How Francis Challenged and Embraced Africa’s Rising Catholic Population

Every time Pope Francis presided over a mass that incorporated elements of the Congolese tradition in the Basilica of San Pedro in 2019, he looked as a sign of his lasting commitment to Roman Catholics Africa.

When he visited African migrants in southern Italy and then kissed the feet of the two gentlemen of the South Sudan War, his actions caught more attention to their focus on a continent where the number of Catholics grows faster than anywhere else in the word.

“Being from Latin America, he felt for our predicaments as a third world continent that fought in a world controlled from far,” Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the former Archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria, who voted in the data of the 2013 conclaves said.

While Cardinal Onaiyakan and his teammates prepare to meet in the Sistine Chapel next week to choose the new Pope after Francisco’s death, the question of how the growing Catholic population of Africa could shape the next papacy and the future of the church has become more timely than.

Around a fifth of the population of Africa, approximately 280 million people, are Catholics. Almost a fifth of all Catholics are Africans, and that balance is changing: according to the Vatican, more than half of the 13 million people who joined the Church in 2022 were in Africa.

Africa produces the greatest number of seminarians in the world. Of the 135 cardinals who will name the next Pope, 18 are from Africa.

Francis’s legacy in Africa is mixed, and some accredited him for adapting the church’s teachings to African customs and others saying that his messages sometimes felt out of contact with the diverse and strong beliefs that encourage many societies.

In marriage and same -sex divorce, Francis’s blessing towards same -sex couples faced a strong reprimand of African bishops and many Catholics in countries where homosexuality remains criminalized, stigmatized or taboo. The resistance of the African bishops highlighted their growing influence within the Church, the observers say.

“Pope Francis had a certain solidarity with Africa, and I think his teachings on social issues were appreciated,” said Father Giulio Albanese, an Italian missionary who worked in the 1980s and accompanied Francis on two trips to Africa. “But sometimes people’s opening is not accepted by bishops.”

Francis visited 10 African countries about five trips through his 12 -year -old papacy, while his predecessor visited the continent twice.

Among the potential successors of Francis in Africa is Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, the Archbishop of Kinshasa, 65, whom Francis made a cardinal in 2019, who was a member of his Cardinals counter and that is tesion in the boat of the couples of the ship.

That opposition forced Franciss to allow African bishops to ignore politics.

Other African contenders include Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, who was a candidate in the 2013 conclave and has similar opinions to Francis about climate change, social justice and homosexuality.

At the other end of the spectrum is Cardinal Robert Sarah de Guinea, who was a main opponent of Francis and his attempts to modernize the church.

The choice of an African Pope would probably mark the beginning of an era or conservatism, in line with the traditional opinions of many African Catholics.

However, on many issues, African Catholics said that Francis had preached values ​​near their hearts, including a more respectful relationship with nature, interceligious dialogue with Islam and the importance of incorporating local traditions into the faith of one.

Even in homosexuality, many said that Francis’s approach was one of subtlety that resonated in Africa and made the church doctrine more attractive in a continent with most of the world of young people.

“Pope Francis’s position on homosexuals was one of the two who reaffirmed traditional Catholic teaching while advocating greater inclination and respect,” said Brian Mboh, 28, who is Catholic and a communications professional, Cameroon, where homosexualized is criminalized.

Duration A private audience with the Pope in 2023, Sheila Leocádia Pires, a communications officer of the Catholic Bishops Conference in Southern Africa, said he raised the question of single mothers who deprive themselves of the Eucharist in Africa. “Everyone is welcome,” was his answer, said Mrs. Pires.

Despite all Francis’s attention to Africa, Catholics noticed that their influence and calls to peace threw few results.

The war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo entered a new deadly phase this year. African migrants still face mortal obstacles in the dangerous trip to Europe. The two competitors of South South South are threatening a new war.

“They forgot how he pinched and kissed his feet, since they are again in the throat of the other,” said Cardinal Onayakan.

Others said the care and attention that Francis gave to Africa would be what they remembered most.

“Our country was at war, but it still came here to share our suffering,” said Eugenie Ndumba, a parish professor at Congo, which Francis visited in 2023.

“He knew where his children were, and made sure to go to them.”

The report was contributed by Neil Macfarquhar Of Rome; Jack Buunda de Kinshasa, Democratic Republic or Congo; Eugene ndi ndi de Yaunde, Cameroon; Zimasa Matiwane of Johannesburg; and Pius Adelev of Eket, Nigeria.