Is the Holy Father the beast (666)?

Is our Holy Father, who, he says, is the beast spoken of in Revelation 13. Fundamentalist (Non-Catholics) claim they can "prove" this because the pope's title, Vicarius Filii Dei (Latin for Vicar of the Son of God), adds up to 666--the "number of the beast" mentioned in Revelation 13. Is this true? How can we respond?

Let's consider this accusation. Latin, Greek, and Hebrew have numerical values assigned to various letters in their alphabets. In Latin the values are: I = 1, V = 5, X = 10; L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, M = 1,000. By extension W = 10 (because W = VV, or two Vs together), and U = V (because there was no letter U for the Romans; where you see the letter U in modern writing, use the letter V instead).

As you can work out for yourself, Vicarius Filii Dei does add up to 666 in Latin: Vicarius = 112; Filii = 53; Dei = 501. (Ignore letters which are not assigned a numerical value.) The problem is that Vicarius Filii Dei is not a title of the pope. One of his titles, in fact his chief title, is Vicarius Christi (Vicar of Christ), but, unfortunately for Seventh-Day Adventists and other anti-Catholics who attempt to use this ploy, Vicarius Christi adds up to only a measly 214, not the infernal 666.

Since the average person, Catholic or Protestant, hasn't the foggiest idea what the pope's titles are in Latin or English, anti-Catholics (some of whom know better) can get away with this subterfuge.

But what if one of the pope's titles did add up to 666? Would that coincidence prove the pope is the beast? Hardly. It would prove nothing because lots of names and titles add up to 666. By using a nifty little technique you can force a Seventh-Day Adventist to admit that the addition to 666 proves nothing, even when it's a papal title that's in questions. Here's how.

Fundamentalist need to get their math right, you will be shocked to learn that the name of the woman who started Seventh-Day Adventism, Ellen Gould White, adds up to 666: Ellen = 100, Gould = 555, White = 11. Does that "prove" that the foundress of his religion was the beast? If your answer is "No," then the tallying of the name means nothing. Either way his argument collapses. (Isn't apologetics fun?)

Reference: http://www.catholic.com/