Pope Francis appoints Ivorian Cardinal Ignace Bessi Dogbo during an Ordinary Public Consistory for the creation of new cardinals at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on December 7, 2024.
Image: AFP
Kim Heller
DURING a meeting at the Vatican in 2019 with South Sudanese leaders, a desperately frail Pope Francis dropped to his knees before the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, and other senior leaders.
In an act of extraordinary humility, he kissed their shoes, pleading for peace and accord. In this historical moment, Catholicism stood tall and proud. Today violence is rising in South Sudan.
Reflecting on this, political scientist and international relations expert Dr David Matsanga said, "The greatest gift Salva Kiir and Riek Machar can give to Pope Francis and history is peace, not in theory but in action… this is not a favour to the Vatican or the international community. It is a duty owed to the mothers, children, and generations of South Sudanese who have known only pain."
For Pope Francis, Africa was no remote heart of darkness. He visited the Continent on many occasions and did not shy away from warzones. He raised his godly voice against colonial injustice, the persistence of economic inequalities and imbalances and the unbearable burden of debt on Africa.
In an address in Kinshasa, DRC in 2023, the Pope cried out “Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered. May Africa be the protagonist of its destiny!”
His commitment to peace, religious tolerance, universal justice, and harmony was more than just an occasional preacher. It was a daily practice.
In late 2015, he visited the Grand Mosque of Koudoukou in the Central African Republic. His words, “God is peace. God Salam”, were a testament to his crusade for peace and unity.
Pope Francis' final sermon on 20 April 2025, spoke of and to Africa.
“May the risen Christ, our hope, grant peace and consolation to the African peoples who are victims of violence and conflict, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Sudan and South Sudan. May he sustain those suffering from the tensions in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region, as well as those Christians who in many places are not able freely to profess their faith”.
Pope Francis’s endless faith in the forsaken and forgotten, the marginalised and the most destitute will forever pervade the hallowed halls of the Vatican and will linger evermore in the streets of the world.
The election of an African Pope is long overdue, says the writer.
Image: Graphic News
Soon a new Pope will be elected at a conclave at the Vatican. Pope Francis’ recent appointment of a high number of Cardinals from Africa and Asia could see the new Pope come from one of these two Continents.
For the first time in history, Cardinals from Europe are not in the majority. In an interview with the Indo-Asian News Service, well-renowned Vatican expert, Francesco Sisci, claimed that the time may be right to elect an African Pope. Sisci spoke of the Continent's “vibrant demography”, high population growth and strong rate of Catholic conversions. Sisci suggested that it may also be opportune to elect an African Pope in the "geopolitical battlefield “of Africa where new players, China, Russia, and Turkey, compete against the “grip of the old colonial powers” in the Continent.
For Sisci, an African Pope would be a good fit for the Catholic Church of today. He contends that most African Cardinals, “conservative on ethics but quite liberal on social issues" have the right disposition for the top papal post.
This week, Fox News reported on how Christianity is blooming in Africa. “More people are becoming Catholics on the continent than anywhere else in the world, and millions of Africans proudly stay true to their faith despite persecution and death”.
The Catholic population of Africa is approximately 270 million and constitutes almost a fifth of all Catholics worldwide. There are more than three wise men from Africa who could be the world’s next Pope. DRC's Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Ghana's Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Guinea's Cardinal Robert Sarah, and Ivory Coast’s Ignace Bessi Dogbo, are all key contenders for the papal throne.
In an article in Newsweek this week written by Amir Daftari, he points out how the continent has been largely absent from Vatican leadership for over 1,500 years.
He writes, “the elevation of an African pope would be not only symbolic but also reflective of the Church's evolving global demographic footprint”.A Pope born on African soil would not only be a moving and meaningful tribute to Pope Francis but also to the millions of believers across the African Continent.
The election of an African Pope would show the Catholic Church’s faith not only in an African leader but in the Continent as a whole. For Africa, it could help resurrect the promise of the Continent. It would showcase the divine soul of Africa on the world stage. For now, the world waits for a cloud of white smoke from the Vatican.
* Kim Heller is a political analyst and author of No White Lies: Black Politics and White Power in South Africa.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.