A black pope would give Africa the voice it deserves

Two Africans feature on the list of the papabile, or popeable and should be seriously considered. A meaningful traveller in the tradition of John Paul II could advocate for victims of forgotten wars and shame politicians to act.

Peter Turkson (L) and Robert Sarah are under consideration for becoming the new pope.

The gripping film Conclave depicts, in a seemingly well-researched account, the complex choices facing cardinals as they plot and lobby in secrecy for a new pope. The Nigerian candidate goes in as the favourite, thus challenging audiences to wonder why there has been no black pope in modern times.

The African contender, played by the brilliant Tanzanian actor Lucian Msamati, stumbles when he is confronted with the revelation that he had once fathered a child with a young woman; he withdraws from the race. This is where Conclave the film fails. It takes a live issue that worries many – sexual abuse shielded by the church hierarchy – and gives it a racist timbre. Before the real-life 2005 conclave, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg rightly predicted that the black candidate did not stand a chance: “They don’t think we are ready for high positions. They fear paganism might come through the back door.”

Now we are heading for a new papal election and while the rituals remain unchanged it will be instructive to see whether the cardinals have developed a new mindset. Pope Francis appointed 108 of the 135 cardinal-electors. Not all of them will reflect his more liberal social views but all have been appointed for a purpose – to project the global reach of the world’s 1.37 billion Roman Catholics.

Archbishop of Cape Coast, Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson attends Palm Sunday Mass in 2017. Picture: Getty Images.

Two Africans feature on the list of the papabile, or popeable. The first is Peter Turkson, 76, from Ghana, relatively liberal on homosexuality and on combating climate change, a human rights advocate. The second, Robert Sarah from Guinea, a friend of the late Pope Benedict, has taken conservative positions on what he calls gender ideology and Islamic fundamentalism. He is tipped by those who hope for a more hardline pope than Francis. His age, 79, may rank against him.

There are plenty of possible contenders, of course, and at first glance the Asian cardinals seem to be making the running. But those cardinal-electors who were unhappy about Francis’s rush towards detente with China may think twice about placing their chips on a papal protege like the Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. With the world heading for a US-China showdown, perhaps a dangerous one, the time might not be right for a southeast Asian pope.

Ghanean Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson (C) attends a mass led by Pope Benedict XVI for Ash Wednesday in 2017. Picture: AFP.

Instead, Africa presents itself as the great diplomatic challenge for the Catholic church. According to IMF projections, by 2035 there will be more young Africans entering the workforce than the rest of the world combined. That is down to rising life expectancy, better healthcare and living conditions. African mega-cities are growing fast. The youthquake, as it has been dubbed, cries out for more investment, technical skills and entrepreneurship. And, Cardinal Turkson would argue, faith.

Christianity in Africa predates the colonial era. Churches were already established in the Aksumite Empire of the 4th century, now the lands of Ethiopia and Eritrea. By 2050 Kenya estimates it will have 95 million Christians; in Uganda, 82 per cent of the country already identify as Christian. Not all on the continent are Catholics. Pentecostals, Baptists and Evangelicals are also making ground. And in sub-Saharan Africa Islamic preachers are making inroads, sometimes radicalising those fleeing war and drought.

By the Vatican’s count there are 176 million Catholics on the African continent but this is more than a numbers game: an African pope could use his weight to insert the continent more firmly into the geopolitics of the day. The vicious, spreading war in Sudan has largely been forgotten by the United Nations. Millions are starving amid the fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces militia; cholera is raging; borders are falling away. When Donald Trump froze all US foreign assistance, hundreds of soup kitchens in Khartoum closed within days. Many warn that the Darfur genocide of the early 2000s is being repeated; indeed, that it never ended.

Cardinal Robert Sarah. Picture: AP.

It is in the nature of today’s apparently small wars that they quickly turn strategic. There are wars for scarce resources, such as that between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo; there are water wars; and clashes that suck in heavyweight patrons. That’s part of the case for an African pontiff, someone who can use a big stage to advocate for the victims of a forgotten war, one who can shame and leverage mainstream politicians into doing the right thing.

The Polish pope, John Paul II, used his diplomatic powers to help end the crackdown on the Solidarity trade union and build an East-West bridge. Pope Francis, the son of Italian migrants to Argentina, repeatedly made the case for treating migrants like humans in need rather than part of a criminal conspiracy. Indeed, one of his last official acts as pope was to make the clear argument to JD Vance, the American vice-president, against forced deportation of migrants as a matter of policy. Since many of those on the move across the southern US border are Catholics from Latin America, it was a subject close to his heart.

The new pope, from whatever region, has to keep on making the case for faith-based policy. The Vatican has plenty of domestic housekeeping to do but the pontiff should be a meaningful traveller in the tradition of John Paul II, making the connection between the cascading global crises, pleading in a way that mainstream politicians neglect to do for policies that make a strong case for simple human dignity.

My money is on Cardinal Turkson, for his competence and clear speaking, to be the first black pope since the north African Miltiades in 311. I hope I haven’t just jinxed him.

The Times