Is an African Pope on the horizon?

KIM HELLER

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DURING a meeting at the Vatican in 2019 with South Sudanese leaders, a frail Pope Francis dropped to his knees before the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir, and other senior leaders.

In an act of extraordinary humility, he kissed their shoes, pleading for peace and accord. In this historical moment, Catholicism stood tall and proud. Today violence is rising in South Sudan.

Reflecting on this, political scientist and international relations expert Dr David Matsanga said: “The greatest gift Salva Kiir and Riek Machar can give to Pope Francis and history is peace, not in theory but in action... this is not a favour to the Vatican or the international community. It is a duty owed to the mothers, children, and generations of South Sudanese who have known only pain.”

Pope Francis visited the continent on many occasions and did not shy away from war zones. He raised his voice against colonial injustice, the persistence of economic inequalities and imbalances and the unbearable burden of debt on Africa. In an address in Kinshasa, in 2023, Francis cried out: “Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: it is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered. May Africa be the protagonist of its destiny!”