The Pope and Africa
If there's one fascinating legacy to come out of JPII's reign, it's that he's left Europe decidedly post-Christian, while Black Africa now sits in the middle of a Catholic Renaissance. According to an AP report I read this morning, almost 1/5th of the worldwide Catholic population is Black African.
Learning that so many sub-Saharan Africans are devout Roman Catholics is especially fascinating to my insular American eyes. Our country probably possesses one of longest traditions of Christian Africans in the world, but most -- if not all -- of today's African-American Christians worship a decidedly Protestant brand of Jesus.
Catholicism's return to Africa also strikes me as a historical full-circle of sorts, as the early Christian church once had a huge presence on the continent -- from Carthage, to Alexandria, to East Africa, and Ethiopia -- before the Muslim Arab invasions changed everything.
Learning that so many sub-Saharan Africans are devout Roman Catholics is especially fascinating to my insular American eyes. Our country probably possesses one of longest traditions of Christian Africans in the world, but most -- if not all -- of today's African-American Christians worship a decidedly Protestant brand of Jesus.
Catholicism's return to Africa also strikes me as a historical full-circle of sorts, as the early Christian church once had a huge presence on the continent -- from Carthage, to Alexandria, to East Africa, and Ethiopia -- before the Muslim Arab invasions changed everything.
2 Comments:
I read in some paper yesterday that one of the front runners for a successor is african. Wouldn't that be amazing? a black pope? I don't see it happening, but wouldn't that be something?
i don't think there'll be an African pope (and I don't think they think of it in terms of a 'black pope'). It's simply a matter of odds, the number of African cardinals is not even double digits -- while the number of South and North American are (not that they would ever, ever chose an American in a million years). While on the other hand, there are 58 cardinals in Europe. It's simply a numbers game I think. I'm putting my money on that Spanish guy. He's the best chance to reinvigorate Europe but also be a stronghold for the Spanish-speaking base of the church.
I don't find the African rennaissance too odd. The Catholic church (particularly them Jesuits) have always been at the forefront of spreading religion and helping locals in remote and needy areas.
What's interesting is that there is no chance of a Chinese pope because there are no Chinese cardinals despite a large constituency. There has been a good size Catholic presence in China for 400 years. But now, with the communism and all that...
Also, there is a very large amount of Korean Catholics. But no cardinals.
Black people get all the attention and Asians always get shafted. This is the way of the world it would seem.
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