Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson waits to exchange Christmas greetings with Pope Francis at the Clementina Hall on Dec. 21, 2013, in Vatican City, Vatican. In his message, the Pope expressed the three hallmarks of a Curial official: professionalism, service and holiness of life. He urged the Curia to be ‘conscientious objectors to gossip’ and expressed his gratitude for the dedicated service of the retiring members of the Curia.  (Franco Origlia/Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

Some analysts recommend it’s the right moment, with a pope from Africa, to reward Christians for their strength despite often horrific persecution. It’s easy to openly be a Christian in Texas. But recently in the DRC, where 95% of the population are Christian, no-one stopped Islamist rebels from forcing 70 Christians into a church where they were butchered, beheaded with machetes.

In 2023, Fox News Digital was told that more than 52,000 Christians “have been butchered or hacked to death for being Christians” since 2009 in Nigeria, according to Intersociety, a civil society group based in Onitsha.

Yet Nigeria in 2023 was shown to have the largest number of practicing Catholics in the world – worshipers who attend mass – by a long way, followed by another African country, Kenya. This is according to Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), which reported “weekly or more frequent Mass attendance is highest among adult self-identified Catholics in Nigeria at 94% followed by Kenya at 73%.”

Greg Tobin offered his take on the preferred candidates. First, “Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, DRC, Archbishop of Kinshasa, is a leading African candidate, though he is not considered strong or consistent in his theological teachings, (and) he is a vocal opponent of the dictatorial leadership of his country.”

Pope Francis waves to the public as he leads the mass at Martyrs Stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo on Feb. 2, 2023.  (Chris Milosi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

And “Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appia Turkson, from Ghana, [from] 2020 onward served Pope Francis as head of a multi-group task force to monitor widespread effects of (the) coronavirus pandemic on churches and Catholic institutions. Turkson is a viable choice, widely respected, liked by Pope Francis, and theologically and “politically” palatable to Western prelates, but his visibility has dimmed in recent years. His election would be a major surprise along the same line that Bergolio’s (Pope Francis) was in 2013.”

Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah (center) attends a prayer at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Victories in Dakar on Dec. 4, 2023.  (GUY PETERSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Tobin pointed out that Guinea’s Cardinal Robert Sarah, being 80, is “ineligible to vote in the conclave due to age. A distinct long-shot, due to age and sense his time has passed.” 

One final note: Should the next Pope come from Africa, he won’t be the first. Victor 1, from North Africa, served as the Pontiff between 189-199, and was closely followed by Miltiades and Gelasius 1.