The question of who will succeed Pope Francis, who died Monday, has created a groundswell of speculation, and most significant for us is the possibility of an African as the ranking prelate in Catholicism. It’s been centuries since Pope Victor, Pope Militiades, or Pope Gelasius, and all three African pontiffs were quite a distance from modern times.
There is no space here to discuss each of the possible candidates to be selected soon at the Conclave, but Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, 65, the archbishop of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who Francis made a cardinal in 2019, has garnered considerable attention.
It was a historic breakthrough when Argentina-born Francis became the first non-European pope since the eighth century, and during his tenure he often spoke of someone else emerging from Africa and Asia to the esteemed post.
Ambongo has been reportedly close to Pope Francis, and a member of the nine-body Council of Cardinals, but he was also among the leaders opposed to Francis’ ruling in 2023 that the church should bless homosexual couples.
Within a couple of weeks, the cardinals under the age of 80 will assemble in the Sistine Chapel and secretly cast their vote for the next pope. We doubt whether there will be the drama and intrigue of the recent film “Conclave” that received an Oscar for the Best Adapted Screenplay. And for additional emotional clout in the Vatican, check out “The Two Popes,” inspired by events surrounding the life of Francis and his theological differences with Pope Benedict XVI.
An African pope is a long shot, though Africa boasts of about 20% of the world’s Catholics in 2023 and added nine million worshippers the previous year. Even so, there is much skepticism among Vatican insiders that an African has a realistic chance since Western cardinals command most global attention.
Whoever becomes the new pope, let us hope they possess some of the progressive views that made Pope Francis such an admired leader of the Catholic church and globally.