Greetings Nebuchadnezzar!
Yes, I personally believe that one of the future popes will play the part of the false prophet. I believe that he will be the one who will be performing those miracles, signs and wonders in view of all the inhabitants of the earth for the purpose of deceiving them into believing that the first beast is God. Since the pope is the head of Roman Catholicism and there is over 1.2 billion devout Catholics, what do you think will happen when one of those popes begins to perform those supernatural signs?
The reason I believe this is because of the woman who rides the beast, with the seven heads of the beast symbolically representing seven hills/mountains upon which the woman sits. Rome was literally built on and is famous for her seven hills/mountains. In addition, the angel told John, "the woman you saw is that great city that rules over the kings of the earth." At the time that John was receiving that information, Rome was ruling over the kings of the earth. Scripture also states that the woman is dressed in purple and scarlet, which are the exact colors worn by the bishops and cardinals. As can be seen, all of the scriptural clues are pointing to Rome. John would not have known what this information meant, because the false religious system of Roman Catholicism did not exist during his time. However, from all that is written, we can see who the woman is.
Since all of the clues are pointing to Rome, this then is why I have concluded that one of the future popes is going to play the part of the false prophet. And since he will be the side-kick of the first beast, whatever he orders, the people will obey and that because of those miraculous signs that he will be performing.
"Pius XII's note says that he saw the miracle in the year he was to proclaim the dogma of the Assumption, 1950, while he walked in the Vatican Gardens."
https://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=180034
"Pope Pius XII approved the "Fatima apparitions" in 1940. Four times during the week that he declared the dogma of the
Assumption of Mary (33 years after the actual event said to have occurred in Fatima), Pope Pius XII claimed to have witnessed the same "Miracle of the Sun". At 4:00 pm on 30 October 1950, during a walk in the Vatican gardens, he arrived at the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes and began to see the miracle. He described himself in his handwritten notes as "awestruck." He saw the same miracle on 31 October, again on 1 November (the date of the definition of the dogma) and then again on 8 November."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_the_Sun
Here are two accounts of the Miracle of the Sun which happened in 1917:
"The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceedingly swift and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat."―Dr. Domingos Pinto Coelho, writing for the Catholic newspaper
Ordem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_the_Sun
"I feel incapable of describing what I saw. I looked fixedly at the sun, which seemed pale and did not hurt my eyes. Looking like a ball of snow, revolving on itself, it suddenly seemed to come down in a zig-zag, menacing the earth. Terrified, I ran and hid myself among the people, who were weeping and expecting the end of the world at any moment."—Rev. Joaquim Lourenço, describing his boyhood experience in Alburitel, eighteen kilometers from Fátima.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_the_Sun
CONCLUSION:
The false prophet (Pope Pius XII ) has taken ownership and authority over the "Miracle of the Sun" that brought the sun (fire) down upon the earth in the presence of the people; fulfilling Rev 13:13.
The false prophet will be a literal individual who is yet future, ruling with the antichrist. Therefore, it could not be Pius XII, because he's dead and gone. The event when false prophet calls fire down from heaven in the sight of the inhabitants, will be a literal, future event and will be apart of those miraculous signs that he will perform. Furthermore, these signs will be why the inhabitants of the earth will be deceived. Revelation 13:13 has to be fulfilled.
In further support of this, in Revelation 1:19, John was told to write:
What you have seen = Everything written from Revelation 1:1 thru 1:19
What is now = Represented by the letters to the seven churches and also represents the entire church period
What will take place later = What will take place after the "what is now," i.e. what takes place after the church period
That said, we are still in the "what is now" part of what John was told to write. Once the Lord appears and gathers up the church, then the "what will take place later" will begin, which the most part is the time of God's wrath, the Day of the Lord. This change is marked by when the Lord says, "come up here and I will show you what must take place after this."
Since the false prophet and the antichrist are not revealed until after the "what is now," i.e. the church period, then Pius XII does not fit the criteria of being the false prophet. Believers in Christ will never see the antichrist, nor the false prophet, as we will be caught up with the Lord prior to their being revealed.
We also know this to be true, because both the beast and the false prophet are captured and thrown alive into the lake of fire when the Lord returns to the earth to end the age, which is another reason why Pius XII does not fit the criteria.
