With 2016 behind us, it is time for me to look at how well my predictions were for the last year.

1. Pope Francis will announce his abdication from the throne of St. Peter to be effective in 2017.

Obviously, this didn’t happen, although interestingly enough, Cardinal Burke, along with several other Cardinals issued Pope Francis a Dubia, which the Pope has yet to respond. So, while the Pope himself did not move in any direction to leave his office, it seems like some in the Church might be moving in that direction.

2. Pope Francis will release his Apostolic Exhortation in January. This Exhortation, which will be written based on the findings of the two Synod of the Family, will have wording that will make it allowable for those who are divorced, remarried, or engaging in homosexual behavior, to receive Holy Communion, based on their “conscience.”

Pope Francis released Amoris Laetitia in April, so wrong on the release date. The exhortation used the findings of the two Synods on the Family and did indeed have wording that allows for the divorced, remarried, or those engaging in homosexual behavior to receive Holy Communion. Argentinian bishops have “interpreted” the writings in this way, and Pope Francis has stated that there is “no other interpretation.” This exhortation prompted the Dubia from Cardinal Burke.

3. The new Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be in the mold of former Archbishop Harry Flynn.

Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Bernard Hebda to replace Archbishop John Neinstedt. So far, it would appear that he is not in the mold of Archbishop Flynn, but neither is he in the mold of Archbishop Neinstedt. He seems to be somewhere in the middle from what I have been able to gather thus far. It will be interesting to see his episcopate unfolds in the coming years.

4. The new Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be against tradition and will work to undermine the progress of the FSSP, the TLM community, and the progress the seminary has made.

Completely and utterly wrong, thankfully. When I predicted this, I thought we would get a bishop similar to that of now Cardinal Cupich of Chicago, who is a sworn enemy of tradition and the extraordinary form. Thankfully, we dodged a bullet.

5. Hilary Clinton will be elected president of the United States.

Thank God I was wrong on this one. I honestly thought Hillary would win a year ago. Though, once Donald Trump won the nomination and the scandals began to break from the Clinton camp, I changed my mind and thought she would lose. I completely forgot about this prediction.

6. I will blog more than The Old Evangelization.

TRCT – 36
TOE – 5

Overall score: 1.5/6