Head of the World Union of Old Believers Sevastyanov: Benedict XVI believed in Fatima prophecies about Russia

The recently deceased Pope Benedict XVI believed that Russia would become a great power and return the world to Christian values, Leonid Sevastyanov, chairman of the World Union of Old Believers, told RIA Novosti.

The Old Believer was familiar with Benedict XV, who believed in the Fatima prophecies of the Mother of God.

Sevastyanov remembered that he met the future pontiff while studying in Rome, when he was still a cardinal. He remembered the last meeting with Benedict XVI, which took place in the Vatican in 2018. “We talked for about an hour, and he began to prophesy about Russia,” said the Old Believer.

According to him, Benedict XVI “began to say that there is a prophecy of the Mother of God about Russia, that Russia must be great.” It also states that “the West is moving away more and more from Christianity, and Russia will have to keep it from falling into non-Christianity.”

Sevastyanov recalled that at that meeting, the pontiff also said that “the Russian government has made a huge evolution in 30 years towards Christianity from godlessness … and that a new generation of politicians will fulfill this prophecy.”

Sevastyanov also noted that the late Pope, in a conversation with him, emphasized that prophecy is prophecy and cannot be changed. He also clarified that these were prophecies in the Portuguese city of Fatima.

Benedict XVI died on December 31 at the age of 95 in the Vatican. From January 2, a farewell to him takes place in St. Peter’s Cathedral, and on January 5 he will be buried. The ceremony will be led by Pope Francis.

Benedict in recent years lived in a small monastery Mater Ecclesiae, located in the Vatican gardens. He held the apostolic throne from April 2005 to February 2013. From the throne, he abdicated himself, citing an illness that robbed him of the strength necessary for the service.