It’s been nearly 1,529 years since the world last saw a pope from Africa, Pope Gelasius I, who led the Catholic Church from 492 to 496 AD. Since then, the papal throne has rotated through Europe with the predictability of a rigged roulette wheel. But now, a seismic shift could be on the horizon, and the epicenter is Ghana.
Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, a towering figure of moral authority, intellectual rigor, and deeply rooted African humility. Born in 1948 in Nsuta-Wassaw in the Western Region of Ghana, Turkson has long been a quiet force in the Vatican corridors, a global bridge-builder with a spine of steel and a pastoral heart that beats for justice.
In an era when the Catholic Church is grappling with everything from declining European congregations to calls for climate action, the 76-year-old cardinal represents both continuity and change. His roots run deep in African soil, but his outlook is unapologetically global. He’s fluent in several languages, e.g., English, Fante, Italian, French, German, and Hebrew, and just as fluent in the complex geopolitics of religion, race, and responsibility.
Turkson’s journey from seminary student in Ghana to President of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development was no accident. Under Pope Francis, he became one of the Church’s go-to men on issues like poverty, climate justice, and peace-building. He played a pivotal role in shaping Laudato Si’, the Pope’s groundbreaking encyclical on the environment, think of it as the Church’s moral mic-drop on climate change. If Francis was the voice, Turkson was the pen.
Now, Pope Francis is sadly dead and gone! But is the world ready for an African pope?
Honestly, it’s overdue. With Africa now home to the fastest-growing population of Catholics, nearly 250 million and counting, the global Church risks looking tone-deaf if it continues to ignore the continent’s theological and demographic rise. Electing Turkson wouldn’t just be symbolic; it would be strategic. It would mean the Church is listening, evolving, and finally embracing its southern soul.
Yet, the College of Cardinals, the body that elects the Pope, is as much about spiritual discernment as it is about politics. And here’s where the plot thickens: Turkson is known for being both orthodox and progressive, a rare combo. He defends traditional Church teachings but has also urged compassion over condemnation, especially on thorny issues like migration and economic inequality. He’s not a firebrand but doesn’t shy away from hard truths either.
And let’s be real, optics matter. A Black Pope in the 21st century would speak volumes to the marginalized and racially disenfranchised. It would rattle some cages, yes, but also spark hope in the hearts of millions who’ve long felt seen by God but ignored by the Church’s earthly shepherds.
As murmurs of papal succession grow louder after the passing of Pope Francis, eyes are subtly turning toward the son of Ghana, Cardinal Turkson. He may not campaign, but his record campaigns for him.
So, could the next Pope wear kente cloth under his white cassock? If there’s any justice left in Rome’s sacred halls, Cardinal Turkson might walk out on that balcony someday, and the world would hear: Habemus Papam… ex Africa!
As a Catholic myself, it will be an indescribable joy to see our Cardinal Turkson announced as the next Pope of the Catholic Church.
