Top Africa cardinal: next pope could be Black

VATICAN CITY (AP)—A prominent African cardinal says there’s no reason why the next pope can’t be Black.

Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Ghana is playing an important part in a three-week meeting at the Vatican on the role of the Catholic Church in Africa.

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WHY NOT?—In this April 13, 2005 file photo, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Ghana attends a mass for Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Cardinal Turkson said Oct. 5, at a news conference at the Vatican that there’s no reason why the next pope can’t be Black.


At a news conference Oct. 5, Turkson was asked whether he thought the time was right for a Black pope, particularly following the election of President Barack Obama.

Turkson replied: “Why not?” He argued that every man who agrees to be ordained a priest has to be willing to be a pope.

He noted that, with Obama and the previous U.N. secretary-general, Kofi Annan, there have been several Blacks in positions of global leadership.

He said “If God would wish to see a Black man also as pope, thanks be to God.”

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