The world is largely influenced by four disciplines:
• Politics
• Sports
• Religion
• Humanitarian efforts
And the individuals leading these pillars, the POTUS, the OIC Chair, the Pope, and the UN Secretary General , are among the most powerful figures on the planet.
Last week, one of them passed away: The head of the Catholic Church, an institution with 1.4 billion followers and the single most influential Christian denomination in the world.
Catholicism’s history spans over 2,000 years. Its origins are often traced back to the apostle Peter, when Jesus said: “You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church.”
Peter was given preeminence by Jesus as the bedrock of Christianity.
After the crucifixion of Jesus, Peter traveled to Rome to spread the Gospel. At the time, Romans worshipped a pantheon of pagan gods. Peter is regarded as the first bishop of Rome, the first pope. The word “Catholic” itself means *universal*.
As Peter continued his mission in Rome, Christians were scattered across the empire, and a system of overseers called bishops was established to lead and organize the growing communities.
However, this period was turbulent.
Christians faced brutal persecution from pagan rulers, leading to widespread bloodshed.
In the 4th century, a dramatic shift occurred when the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity.
He ended the persecutions and convened a council now known as the *Council of Nicaea,* which brought all bishops together. This council clarified fundamental theological questions and doctrines still in use today.
At that time, politicians chose popes, making Catholicism a highly political institution.
This period saw chaos: assassinations, bribes, poisonings, and power struggles tainted the Church’s leadership.
Some of the most infamous popes include:
– Pope Stephen VI: A vengeful pope who exhumed his predecessor’s corpse, sat it on a throne, held a “trial,” and threw the body into a river after finding it guilty.
– Pope John XII: He turned the papal residence into a brothel, hosting prostitutes and living a life of debauchery. He was eventually thrown out of a window by a man who caught him sleeping with his wife.
– Pope Benedict IX: He allegedly bribed his way into the papacy, engaged in rampant sexual misconduct, and was rumored to have raped page boys within the Vatican.
– Pope Leo IX: Although instrumental in reforms, he financed parts of the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica through corruption and bloody conquest.
– Bishop Paul IV: A fervent anti-Semite, he rounded up Jews into ghettos, forced them to wear yellow badges, and ordered the destruction of synagogues.
After this dark period, reform came through the *Cluniac Abbey movement.*
Under the guidance of King Henry III and Pope Leo IX, order was restored.
One major reform was the enforcement of celibacy for priests.
In 1059, *Pope Nicholas II* and *Pope Gregory VII* introduced the *Conclave,* a secluded council of cardinals tasked with electing future popes, removing political interference from monarchs and politicians.
Fast forward to 2025: We have had a total of 266 popes, 217 of whom were Italian.
The recently deceased Pope Francis was the first pontiff from South America, hailing from Argentina.
For all its flaws, the Catholic Church has undeniably done tremendous good, especially in education and healthcare across Africa.
I am a direct beneficiary.
Contrary to popular African opinion, we have indeed had three African popes though more than 1,500 years ago:
– Pope Victor I(AD 189–199)
– Pope Miltiades(AD 311–314)
– Pope Gelasius I(AD 492–496)
These leaders were from North Africa, under the Roman Empire.
Over the next two to three weeks, the Conclave will be summoned.
The cardinals will be locked away , no phones, no media, no contact , until a new pope is chosen.
It’s a painstaking process: a candidate must receive a two-thirds majority vote.
You don’t want a very young pope who could reign for decades, nor an elderly one who might die within months. Indeed, in 1268, it took three years for the conclave to settle on a pope.
When no decision is reached, black smoke rises from the Sistine Chapel. When a pope is chosen, white smoke signals the joyful announcement.
The white smoke will rise again.
In the ancient silence of the Sistine Chapel, beneath Michelangelo’s immortal ceiling, a decision of staggering consequence is about to unfold one that may echo far beyond the walls of the Vatican. The world waits, not only for a new Pope, but for a new voice of spiritual and moral clarity in a century crying out for it. The men most likely to wear the white cassock this time are from regions once seen as the Church’s periphery Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This, in itself, is a statement as loud as a papal bull.
