Yup he was, and he was the youngest Pope if I remember correctly.

Even if the new Pope is the candidate from Nigeria, he will not be the first Pope of African heritage. There have been 3 other Popes in history that were of an African ethnicity. I guess no one wants to bring that up. (the media I mean)

They were Saint Victor I, Saint Gelalius I and Saint Miliades I.

I think it's because they have to step down at either age 71 or 73...oh hell it may be age 70. So even though at age 80 they are still a cardinal they don't have an archdiocese thgat they are running because they have to step down....or retire as they call it.

Yes you are correct that there have been 3 popes of color...but hell look how long agon that was....what was this 450 A.D....people don't even ever want to remember that.

Oh, OK. That makes sense. Thanks! :)

By news accounts and the fact that I work for a Catholic organization, all cardinals must use discretion. You cannot put yourself out their campaigning for the position. Also, because during the conclave they have to state what characteristics they are looking for in a new leader, you can't really say who has the inside track on the papacy hence the phrase "Come into conclave a pope, leave a cardinal". But could someone help me out on exactly who gets a cardinal? We have Francis Cardinal George here in Chicago, and I found out the U.S. only have 11 eligible cardinals. Do they have a specific amount of the U.S. that they cover or what? I thought cardinals were sort of set up like governors, one for each state or something. Please let me know.

Re: Is the World ready
 

Although I'm not Catholic, I guess that I would want for the Cardinals to vote for whoever they really thought was the best candidate, regardless of color. It does not seem that race should be a factor when deciding someone who is supposed to be holy, etc.

SC

Re: Is the World ready
 

Although I'm not Catholic, I guess that I would want for the Cardinals to vote for whoever they really thought was the best candidate, regardless of color. It does not seem that race should be a factor when deciding someone who is supposed to be holy, etc. I don't think that it should be a move to "make a statement or to show the world anything." I think they should just pick the person that they think has been touched (or whatever the criteria is).

SC

Oh yeah...definitely eons ago, but I just thought it was interesting. Folks tripping about a black Pope, but it's already been done, not once but 3 times. I am not Catholic, and I had no idea there was a black Pope, so I was totally surprised when I found out this information.

Let's save THAT debate for another day... lol
 

Well, folks don't even want to remember that Jesus was... aahhhh forgetaboutit! :o :D

From what I know Bishops have a retirement age of 75 and submit a letter of retirement. The Pope can accept or decline. He declined John Cardinal O'Connor's offer to retire when he turned 75.

I found an article about a recent elevation of Cardinals if anyone is interested.

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/67/story_6778_1.html

Lets see... off the top of my head I know of only three Popes from Africa and refered to as black in the cronicles:
Pope St. Vincent (around 200 AD)
Pope St. Melchiades (around 300 AD)
Pope St. Gelasius (around 400 AD)

Those medevalist and classical courses showing again :rolleyes:

*Unfortunately there are no known visual representations of these popes

Pretty much nailed it. :D

Here's some more information on these three, courtesy of the National Black Catholic Congress:

http://www.nbccongress.org/black-cat...ican-popes.asp

(If you're really into history, don't miss the listings of Black martyrs and saints.)

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I don't know... I found their listing of "black" saints to be a little lacking - skipped over quite a few actually.

St. Maurice for example:
http://www.stmaryofegypt.net/saints_maurice.shtml

This website has a greater listing (although a little sketchy with some facts):
http://our.homewithgod.com/fdrennen/Black_saints.htm

I think what you're seeing is the difference between an Eastern Orthodox church (St Mary of Egypt) and a Roman Catholic organization. They list their saints differently.

NBD - it's all great stuff for the history geeks. :p

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