Jonathan Curiel, Chronicle Staff Writer
Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria was considered a candi...
The Catholic Church is growing faster in Africa than on any other continent, with almost 150 million adherents in countries such as Nigeria, Tanzania, Angola and Botswana.
In 20 years, more Catholics may live in Africa than in Europe -- a trend that has African Catholics hoping openly that an African will one day put on the papal robes of the Holy See.
Their dreams were not fulfilled last week. How close Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze came to being named pope is a matter of conjecture, but the fact that he was in the running is a sign that the future of the Catholic Church is in Lagos as much as it is in Rome.
"Africa is where the center of Christianity is moving," says Jacob Olupona, professor of African American and African studies at UC Davis. A specialist in religion who was raised in Nigeria and has met Arinze, Olupona says the Catholic Church "will have to take very seriously the concerns and aspirations" of Africans.
Arinze would have been the first African pope in 1,500 years. Three African popes have reigned at the Vatican. The last one was Gelasius in the fifth century.
Arinze had widespread public support to succeed John Paul II. In the week before the Vatican conclave chose Joseph Ratzinger as pope, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu actively campaigned for Arinze, writing in USA Today on Monday that "a black pope could do more than break a color barrier -- he could facilitate a greater global understanding of a neglected part of our world: the so-called Third World."
Africans didn't feel neglected by John Paul II, who they say did more for the continent than any previous pope. He visited Africa 13 times during his papacy, appointed many African cardinals and elevated Arinze into one of the top jobs at the Vatican: prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Between 1985 and 2002, Arinze headed the Vatican's council for interreligious dialogue, earning a reputation as an expert on Islam and someone who comfortably reached out to other faiths. Arinze was born into the Ibo religion, which emphasizes living spirits. He converted to Christianity at age 9. At 32, Arinze became the church's youngest bishop, serving in Nigeria until 1984, when John Paul called him to Rome.
Ratzinger pushed the idea of an African pope in the years before he was chosen as pope, saying such a selection "would be a positive sign for the whole of Christendom" and that in Africa, "we have truly great figures whom we can only admire. They are fully up to the job."
Some Africans believe the West isn't ready to accept an African pope. But African Catholics say they don't want an African cardinal to be given special consideration for the papacy just because he is black.
"It doesn't matter whether (a pope) is from Africa or not," says Emmanuel Katongole, a research professor of theology and Christianity at Duke University's Divinity School. Katongole, who was raised in Uganda, where he still serves as a minister, says he is worried about tokenism and adds that picking Arinze "would have given confirmation to the rate of growth of Catholicism in Africa."
In a doctrinal sense, it doesn't matter that Ratzinger was chosen over Arinze. The two share the same values with John Paul II: They oppose homosexuality, premarital sex, abortion and other practices that have support in the United States.
Arinze "is a very nice man, a good listener, very patient -- and very strict," says Sam Obiekwe, 47, a Southern California doctor from Nigeria who once served as Arinze's altar boy and still meets with him every year or so.
"He believes in old traditional way of doing things. I think he would not have been any different from John Paul II; the same with the (new) pope. They're all in the same school of thought -- very conservative traditionalists. We need someone who's a hard-liner, who believes in church tradition, who is not going to modernize," Obiekwe said.
For some African Catholics, it's only a matter of time before an African is chosen as pope. It may not be Arinze (who is now 72), but sometime in the next generation, Olupona expects an African to do what Ratzinger did this past week: Wave to the crowds in St. Peter's Square as the new pontiff.
"It's going to happen," Olupona says. "There's going to be a time where there will be a very dynamic African cardinal who is young at heart who shares the persona of Pope John Paul II, who will get in. I'm confident about it. If this kind of growth continues, and if Africa continues to become very important in the scheme of things, they will have no choice."
Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria was considered a candi...
The Catholic Church is growing faster in Africa than on any other continent, with almost 150 million adherents in countries such as Nigeria, Tanzania, Angola and Botswana.
In 20 years, more Catholics may live in Africa than in Europe -- a trend that has African Catholics hoping openly that an African will one day put on the papal robes of the Holy See.
Their dreams were not fulfilled last week. How close Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze came to being named pope is a matter of conjecture, but the fact that he was in the running is a sign that the future of the Catholic Church is in Lagos as much as it is in Rome.
"Africa is where the center of Christianity is moving," says Jacob Olupona, professor of African American and African studies at UC Davis. A specialist in religion who was raised in Nigeria and has met Arinze, Olupona says the Catholic Church "will have to take very seriously the concerns and aspirations" of Africans.
Arinze would have been the first African pope in 1,500 years. Three African popes have reigned at the Vatican. The last one was Gelasius in the fifth century.
Arinze had widespread public support to succeed John Paul II. In the week before the Vatican conclave chose Joseph Ratzinger as pope, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu actively campaigned for Arinze, writing in USA Today on Monday that "a black pope could do more than break a color barrier -- he could facilitate a greater global understanding of a neglected part of our world: the so-called Third World."
Africans didn't feel neglected by John Paul II, who they say did more for the continent than any previous pope. He visited Africa 13 times during his papacy, appointed many African cardinals and elevated Arinze into one of the top jobs at the Vatican: prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Between 1985 and 2002, Arinze headed the Vatican's council for interreligious dialogue, earning a reputation as an expert on Islam and someone who comfortably reached out to other faiths. Arinze was born into the Ibo religion, which emphasizes living spirits. He converted to Christianity at age 9. At 32, Arinze became the church's youngest bishop, serving in Nigeria until 1984, when John Paul called him to Rome.
Ratzinger pushed the idea of an African pope in the years before he was chosen as pope, saying such a selection "would be a positive sign for the whole of Christendom" and that in Africa, "we have truly great figures whom we can only admire. They are fully up to the job."
Some Africans believe the West isn't ready to accept an African pope. But African Catholics say they don't want an African cardinal to be given special consideration for the papacy just because he is black.
"It doesn't matter whether (a pope) is from Africa or not," says Emmanuel Katongole, a research professor of theology and Christianity at Duke University's Divinity School. Katongole, who was raised in Uganda, where he still serves as a minister, says he is worried about tokenism and adds that picking Arinze "would have given confirmation to the rate of growth of Catholicism in Africa."
In a doctrinal sense, it doesn't matter that Ratzinger was chosen over Arinze. The two share the same values with John Paul II: They oppose homosexuality, premarital sex, abortion and other practices that have support in the United States.
Arinze "is a very nice man, a good listener, very patient -- and very strict," says Sam Obiekwe, 47, a Southern California doctor from Nigeria who once served as Arinze's altar boy and still meets with him every year or so.
"He believes in old traditional way of doing things. I think he would not have been any different from John Paul II; the same with the (new) pope. They're all in the same school of thought -- very conservative traditionalists. We need someone who's a hard-liner, who believes in church tradition, who is not going to modernize," Obiekwe said.
For some African Catholics, it's only a matter of time before an African is chosen as pope. It may not be Arinze (who is now 72), but sometime in the next generation, Olupona expects an African to do what Ratzinger did this past week: Wave to the crowds in St. Peter's Square as the new pontiff.
"It's going to happen," Olupona says. "There's going to be a time where there will be a very dynamic African cardinal who is young at heart who shares the persona of Pope John Paul II, who will get in. I'm confident about it. If this kind of growth continues, and if Africa continues to become very important in the scheme of things, they will have no choice."