VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
by John L. Allen Jr. | Feb. 19, 2013
Rome —
John Allen is offering a profile each day of one of the most frequently touted papabili, or men who could be pope. The old saying in Rome is that he who enters a conclave as pope exits as a cardinal, meaning there’s no guarantee one of these men actually will be chosen. They are, however, the leading names drawing buzz in Rome these days, ensuring they will be in the spotlight as the conclave draws near. The profiles of these men also suggest the issues and the qualities other cardinals see as desirable heading into the election.
When it comes to “next pope” stories, nothing’s sexier from a media point of view than the idea of a “black pope,” referring in this case not to the head of the Jesuit order (traditionally dubbed the “black pope,” ostensibly because of the black cassock the Superior General wears, but also a derogatory reference to alleged Jesuit intrigue), but a pontiff from Africa.
At the symbolic level, the notion of what’s traditionally seen as the planet’s ultimate First World institution being led by a black man from the southern hemisphere has an undeniable magic.
Among the 117 cardinals who will shortly gather in the Sistine Chapel to elect the successor to Benedict XVI, the name of Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana usually figures prominently on the short list of possible African candidates.
Indeed, Turkson himself has not been shy about embracing the possibility. In a recent interview with the U.K. Telegraph, Turkson openly speculated about what it would mean for him to become pope. (In a good candidate for understatement of the year, Turkson was quoted as saying that “it would signal a lot of [personal] change.”)
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