There were three African Popes who came from the region of North Africa. Although there are no authentic portraits of these popes, there are drawings and references in the Catholic Encyclopedia as to their being of African background. The names of the Three African Popes are: Victor (183-203 A.D.), Gelasius (492-496 A.D.), and Mechiades or Militiades (311-314 A.D.). All are saints.
Pope Saint Victor 1
Saint Victor was born in Africa and bore a Latin name as most African did at that time. Saint Victor was the fifteenth pope and a native of black Africa. He served from 186 A.D. until 197 A.D. He served during the reign of Emperor Septimus Severus, also African, who had led Roman legions in Britain. Some of the known contributions of Victor were his reaffirming the holy feast of Easter to be held on Sunday as Pius has done. As a matter of fact, he called Theophilous, Bishop of Alexandria, on the carpet for not doing this. He also condemned and excommunicated Theodore of Byzantium because of the denial of the divinity of Jesus Christ. He added acolytes to the attendance of the clergy. He was crowned with martyrdom. He was pope for ten years, two months and ten days. He was buried near the body of the apostle Peter, the first pope in Vatican. Some reports relate that St. Victor died in 198 A.D. of natural causes. Other accounts stated he suffered martyrdom under Servus. He is buried in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City near the "Convessio."
Pope Saint Victor 1 feast day is July 28th.
Pope Saint Gelasius 1
Saint Gelasius was born in Rome of African parents and was a member of the Roman clergy from youth. Of the three African popes, Gelasius seems to have been the busiest. He occupied the holy papacy four years, eight months and eighteen days from 492 A.D. until 496 A.D. Gelasius followed up Militades' work with the Manicheans. He exiled them from Rome and burned their books before the doors of the basilica of the holy Mary. He delivered the city of Rome from the peril of famine. He was a writer of strong letters to people of all rank and classes. He denounced Lupercailia, a fertility rite celebration. He asked them sternly why the gods they worshipped had not provided calm seas so the grain ships could have reached Rome in time for the winter. He wrote to Femina, a wealthy woman of rank, and asked her to have the lands of St. Peter, taken by the barbarians and the Romans, be returned to the church. The lands were needed for the poor who were flocking to Rome. His theory on the relations between the Church and the state are explained in the Gelasian Letter to the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius. He was known for his austerity of life and liberality to the poor.
There is today in the library of the church at Rome a 28 chapter document on church administration and discipline. Pope Saint Gelasius 1 feast day is November 21st.
Pope Saint Miliades 1
Saint Miltiades was one of the Church's Black Popes. Militades occupied the papacy from 311 to 314 A.D. serving four years, seven months and eight days. Militiades decreed that none of the faithful should fast on Sunday or on the fifth day of the week ...because this was the custom of the pagans. He also found residing in Rome a Persian based religion call Manichaenism. He furthered decreed that consecrated offerings should be sent throughout the churches from the pope's consecration. This was call leaven. It was Militiades who led the church to final victory over the Roman Empire. Militiades was buried on the famous Appain Way.
Pope Saint Militiades feast day is December 10th.
By The National Black Catholic Congress
A Black Pope
Chieftin Campbell, Observer TeenAge writer
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
As Pope John Paul ails in a Rome hospital, Cardinal Francis Arinze, a 72 year-old Prefect of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, could be the one to replace him and become the first African to rule the Holy See since the death of Gelasius I in 496 AD.
It is not that I wish for the death of the current Pontiff but he has been struggling with the Parkinson's disease for a long time now, followed by the problems he suffered last week with his breathing which necessitated an emergency operation. As a result of this Catholics the world over are praying for the health of John Paul II but many are also wondering what if?
Arinze, the fourth-ranking cardinal in the Vatican is seen by many as the African, with the best chance of succeeding Pope John Paul II. Arinze began his church career as a child of poor pagan parents in a mud-brick bungalow in the forests of southern Nigeria. If Arinze is elected, this could prove a big upset for many all over the world, as they have already been used to their pope being white, and it would take more than a while for them to come to terms with the changes. On the other hand, the day the College of Cardinals chose a black Pope, could be one of the most enlightening days in black history. Many African Catholics will be delighted with the decision if it is made and even though many may remain indifferent, the selection of a pope is not a simple, everyday thing. Rather it is something that may affect Catholics all across the world in many different ways.
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Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn
Cardinal Bernardin Gantin
Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Cardinal Camillo Ruini
Cardinal Pio Laghi
Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini
Cardinal Roger Etchegaray
Cardinal Francis Arinze
Cardinal Angelo Sodano
Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi
Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez
Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera
Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos
Cardinal Godfried Danneels
Black Candidates are Africans from neighboring Nigeria and Benin
Cardinal Francis Arinze
As the church expanded into Africa, this son of a Nigerian tribal chief proved to be able, charismatic and possessed of a keen sense of humor. He is close to the pope and has been instrumental in the Vatican's dialogue with Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists. Although the cardinals are unlikely to choose a black pope, Arinze is conservative and, theologically, would be a safe choice.
Cardinal Bernardin Gantin
One of the pope's closest friends as well as the dean of the College of Cardinals, Gantin is also the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, which chooses all bishops. He is a native of Benin and, being black, may suffer from the sentiment to pick a European candidate.
Francis Arinze
Born: 1932, Eziowelle, Onitsha state
Education: Bigard seminary, Nigeria; Urban University, Rome; London University
Career: Ordained 1958; consecrated bishop (Africa's youngest) 1965; first black archbishop of Onitsha 1967; called by John Paul II to Vatican in 1984; elevated cardinal 1985; president of Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue 1984-2002; prefect of divine worship and discipline of sacraments, 2002 to date.
Publications: Sacrifice in Ibo Religion, 1970; Answering God's Call, 1983; Alone With God, 1986; Church in Dialogue, 1990; Meeting Other Believers, 1997; Holy Eucharist, 2001; Religions for Peace, 2002.
Arinze on family: 'In many parts of world, the family is under siege, opposed by an anti-life mentality as is seen in contraception, abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. It is scorned and banalised by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions, and cut in two by divorce.'
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