Facts on African popes: 3 Africans have been popes in history •As reports posit Turkson, Arinze, Okogie, Onaiyekan possible ‘first’ African papal hopefuls

SEYI GESINDE, in this report takes a look at the early leadership in the Roman Catholic Church, especially drawing out historical facts, which revealed that three Africans had been Popes in history, against the widely circulated media reports that if any of the current African cardinals eventually succeeds retiring Pope Benedict XVI, such will be the first black man and African to be named pope.

Pope Benedict XVI, last Monday shocked the world, when he announced his resignation as the Catholic Pontiff and Bishop of Rome, becoming the first leader of the Catholic church to resign in nearly 600 years.

The 85-year-old Pope announced his decision in Latin, during a meeting of Vatican cardinals last Monday, blaming his decision on his failing strenght due to old age.

The Pope said: “After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.

“I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiriual nature, must be carried out not only by words and deeds but no less with prayer and suffering.

The Vatican spokesman, Federico Lombardi, thereafter said the Pope will leave his ministry on February 28.

Media reports that followed this announcement, especially in this part of the world, had posited that time is now ripe  for an African Pope to emrge, since it is widely believed that, no blackman, especially Africans had ever been Pope.

Top African Cardinals, Perter Tuckson of Ghana and Nigeria’s Peter Arinze, Olubunmi Okogie and John Onaiyekan, have all been touted as possible successors of Pope Benedict XVI, and if any of them emerges as the next Pope, it has also been widely circulated that such will be the first black man and African to become Pope.

However, drawing facts from the history, Nigerian Tribune can authoritatively say that there had been a record of the three black men, who had been popes and head of the Catholic church in Rome, and historical account said they were Africans.

According to the historical facts gathered from the Liber Pontificalis,  a book of biographies of popes, three Popes, Pope St Victor I (186-198), Pope St Miltiades (311-14), and Pope St Gelasius (492-496), had been Catholic Pontiff and they were Africans.

In essence, this historical account indicates that the emergence of any of these African cardinals will no longer be taken as either the first time a black man or an African will be occupying the Papacy as Pope.

Rather, it would be the first time an African is named a Pope after many centuries, just as it is being reported today Pope Benedict XVI, who is said to be the first Pope to resign in nearly 600 years, after Pope Gregory XII’s resignation of 1415, presicely 598 years ago.

The Liber Pontificalis, which composed of a series of biographical entries, recording the dates and important facts for each pope, the National Black Catholic Congress, an organisation of African-American Roman Catholic founded in 1889, said is the oldest and most detailed chronicle dating from the Early Church.

The Liber Pontificalis is dated from the sixth century and the record of names begins with St Peter. As the work progressed the entries became longer and more detailed. The Liber Pontificalis was written until 1431.1

The past three African popes in question are said to have come from the North African area that is present-day Algeria, Mauritania, Numidia (modern day Algeria), and Tunisia. Historians name this area the maghreb. Today it is mostly Muslim.

According to Liber Pontificatis, the indigenous people of North Africa are Berbers, brown skinned as among the Tuaregs and Algerians. By the time of Pope Victor I, the Roman aristocracy had large land holdings on the Mediterranean coast.

The language was Latin. The Berbers lived in the rural areas and the larger towns. The indigenous population, the Berbers, gradually accepted Christianity, but the details of evangelisation are unclear.

Most historians today are of the opinion that Victor was a North African. He was the first Latin-speaking pope. He had to be persuaded to permit the Asian Churches of Syria to continue celebrating Easter on the 14th day of Nisan. Victor had desired to force the Asian churches to accept the Roman method of calculating the celebration of Easter, that is the first full moon on the Sunday after the vernal equinox.

Contemporary with Victor I was said to be Tertullian, the North African writer, who reworked Latin for expressing second-century theology. Just after the death of Victor I, St Perpetua and St Felicity underwent their martyrdom in Carthage (Perpetua was from the landowner class; Felicity the slave).

The Scillian martyrs, first African martyrs put to death in Carthage just prior to the pontificate of Victor, with St Cyprian, the great bishop and martyr of Carthage martyred in 258 half a century after Victor. As one historian writes, it was “remarkable… that Latin should have won recognition as the language of African Christianity from the outset, while the Roman church was still using Greek.” Although martyrdom was the great seal of African Christianity, most historians have concluded that Victor I was not martyred in Rome.

St Miltiades (311-14) is the second pope identified as an African. The Liber Pontificalis names him as born in Africa. More recent scholars consider that Miltiades was probably from an African family in Rome. In fact, Miltiades was pope in Rome at the time of the victorious battle of the Milvian Bridge when Constantine the Great defeated and killed Maxentius. With this victory, Constantine opened the way to the end of persecution of Christians.

Miltiades is not recorded as making any intervention in drawing up the Edict of Milan that recognised the freedom of religion for all peoples. When the Donatists in North Africa had recourse against the Catholic Church, Constantine asked Miltiades to listen to their complaints. At this time the opposition in North Africa are called Donatists. They are the poor and the peasants.

They make up the opposition to the well-to-do landholders. At present there is much study of the Donatists. These people are Berbers not Romans. Miltiades called a synod of bishops to examine the case. Historians have considered that Miltiades, seemingly an African, was chosen precisely because he had connection with the Church in North Africa.

More recent historical studies consider that the question of Donatism in North Africa are not only doctrinal but also sociological, economic, and political factors. The schism continued after the death of Miltiades.

Finally, St Gelasius (492-496) is called an African in the Liber Pontificalis. In another document, Gelasius referred to himself as “born a Roman.” It is suggested that he was of African family origin.

He is known especially for his strained relationship with the Byzantine emperor Anastasius in Constantinople. Gelasius I unequivocally proclaimed his authority as pope over that of the emperor. The collection of liturgical prayers that bear his name belong to the seventh century.
TRIBUNE