As world leaders gather in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, many Catholics are wondering if the church could soon elect its first black pope. With Africa home to one in five Catholics, the idea of a pope from the continent is gaining ground.
Since Francis’s death over Easter, one name gaining attention in the Vatican is Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Turkson.
In 2010, Turkson said he wasn’t ready to become pope and that the church might not be ready either. "I wouldn't want to be that first black pope. I think he'll have a rough time," he said.
But Africa’s share of the Catholic population is growing. The continent is now home to 20 percent of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, as the church struggles to hold on to followers in increasingly secular Europe.
Some now believe the time could be right for the first black pope.
A spiritual leader
Cardinal Peter Turkson, 76, grew up in a small town in what was then the Gold Coast, under British rule. He was the fourth of 10 children. His father worked in a mine and as a carpenter, while his mother sold vegetables at the market.
Turkson studied in seminaries in Ghana and New York, was ordained in 1975, then taught in Ghana. He later completed advanced Biblical studies in Rome.
Pope John Paul II made him archbishop of Cape Coast in 1992 and, in 2003, the first cardinal in Ghana’s history.
His rise continued under John Paul’s successor, Benedict XVI, who brought him to the Vatican in 2009 and made him head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
There, he became one of the pope’s closest advisors, working on issues like climate change and economic justice.
Turkson is seen as having both a strong connection to local congregations in Ghana and experience leading Vatican offices. His communication skills have also been praised.
Other African contenders
Turkson is not the only African name being mentioned as the church prepares for a conclave to choose its next leader. He would also not be the first African pontiff – Pope Victor I, from North Africa, led the church from 189 to 199.
"There has been this sense which has built up that the pope, if he is going to be a global authority, needs to come from the global church," said Miles Pattenden, a historian of Catholicism at Oxford University.
But Pattenden also said there is no reason to believe the next pope will follow Francis’s more liberal approach.
Francis often called for reform but didn’t always deliver. That middle ground might appeal to African candidates, some of whom have been called too conservative by critics, said Cristina Traina, a religious studies professor at Fordham University in New York.
One example is Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea, a traditionalist who compared abortion, "Islamic fanaticism" and homosexuality to Nazi ideology. He could attract support from more conservative cardinals.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo has been mentioned. He led efforts to oppose the blessing of same-sex couples in Africa after Francis encouraged acceptance of such unions elsewhere.
A long time coming
Francis, who was from Argentina, worked to make the Vatican reflect the diversity of its members. African cardinals now make up 12 percent of those eligible to vote in the conclave, up from eight percent at the last papal election.
"It would be almost impossible to imagine the world accepting an African pope without this transition of Pope Francis having been from Argentina," said Traina.
Africa still has fewer voting cardinals than some think it should.
Some African Catholics also feel left out. A Congolese priest, who did not want to be named, told the French news agency AFP: "Even if it isn't obvious among our European brothers, discrimination is still a reality that we often don't talk about."
He said the church has made progress, but there is a reason no African has been pope in 1,500 years.
An African pope could bring new ideas to the church’s current challenges, including the ban on married priests, said Traina.
"It has always been on our lips how we wish to have an African pope," said Father Paul Maji, a priest in Abuja, Nigeria. But he added that Africans should not be "sentimental" about where the next pope comes from.
Sylvain Badibanga, dean of the theology faculty at the Catholic University of Congo, told AFP: "We shouldn't think 'it's our turn'. It's God's turn."
Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga of Bangui, made a cardinal in 2016 after Francis visited the Central African Republic, will vote in a conclave for the first time.
"This is not about regional, continental, or even personal interests," he told RFI, adding that cardinals must think about the broader interests of the Catholic church.
As his name came up again before the 2013 conclave that chose Francis, Turkson said he could become pope "if it's the will of God".
(with newswires)
