Writer: Alan Tacca. PHOTO/FILE
I cannot think of a function or any occasion where Pope Francis (RIP) would have found it necessary to introduce himself thus: “I am Pope Francis. I am the leader of the Catholic faith.”
He would sound both pompous and cheap. That was one of the differences between the deceased pope and many other religious leaders. He needed no introduction. Neither was his passing unexpected. We all knew his health had become very poor. It is the dedication of those around him and the advanced techniques of modern medical work that stretched his tenure to Easter Monday. An auspicious time for those who take the Resurrection (of Christ) to be a literal event.
It was like the Holy Father was following closely in the path of Jesus himself. I am not qualified to write at length about the man who was expected to be buried yesterday. There are many historians and more serious commentators who are at work. Suffice it to say that his humility and his concern for the weak and the downtrodden gave him a brand of dignity now rare in a world where the likes of Trump and Putin seem to proclaim that any tenderness of heart is to be despised, and that the rich and the strong have a right to set the rules by which other humans must worship them. However, I suppose I can make a few remarks on the matter of who might be the next Pope.
The position of the Pope is so huge that even among non-Catholics around the world, it has been a matter of intense curiosity during the last three or four transitions whether someone from Africa or at least the broader Third World would become the Holy Father. When Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina broke the Third World barrier in 2013, some purists remained sceptical because Bergoglio’s parents were Italian emigrants. Notably, during his 12-year reign, Pope Francis did not visit Argentina. Some Vatican watchers believe this was to avoid being ‘misinterpreted’, given the complex ideological and political terrain at home.
The backdrop of African politics, therefore, cannot be ignored in the choice of the next Pope, everything else being equal. There are, in fact, one or two obscure popes who are said to have been of African origin during the first few hundred years of the Church. But not in recent times. So, will an African at last eat the Holy Father’s chieftaincy? I would be gladly surprised.
Hurdles include the deep-set assumption that Africa is the most backward continent on the planet. Would it be appropriate and not damage the dignity of the office to have someone from this backward continent wielding power as the Holy Father? You could even end up with some of his kinsmen and all manner of half-washed village types flocking to the Vatican and upsetting the protocol and refined order of the place. Then there is the record of African leadership. How have African rulers generally conducted themselves? As a generalisation, they have been despotic, excessively selfish and corrupt, and too short-sighted to make Africa leap instead of crawl into the future.
The exceptions are few and their achievements patchy. So, on top of the ‘village’ stigma, the African cardinals present a perceived danger that they may resemble or be influenced by the type of rulers their continent has produced, and among whom they have been brought up. Sitting on the fence, I can see African villagers and African rulers in effect ‘blocking’ the event of an African pope in 2025.
Mr Tacca is a novelist and socio-political commentator.