In the photo making rounds across major news platforms, four cardinals stand shoulder to shoulder: Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, Cardinal Pietro Parolin of Italy, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Each man, in his person and his place, represents a possible future for the Church. But they also embody a question more profound than succession who is the Catholic Church becoming?
In a world convulsed by war, ecological collapse, and spiritual malaise, the question of who will be the next pope is more than a matter for Catholics it’s a global reckoning. With the passing of Pope Francis, a pontiff who shattered conventions and spoke to the peripheries of society, the conclave of cardinals is tasked not only with choosing a leader but with discerning a soul who can speak with moral authority in an era deafened by politics and division.
For centuries, the papacy has been the spiritual anchor of more than a billion souls. But in recent decades, it has also become a weathervane responding, sometimes reluctantly, to winds of scandal, shifting demographics, and moral complexity. Pope Francis was a historical turning point. A Pope of “Firsts” the first Jesuit, the first Latin American, the first Pope named after the beloved saint of the poor. His pontificate has been marked by radical compassion, environmental advocacy, and painful reckonings with clerical abuse. Yet, time has muted his voice. Not an ending, but a transition.
The future Pope must walk through fire doctrinal, moral, geopolitical. This is not just a succession; it’s a recalibration of faith in a world where religion is either deeply personal or dangerously political.
Who will step into the sandals of the Fisherman?
Among the leading contenders, the choices stretch across continents and ideologies, each candidate representing more than personal theology; they carry the hopes and anxieties of their regions and the wider Church.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, often described as the “Asian Francis,” radiates pastoral warmth and theological depth. His charisma and emotional intelligence connect deeply with the faithful, and his passion for the poor and marginalized mirrors the style of the late Pope. Tagle’s appointment to a major Vatican role gave him global visibility, but his Asian roots may either be his ticket to reform or a reminder that the Vatican still leans Eurocentric in its realpolitik.
From Latin America comes Cardinal Leonardo Ulrich Steiner of Brazil, a figure who embodies Francis’s ecological theology. A Franciscan and environmental advocate, Steiner’s work in the Amazon aligns with *Laudato Si’s* plea for the planet. If the Church seeks to deepen its alliance with the Earth’s most vulnerable, both ecologically and economically, Steiner could be the prophetic voice.
Then there’s Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, whose name has surfaced in several papal elections. A strong candidate from the Global South, Turkson combines theological orthodoxy with an activist’s heart. He speaks fluently on economics, climate justice, and African spirituality, an essential triad for a Church increasingly anchored in the Global South. Still, internal Vatican dynamics have at times sidelined his ascendancy.
Italy, ever the gravitational center of Catholic politics, offers Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, a peacemaker, bridge builder, and advocate for social justice. With ties to the Sant’Egidio community, Zuppi has mediated in war zones and speaks the language of peace with authenticity. His pastoral gentleness conceals a spine of steel, making him a candidate both familiar and formidable.
Each man brings vision. Each man bears a shadow. And none carries the burden alone.
But beyond names and nations, there’s a deeper cry echoing from pews and slums, from seminaries and soup kitchens. It’s the voice of the faithful who hunger not for a CEO or diplomat, but for a shepherd, one who walks with limp and laughter, one who remembers that the Church is not a museum of saints but a field hospital for the wounded.
Sister María Esperanza, a 71-year-old nun in a flood-prone barrio outside Caracas, said it simply: “We don’t need a pope who wears a crown. We need one who carries a basin and towel.”
That plea is not naïve. It is revolutionary.
The next pope must speak to a generation raised on doubt but desperate for transcendence. He must challenge rising tides of nationalism with the global Gospel. He must engage science not as threat but as partner. And he must dare to name sin where it festers within the Church’s own hierarchy.
What the conclave decides will ripple far beyond the Sistine Chapel. In Lagos and Los Angeles, in Sao Paulo and Seoul, believers and skeptics alike will look to the Vatican chimney not just for smoke, but for a sign: that amid crisis, the Church still believes in courage; that in silence, it still hears the cries of the poor; that in choosing a pope, it is choosing prophecy over power.
Because what the world awaits now is not merely a pope, but a prophet.
History watches. The faithful pray. And the world listens for a name, hoping it comes with vision.
Stephanie Shaakaa
shaakaastephanie@yahoo.com
08034861434
