It's truly a vast subject, from doctrine, culture, sociology , the history of the Roman Catholic Church, economics, to poetry - ( Seamus Heaney's movement from the faith ) and from poetry, the marvellous Edward Lear , Papal Bull etc to idiotic politics.
From the world of speculation, so far I've only checked out
The legacy of a compassionate reformist pope
and listened to this guy on Instagram talking about Pope Francis' visits to prisons:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DItoUnDsARK/?igsh=emc5cjh2bnl5aTdx
On an ideological and political dimension, there's a war going on - a holy war between Missionary Christianity and Islam, for the soul of the African in the geographical dimensions of Africa and vast diasporas :The only advantages that Christianity seems to have in that war is that in Christianity's view , alcohol is not haram, and secondly it's not compulsory to pray five times a day - and that's where when it comes to whether it should be a Black Pope or a White Pope that should lead with the Battle Hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers " , perhaps the African Christian soldiers would much prefer to serve an Oyibo Pope as their earthly commander-in-chief, because of what Victor Okafor has described as "a psychological symptom of our heritage known as colonial mentality"
It's reasonable to expect that in the name of self-interest, self-preservation and self-perpetuation, some of those who are given the arduous task of electing the next Pope could be thinking - " Africa ? Not yet, we've already given it to South America, and it's about time for the Papacy to come back home to Rome and to Europe where the Papacy traditionally and truly belongs!"
They've waited for 2,000 years for Jesus to come back and with a little patience, surely Africans can wait just a little longer during the interregnum?
There might be some conservatives and extremists who could be thinking that the Papacy would definitely be going to hell if an African were to be elected Pope even in the face of the theological argument presented to me by my American Roman Catholic friend from Minnesota when I asked him what he had to say about In the Closet of the Vatican by Frédéric Martel . My friend Robert confidently assured me that Jesus had prophesied rightly when he said, " And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it"
On the other hand, there are those who say that blessing same-sex marriage is a "primrose path to the everlasting bonfire "
Frankly, just for a change I'd like to see an American ( I have a few in mind) elected Pope. I'm sure that he would have a praiseworthy influence on Trump, whereas a Black African Pope on top of the latest rumours about a historical Black Jesus, would just make matters worse, especially if he should want to prevail on Trump to reconsider many of his policies including Trump's Policy on DEI , taking into consideration the Roman Catholic Church's point of view that " We are all God's children", once upon a time a dominant theme in We Are the World
Fortunately or unfortunately it's not the whole Catholic Nation that will be electing the next Pope, in which case numerically speaking a Black African would have the ghost of chance at being democratically elected the next Pope - Christ's Vicar on earth, the one who who feed his sheep with spiritual food, as indeed Jesus once instructed Peter : "Feed my sheep!"
Our Pan African Bro from Ghana is hopeful that it will be Peter Turkson, just as once upon a time the Igbos were praying that it would be Francis Arinze and the Yoruba I'm sure must have also been praying fervently - privately - in their sacred places, that it should be a Yoruba man, one of the Yoruba Cardinals…
We are to assume that if the First African Pope were to be as politically engaged as the Brazilian Bishop Dom Camara was ,to this day remembered for saying "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist" or as politically engaged as Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah is politically engaged, then what a very powerful, authoritative and influential voice that would be in national politics!
As to these ruminations and Edward Kissi's Afrocentric reference to symbolism, it's beyond belief that in the most non-racist organisation in the Western Hemisphere, namely the Catholic Church, people who belong to that creed should be worried about the colour or nationality of the next Pope.
There is of course the symbolism inherent in the drama that we are shortly going to witness : When the conclave meets, should BLACK SMOKE curl out of the chimney, it would signal that no pope has been elected. When WHITE SMOKE puffs out of the chimney it means Hallel-u-jah - that the next Pope - Black or White, African, European, Asian, North, Central or South American of any of the colours of Joseph's Coat of many colours, has been elected !
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