An African pope, a sign of openness under consideration by the most conservative cardinals

The story is well known in Rome, but it can serve to illustrate how the election of an African pope — which many would see as a step forward for the Church, a breath of fresh air, a definitive swipe at the Vatican’s rot — could also lead to a great disappointment. It happened at the end of 2023. The Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith had just published the declaration Fiducia supplicans, which allowed the blessing of same-sex couples, a way of putting into practice Pope Francis’ remark on the plane back from Rio de Janeiro: “Who am I to judge gay people?” The African Church as a whole was incensed. Most particularly Cardinal Fridolin Besungu Ambongo, 65, a Capuchin friar and archbishop of Kinshasa, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Ambongo, who is currently being considered as one of the candidates to become the new pope, drafted a seven-page letter of protest and, not content with that, went to Rome to complain in person to Pope Francis. He did so not in his own name, but as the leader of the African revolt against the Vatican’s declaration. Cardinal Ambongo, who has a tough-guy image and is appreciated in Africa for his outspoken opposition to government corruption and the power of the warlords, flatly refused any concessions from the Church regarding homosexuality. He declared: “The Church cannot promote a sexual deviation.” He added: “Homosexuality does not exist in Africa.” That was it. Case closed.

Does this mean that the 17 African cardinals at the conclave will automatically add their votes to a conservative candidate? Fortunately, things are rarely that easy in the Vatican. On the one hand, the conservative sector is considering the possibility of playing this card, which has the disadvantage of the African episcopate’s extreme intransigence on moral issues, but, on the other hand, also its advantages.

A Black pope would be seen as a leap forward, a sign of openness, a show of audacity. Although, on closer inspection, the Vatican’s doses of audacity were already spent in 2013 when it elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and nearly the majority now would prefer to let things return to normal. Among those who support this option are the African cardinals, and therefore it may be the case that they will vote for a candidate who, without being so conservative, suits their interests.

And this is where the Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who remains ahead in the polls and is well known to the African community because, as Pope Francis’s Secretary of State, he opened the Church to Africa and Asia, would play his trump card. A pope who is neither right-wing nor left-wing, and an Italian pope. Here we find another twist to the story and yet another example of the Vatican’s complexities. This openness by Bergoglio, a pope whom the right called a progressive and even a communist, is what could be opening the door to an African pope, and therefore a very conservative one.

It’s 9 a.m. and Piazza Navona is shining in all its splendor, with hardly any tourists, portrait artists or street vendors. There are only a few young priests and nuns with backpacks on their shoulders heading to the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, which belongs to Opus Dei. In a classroom on the first floor, Monsignor Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the Dicastery for the New Evangelization, explains the situation of the Church in Africa to a small group of journalists.

Nwachukwu is Nigerian, 65 years old, and has a resume worthy of an adventure novel. A Vatican diplomat, he was the first Chief of Protocol of African origin and a nuncio to several countries, including Daniel Ortega’s Nicaragua. Listening to him — and here’s the final twist — one could come to the conclusion that, perhaps because there had never been a conclave with so many countries represented, many of the cabals have been based on the candidates’ origins rather than their ideology.

There are a couple of quotes from Fortunatus Nwachukwu that give much food for thought. He speaks of missionaries, both men and women. “They traveled at a time when traveling meant never returning, it meant dying. We don’t value their sacrifice enough, and now we don’t know what to do with the fruits of their sacrifices. There’s an explosion of faith in Africa.”

There will be an African pope. It’s just a matter of setting a date.

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