Catholic Cardinals will soon meet to elect a new pope following the death of Pope Francis. The Vatican announced Monday that Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, had passed away at age 88.
Following his funeral, the College of Cardinals will enter a conclave to elect the next pontiff. The conclave usually begins 15 to 20 days after the pope’s death or resignation.
As tributes pour in for the late pope, two African cardinals have been named as potential candidates to succeed him. With more than 250 million Catholics, Africa is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing Catholic populations, according to this report. However, for over 1,500 years, the continent has often not been considered for Vatican leadership, the report says.
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Popes have largely come from Italy, with a few others from France, Germany, and Portugal. Three have come from Africa Proconsularis, a Roman province (modern-day Tunisia), the report adds.
If one of the following is elected, he would be the first Black pope in centuries or the first from sub-Saharan Africa:
Peter Turkson
The 76-year-old from Ghana is a former head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Known for his strong communication skills, he has been vocal on issues such as poverty and climate change, corruption, human rights, economic justice and homosexuality.
Some believe that his opinion on homosexuality is now not strong as before, particularly after his comments that laws against the practice in many African countries are too harsh. All the same, his work with Pope Francis, advising him on issues including climate change and social justice, gives him an upper hand.
Born in Wassaw Nsuta, in what was then called the Gold Coast in the British Empire, his father worked as a carpenter and in a mine while his mother was a trader.
Turkson studied at seminaries in Ghana and New York before being ordained in 1975. He became a teacher in his former Ghanaian seminary and did advanced Biblical studies in Rome before Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop of Cape Coast in 1992. Eleven years later, Pope John Paul II made him the first cardinal in the history of the West African state, Reuters reported.
In 2009, Turkson was brought to the Vatican by Pope Benedict, who made him the head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. As head of that Council, he often attended conferences such as the Davos economic forum discussing global challenges and solutions.
In 2026, however, Francis merged Turkson’s department with three other offices, leading to Turkson’s resignation from his role in 2021. He was subsequently appointed to head two pontifical academies on sciences and social sciences.
Robert Sarah
The 79-year-old was prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments until 2021. Described as a conservative voice, Sarah made headlines in 2020 when he co-authored a book with the then retired Pope Benedict defending clerical celibacy.
At the time, Pope Francis was looking at whether to allow married priests in the Amazon to cater to the shortage of priests there. Critics accused Sarah of challenging Francis’ authority as the two had clashed earlier on different topics before the book release.
Still, the retired head of the Vatican’s liturgy office is seen by many as the best person to be made an African pope.
Born in 1945 in Ourous, Guinea, Sarah studied in the Ivory Coast, Rome, and Jerusalem before being ordained in 1969. His parents reportedly converted from animism. When Sarah was 34, he became the youngest bishop in the world when he was appointed archbishop of Conakry.
He served almost 10 years as secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples before he rose to cardinal in 2010. He attended the conclave that elected Pope Francis and was later named prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship by Pope Francis in 2014.
He believes that “gender ideology” is a threat to society and has criticized Islamic fundamentalism.
