Ghanaian cardinal Peter Turkson said in 2010 that he was not prepared to become a Pope and that perhaps the Catholic Church was not ready either, but now he is one of the quoted to take over the place of Francis
Beginning the conclave for the election of the new Pope, who will replace, the expectations around who will be the elected are high, although there is still no favorite. This Thursday (8), happens the second round of voting. Only today there will be four. Although no name appears in evidence, Africans dream of having a pontiff of their continent, something that can happen. There are three possibilities: Ghanaian cardinal Peter Turksoncardeal guineano Robert Sarah e Fridolin Ambongoof the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In 2010, Turkson said he was not prepared to become Pope and that perhaps the Catholic Church was not ready either. However, more than 15 years later, this influential African religious appears as one of the names to take the lead of. “I would not like to be the first black pope. I think it would be difficult,” he said at the time, but after the death of Francis, the name of this African cardinal is quoted by many analytics.
None of the three names will be the first pontiff of this continent. Pope Vítor, who led the church between 189 and 199, was from North Africa. But as the percentage of African faithful increases compared to an increasingly secular and more secular Europe, the debate is resumed if the church is prepared for its first black porridge. “It is increasing the feeling that if the Pope must be a global authority, he has to proceed from the global church,” says Miles Pattenden, historian of Catholicism.
Thought about a possible African Pope is shared by the archbishop of São Paulo, the cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer. Asked shortly after Francis’ death on the new pontiff, he replied: “No one should be surprised if an African cardinal or Asian cardinal was chosen to be the next Pope. It is between the possibilities and if this does not mean that the church turned only to Africa or Asia, or that turned its back on America. Cathedral of the See, before celebrating a mass in honor of Pope Francis. An African leader would represent a new perspective for some of the church’s current problems.
Who is Peter Turkson?
Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson appears to the signature of the “Global Freedom Network” agreement │Andreas Solaro / AFP
Ganes Peter Turkson is considered one of the church’s most influential figures in Africa and chancellor of two Pontifical Academies, the Academy of Sciences and the Social Sciences. Born in a modest family, this 76 -year -old man was the first religious of the Cardinal Cardinal, a decision made in 2003 by Pope John Paul II. Even before the surprising resignation of Bento XVI in 2013, Cardinal Turkson was already considered the favorite candidate of Africa to the St. Peter’s throne, when there was never a black pope in church history. Although he criticized homophobic laws in Uganda, he defends the church’s position on the subject, rejecting the idea that homosexuality is a matter of human rights.
Born in the mining town of Nsuta-Wassa, in the south of the country, Turkson is the fourth of 10 children. His mother, Methodist, sold vegetables, and his Catholic father was a carpenter. Ordained priest in 1975, he left Ghana to study in Rome and New York, and was appointed in 1992 by John Paul II as Cape Coast Archbishop, a diocese with about 300,000 faithful and developed under his leadership. In 2003, he was assigned cardinal. In Ghana, he played a mediator role amid elections in 2008 with tight results that threatened to degenerate in violence.
Who is Robert Sarah?
Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah (C) participates in a prayer in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Victories in Dakar │guy Peterson / AFP
At age 79, Guinean Robert Sarah is a prominent figure among traditionalist cardinals critical to Pope Francis, and with strong conservative thoughts about homosexuality and immigration. For a few months, he was almost left out of the election. Complete 80 on June 15, an age that would make him disqualified to choose the Argentine Pope’s successor. Formed by French missionaries, Sarah defends conservative positions on various topics. “What in the twentieth century were Nazism, fascism and communism, today are Western ideologies about homosexuality and abortion, and Islamic fanaticism,” he said in an assembly in 2015. It was one of five conservative cardinals who, in October 2023, publicly asked Francis to reaffirm Catholic doctrine over the same gender and ordination of women.
Sarah was born in 1945 in Ourous, when Guinea was still a French colony. He was an only child in a family of farmers. He studied abroad and returned after Guinea declared his independence in 1958. He ordered a priest in 1969. A decade later, during the pontificate of John Paul II, the youngest bishop in the world became at 34, earning the nickname “Bishop Baby.” He is the author of several works, especially about John Paul II, who appointed him secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of the People in 2001, and about Pope Benedict XVI, who created him Cardinal in 2010. Admirer of Bento, Sarah defends a rigorous approach to the liturgy.
Who is Fridolin Ambongo?
Cardinal Congolese Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (C) arrives for the seventh meeting of the congregation at the Vatican │Dimiting Dilkoff / AFP
Congolese Fridolin Ambongo, an important voice of the pacifist movement in his home country, marked by decades of violence, can receive votes from conservative cardinals. He signed a letter in 2024 against Francis’ authorization to the blessing of homosexual couples. Kinshasa Archbishop since 2018 and Cardinal since 2019, is also a member of “C9”, the council of nine cardinals in charge of advising the Pope on church reform. “Africa is the future of the church, this is obvious,” he said in an interview in 2023.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Sarah Américo
