“We should have an African pope. it’s time.” Do you hear yourselves?
He’s not a diversity hire. He’s not a social media win. He’s not a symbolic nod to progress like some Vatican-branded Black square.
We’re talking about centuries of African theology, scholarship, and leadership as if this is a quota to be met, not a rightful evolution. The phrase “it’s time” implies a charity gesture, not a recognition of legitimacy. Like the church is tossing Africa a bone after 2,000 years of missionary colonialism.
The fact that you can imagine an African pope and immediately reduce him to a representation milestone, not a powerful spiritual authority, tells on you.
He’s not here to make the church “look good.” He’s here because African Catholics are not a side dish in your institutional banquet. They are the church.
But who am I to speak on it? Just an ignorant agnostic watching the tokenization play out from the sidelines.