Will the next Pope be from Africa?

If the sole predictor of who would become the next Pope was where the Catholic Church is growing fastest, then it is almost certain he would hail from Africa.
The continent’s Catholic population is expanding more rapidly than anywhere else, representing more than half of the global increase.
While there have been at least three pontiffs from Africa, the last – Pope Gelasius I – died more than 1,500 years ago – many would argue it is high time for another.
When the cardinals who vote for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church – known as the cardinal-electors – meet at the Vatican to choose Pope Francis’ successor, will these facts influence their decision making?
“I think that it will be great to have an African Pope,” Father Stan Chu Ilo, a Nigerian Catholic priest and associate professor at DePaul University in Chicago, told the BBC, arguing that the leadership of the Church should better reflect the make-up of the global congregation.

Source: BBC | Language: English