With the death of Pope Francis, the first to have come from Latin America, the names of possible successors are flying about.
Reuters has listed some cardinals who are being talked about as “papabili” to succeed Pope Francis, whose death at the age of 88 was announced by the Vatican on Monday. Among the list of nine is Ghana’s Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, a Vatican official, aged 76.
From humble beginnings in a small African town, Cardinal Peter Turkson has gone on to great things in the Church, making him a contender to become the first pope from sub-Saharan Africa.
He combines a long pastoral background of tending to congregations in Ghana with hands-on experience of leading several Vatican offices, as well as strong communication skills.
The fact that he comes from one of the most dynamic regions for the Church, which is struggling against the forces of secularism in its European heartlands, should also bolster his standing.
The fourth son in a family of 10 children, Turkson was born in Wassaw Nsuta, in what was then called the Gold Coast in the British Empire. His father worked in a nearby mine and doubled as a carpenter, while his mother sold vegetables in the market.
He studied at seminaries in Ghana and New York, was ordained in 1975, and then taught in his former Ghanaian seminary and did advanced Biblical studies in Rome.
Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop of Cape Coast in 1992 and, 11 years later, made him the first cardinal in the history of the West African state.
Promotions continued under John Paul’s successor, Benedict, who brought him to the Vatican in 2009 and made him the head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace — the body that promotes social justice, human rights and world peace.
In that role, he was one of the pope’s closest advisors on issues such as climate change and drew much attention by attending conferences such as the Davos Economic Forum.
Francis merged Turkson’s department in 2016 with three other offices, leading to what some saw as a power struggle between him and another cardinal.
Turkson resigned from that role in 2021 and was appointed to head two pontifical academies on sciences and social sciences.
In 2023, he told the BBC he prayed “against” the possibility that he would be elected pope, but some of his detractors said that, given his media appearances, it appeared he was campaigning for the job.
Other possible successors to the late Pope Francis are Jean-Marc Aveline, archbishop of Marseille, French, aged 66; Cardinal Peter Erdo, Hungarian, aged 72; Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, Maltese, aged 68; Cardinal Juan Jose Omella, archbishop of Barcelona, Spanish, aged 79; Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Italian, Vatican diplomat, aged 70 and Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Filipino, aged 67.
Others are Cardinal Joseph Tobin, archbishop of Newark, N.J., American, aged 72 and Matteo Maria Zuppi, Italian, archbishop of Bologna, aged 69.
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