May 7, 2025
African Catholics are enthusiastic about the possibility of a new pope who could reflect the continent’s growing influence within the Catholic Church
With at least three African cardinals in the running to become the next Pope, African Catholics are excited by the prospect but remain cautiously optimistic.
Cardinals Robert Sarah of Guinea, Peter Turkson of Ghana, and Fridolin Ambongo of Congo are among the African leaders considered “papabile”—a term Vatican watchers use for potential papal candidates. As the conclave of eligible cardinals prepares to gather in the Sistine Chapel on May 14, the stage is set for a potentially historic decision that has many African Catholics on edge.
“For us, it does not matter whether he is African, white, or Black. What matters is having a good, holy pope who can unite Catholics across the world,” Luka Lawrence Ndenge, an emergency officer with the Catholic charity Caritas in the remote town of Wau in South Sudan, told NBC News.
Ndenge believes an African Pope is a strong possibility, especially as “we already have African cardinals who are fully capable.”
It would mark the first African Pope in over 1,500 years—and the first ever from sub-Saharan Africa. Nigerian-born Cardinal Francis Arinze drew global attention ahead of the 2005 conclave that ultimately chose Pope Benedict XVI.
The upcoming conclave takes place amid a shifting religious landscape. Catholicism is declining across Europe, but rapidly expanding in the developing world, with Africa seeing the fastest growth in Catholic followers. At least 20% of the global Catholic population resides in Africa, something the Vatican says “is characterized by a highly dynamic spread of the Catholic Church.”
Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin, head of the Adigrat diocese in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, expressed hope that the next pope will share Pope Francis’ compassion, recalling Francis’s speaking out against the Tigray conflict in 2021 and 2022.
“For me, having a passionate, dedicated, and competent African leading the Catholic Church is very important to me as an African, and to see it in my lifetime is my absolute wish,” he said.
Meanwhile, Emily Mwaka doesn’t care if the next Pope is “green” because he “will be for all of us,” she said.
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