when the updated edition of my book THE LAST POPE (http://www.hogueprophecy.com/lastpop.htm)
finds a new publisher. My hope is that it will appear later in 2005. If you wish to know when it comes out, just send me an
email at talktome@hogueprophecy.com. Put "LAST POPE" in the subject line. I will broadcast the message to you when the book
comes out again.
Now let us return to the meaning of "Gloria Olivae" for the new pope.
The "olive" branch in Medieval prophecy stands for peace. For a long time, Malachy prophecy watchers assumed that the next
pope bearing this name would be a great peacemaker. Certainly Cardinal Ratzinger took on the mantle of as much, when in his
first public declaration as "Benedict XVI" he explained his new name with the motto "Peace and Consolation."
The last pope by that name, Benedict XV, ruled during World War I. He tried but failed as a peacemaker, setting forth his
Seven Points to forestall any future world wars. Neither the victorious allied leaders nor the vanquished invited Benedict
XVI to attend the negotiation and ratification of the Treaty of Versailles. His public neutrality during the war had soured
warring Christian European leaders on both sides. Only US President Woodrow Wilson took the pope's peace plans seriously.
He adopted some of the pope's ideas as the basis for his Fourteen Point Plan submitted at the Versailles peace negotiations.
Ratzinger as the next Benedict hints a message here. He intends to succeed where the previous Benedict failed. This new
Benedict was elected during a new world war of international terrorism. He may try to be the peacemaker that prevents its
escalation into a clash of Christian and Islamic cultures. If he is unsuccessful then Nostradamus' prediction elsewhere in
his prophecies of a 27-year war may come to fruition and his Third Antichrist, code named "MABUS," will trigger that third
world war.
Deeper still in the layers of meaning in the name "Benedict" is the signal identifying the new pope with the first and
earliest founder of a Christian monastic order, St. Benedict (c.480-550). This great reformer's codes of law had a significant
impact on the Western World. St. Benedict was known as the great peacemaker and reconciler, saving Western culture and Western
Christianity from falling into the chaos of the Dark Ages. Perhaps Pope Benedict XVI sees himself, like his predecessor, on
the brink of a new darkness, requiring a reaffirmation of dogma and codes of Catholic behavior.
Pope Benedict's name has evokes interesting possibilities out of St. Malachy's motto: De Gloria "Olivae." The Olivetans
are a reform branch of the white monks of the Benedictine Order, established in the 14th century. The olive branch is their
symbol--the Sermon on the Mount of Olives from the New Testament, their creed. The Olivetans believe they are set to prepare
the world for the apocalypse foretold in Christ's Mount of Olives sermon.
Is that what Benedict XVI also intends to prepare us for?
St. Benedict was made the patron saint of Europe by Paul VI--Cardinal Ratzinger's mentor. This implies that Ratzinger/Benedict
XVI will either attempt to bring European Catholics back in the fold, or he will make good on a reverie recorded in his voluminous
writings that a smaller church population adhering to ALL the dogma is better for the Church's survival in dark times than
including a larger Catholic fold that only picks and chooses bits of the dogma to satisfy its modernist attitudes. It must
be remembered that the previous Pope Benedict was a staunch anti-liberal and anti-modernist. Is the new Benedict the same?
In my last bulletin, logged a week before the Conclave convened to pick a new pope, I predicted that if the cardinals intended
to choose a caretaker pope it would be Cardinal Ratzinger.
Destiny has set forth upon that prophetic time line today urged forward by echoes of the past. The Vatican, like the USA,
seems to be stuck in a 40 year loop of repeating history--a phenomenon I have defined previously as a Karmic Echo. It consists
of history lessons unlearned by nations or religions, returning every 20 to 40 years for a new encounter. America today is
facing lessons unlearned as a nation with the return of a second military quagmire launched by a Texan president. Last time
it was the liberal Texan, Johnson, 40 years ago in Vietnam. This time around it is a conservative Texan, Bush, today in Iraq.
The Vatican is a small but influential nation of priests and nuns guiding the faith of one sixth of the earth's population.
It may also see the return of a short lived, caretaker pope launching a revolution to rival what took place roughly 40 years
earlier. The brief pontificacy of liberal John XXIII launched Vatican II-- a progressive revolution that tried to bring the
Catholic Church into the 20th century. If we are indeed seeing a Karmic Echo, I believe the conservative Benedict XVI will
also be short lived. He will launch his own reform of the Church in a conservative revolution that could keep the Catholic
religion from entering the 21st century.
Research for the new edition of "The Last Pope" will reveal that Pope Benedict XVI really prepared and wanted to be Vicar
of Christ, despite his public protestations of humility and unworthiness. Becoming Pope has energized him and he is looking
more youthful than before the Conclave. Still, I do not think he will be a long lived pope. I give him as little as three
years and as much as seven, maximum. Back in 1997 when I wrote the first edition of "Last Pope," I stated that John Paul II
would die in 2000 and his successor would die in 2008 ushering in Petrus Romanus, the code name for St. Malachy's final pope
before the end of days, as he foresaw them.. Clearly I was wrong about John Paul II. Even he was surprised. John Paul also
believed he would die at the end of 2000 rather than linger five more years. You can see him admit as much in the text of
his Last Will and Testament.
Perhaps my prophecy from 1997 will be partially fulfilled if Benedict passes away in 2008.
The last time we had a caretaker pope (John XXIII) he initiated a progressive and liberal revolution in the Church in his
short reign--Vatican II. With Benedict XVI the pendulum swings all the way to the right. He will be responsible for a conservative
revolution. Will he soon gather the bishops of the church for a Vatican "III"?
We await events and further signs of how the new pope will assert his destiny. |
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