why hasn't there been a black pope?

Question

the pope's are always white. why?

Answer 1

There have been at least three African popes:
• St. Victor I (189-199)
• St. Melchiades (311-314)
• St. Gelasius (492-496)

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Because you have a group of old, stuffy, Caucasian cardinals voting! The word on the street is that by all accounts, after Pope John Paul II passed away, the new pope should have either been this cardinal from an African country or another from a Latin country. I don't recall their names, but both were highly qualified and thought to be the best candidates for the position. The consensus was also that it wouldn't happen....and it didn't.

And for clarification...there are plenty of black Catholics across the country...and world. Visit diocese such as Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, etc and you will see a significant number of black Catholics. Also, there are a number of black cardinals...a few from the US and many more from African countries.

Answer 3

If you look it up on the internet there have been 3 African Popes. There are no pictures of them due to how long ago they were Pope.
If you are saying in modern times then you need to get on the internet and see where most come from. Most are from Europe, specifically Italy. There have been no American popes either. But since there have been popes since Saint Peter (the first pope of the Catholic Church), America is young to be a Pope.

Answer 4

There have been 3 African Popes. So, the Popes haven't always been white. Maybe in your lifetime they have only been white. By the way, the runner up, so to speak, of the last named Pope was black. Hope this helps. I see Father K answered this and provided the names for you. Give him the credit for best answer as he was first to answer with the names for you!

Answer 5

Historically is because the Catholic Church was just in Europe.

when Europe started to colonize much of the world, the Europeans wanted to be the ruling class and having some one not white as the head of what is not only a large religious group but one that holds a lot of political power (though not nearly as much as it used to) wouldn't make since.

during this time they where also a little slow to put people of color in rolls that could lead to being a pope.

Now that we moved away from that and giving that the Catholic biggest growth have being in Latin America and Africa it might just be a matter of time.

There seems to have been thoughts of electing a pope from either Africa or Latin America when the last pope died

Answer 6

Learn your history. Pope Saint Victor was the first Black Pope in the late second century. Followed over the centuries by Pope St. Meladius and Pope St. Gelaceus. All three were Africans.

Meladius means "black".

Answer 7

Forget black Pope, where are the black bishops and cardinals? A person needs to be in office of cardinal at least before he can be elected Pope.

Answer 8

Catholicism has only relatively recently spread to black populations and there have been few black cardinals. Supposedly, one of the front-runners in the last papal election was a relatively young black cardinal. If Pope Benedict were to pass on in the next few years, it is quite possible that we will see a black Pope.

Answer 9

Actually a more significant question is why has there never been a Latin American pope, when you consider how many Catholics there are in that part of the world.

Answer 10

You don't wanna worry about the pope. Just worry about You and your travel on Christ's path. The pope and such religious custom won't affect your salvation anyway.