My understanding has always been this: according to Ruckman, the current Pope (whoever it is) will not necessarily become the Antichrist; more likely, the Antichrist will come to power, and the Papacy will be given to him (or he'll take it) as an "honorary" thing. In other words, Pope Benedict probably won't become the ruler of the world .... but when the Antichrist shows up, Benedict could say "Here, the title is yours, you deserve it!"

That's important because, in becoming Pope (although Pope might just be one of his jobs or titles), the Antichrist will unite all three of the world's "great montheistic religions." He'll be of Syrian extraction, and Syria is Muslim; he'll be a Jew; and, by assuming the Papacy, he'll represent (yes, I know) "Christianity."

There's also the possibility that the False Prophet could be Pope. That would make sense; he'd be in a perfect position to point to the Antichrist and say "There he is!" That's the position the Left Behind authors take: but, bless their ignorant little hearts, they also say that the "real" Pope goes up in the Rapture!

A likely story.....