Cardinal Peter Turkson gave a wide ranging interview to the UK Telegraph about his vision and what it would mean if he is elected Pope.
He told The Daily Telegraph Tuesday that his biggest challenge, should he be elected, would be to maintain an orthodox Catholic doctrine while “at the same time knowing how to apply it so that you do not become irrelevant in a world that has continuous changes”.
Cardinal Turkson, who holds one of the most important jobs in the Roman Curia and has been repeatedly promoted by Pope Benedict, was quick to take a conservative line on gay marriage and other “alternative lifestyles”.
“We need to find ways of dealing with the challenges coming up from society and culture,” he said, adding that the Church needed to “evangelise”, or convert, those who had embraced “alternative lifestyles, trends or gender issues”. He added: “We cannot fail in our task of providing guidance.”
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The African prelate said he had reflected on the enormous personal burden of becoming the leader of the Catholic Church. “It would certainly mean a lot if I had to be a pope,” he said. “If I was elected pope it would signal a lot of [personal] change. Very big change in a lot of regards. I have been an archbishop, which involved a certain amount of leadership and now having to do this on a world level, the dimensions expand almost infinitely.“It is going to be a life-changing experience and I think that is what it has been for Benedict and those who have gone before us. The challenge will also be with the individual to want to make his mark, not trying to fit into anybody’s shoes but finding his own shoes to wear.”
Cardinal Turkson also said the Vatican needs to “restore and repair” an image that has been “badly compromised by recent scandals”.
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“It is a possibility [that there will be an African pope],” he said. “Already at the last conclave there was a move to have a candidate from the southern half of the globe,” he said. But he pointed out that there is constant speculation over the idea of an African pope.“Before I got here there was a young African cardinal called Arinze from Nigeria. And at every conclave everybody was talking about him as an emerging candidate. Arinze is now 80 and actually there is no way he can participate in the conclave. So after Arinze another African shows up in the Vatican, now there are actually two of us, there is a cardinal from Guinea. So again there is speculation.”
My immediate reaction upon reading this interview, ‘he seems to want to be Pope, almost campaigning for it.’
I am not sure we want a Pope who wants to be Pope.
Don’t get me wrong, Cardinal Peter Turkson might make a great Pope, but his lack of circumspection in this interview is jarring to my mind.
Additionally, he spoke about what happened at the last conclave. That is a no no. What happens during the conclave stays in the conclave.
My advice to Cardinal Peter Turkson, if you want to be Pope. Shhhhhh.
February 13, 2013 at 1:15 pm
He who goes in as pope comes out a cardinal.
February 13, 2013 at 1:39 pm
Hmmmm…I am going to guess that he knows that appearing to campaign makes one less likely to be Pope. He's certainly not a stupid man..maybe he is trying to NOT be Pope? Is a puzzlement.
February 13, 2013 at 1:46 pm
I had read that he suggested that condom use in a marriage where one spouse has HIV is acceptable, though not effective. Is this true?
February 13, 2013 at 3:51 pm
I think it's safe to say that this man will not be elected Pope. I can't imagine the College of Cardinals looking kindly on "running" for Pope. Besides, he hold entirely too many controversial opinions (especially regarding "alternative lifestyles") – again, not something the College will look upon with favor. After reading this article, I'm not even considering him in the running.
February 13, 2013 at 4:03 pm
Your article and these comments have put my mind somewhat at ease. I was revolted by the campaigning feel to the article when I read it elsewhere and am glad the sentiments expressed here indicate he will be passed over. GOOD.
February 13, 2013 at 4:43 pm
But, but if he is passed over what about St. Malachy's predictions? Or will we get to finally bury that silliness?
February 13, 2013 at 4:50 pm
Yes, he should close his mouth. I agree that it sounded like he was campaigning and it turned me off, as did other comments of his. Personally, I wish all Cardinals, Bishops and priests would refuse to talk to any media about the papacy and the upcoming conclave. There's absolutely no point in trying to explain the unexplainable to the secular masses and to me, it degrades the Church to enter into a discussion of what ultimately is the acting of the Holy Spirit. They end up looking and sounding like politicians.
February 13, 2013 at 6:52 pm
I suspect he's not campaigning so much as answering the reporter's questions candidly. There's no way to know from only his side of the dialogue, but that's my take.
Of course, if Cardinal Turkson is that candid with the press, maybe he's not a very good choice after all. Still, it would be a lot of fun to watch the conspiracy theorists' heads explode when they're faced with an actual Black Pope.
February 13, 2013 at 8:16 pm
First, PCJP is not that important, compared with the dicasteries.
Second, I don't think he went over the line; he never said that it was the cardinals, for the press wanted an African if they couldn't get a liberal like Schoenborn.
Third, they want him to be Pope b/c of St Malachy's 'prophecy.'
Finally, no, I don't think the College wants him as Pope anyways.
February 14, 2013 at 1:09 am
I hoping the next Pope will be Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. I know it's a long shot, but we'll see what the Holy Spirit and Our Lady decide.
February 14, 2013 at 11:24 pm
I don't think that Cardinal Turkson is campaigning. He's just being honest. I'll bet that all or most of the other cardinals have also thought about what they would do if elected Pope. They might be more hesitant to speak about it, though. Cardinal Turkson's honesty is refreshing, actually. He'll probably learn that the media will take advantage of that honesty.
February 15, 2013 at 12:59 pm
This was bad form on the Cardinal's part. His "candid" responses feed into the secular understanding of this as a political game. I don't think he is the one. If Cardinal Arinze were younger I would put my money on him. But he is not. Since the mission territory for the Year of Faith is the West-Europe and the US-it would seem that the Church needs a strong theologian and teacher from the West. "Come Holy Spirit…."
February 15, 2013 at 11:09 pm
Would not be pleased if he were elected. Lack of discretion is NOT something one looks for in a Pope.
Plus, electing a black Pope will look like a political move to the rest of the world that already sneers at and distrusts the Church.
Perhaps a Pope from China or South America?
Myself… I'd love to see Chaput elected – Native American, young and vibrantly Orthodox.
February 15, 2013 at 11:23 pm
What if he really doesn't want to be Pope and he his just pretending to campaign to ensure the other Cardinals will hold it against him…
February 16, 2013 at 5:20 am
Cardinal Turkson's blab is indicative of immaturity, however great he may be. For real Catholic and Catholicism, there is no African or American or Asian or white or black or yellow. As we are human, some may express in different ways, but one should realise the stand and standard of the Church.
February 16, 2013 at 1:25 pm
African bishops/priests have plenty baggage in the closet… the next Pope better have a squeaky clean record or the Satanic Mainstream Media will devour them and perhaps finally issue the proverbial last blow that will disintegrate the Hierarchy for good… these 'aspiring' Popes better understand that and remember that everyone has a price on their head. The truth will make us free and may the next Pope be INDEED holy.
February 16, 2013 at 10:21 pm
One would hope that this man does not become the next spiritual leader of the RC Church. I guess that simply put, any cardinal going in wanting to be the pope will leave the conclave as a cardinal. At least there is that hope.
February 18, 2013 at 7:00 am
According to the Liber Pontificalis, three popes-Pope St Victor I (ca186-198), Pope St Miltiades (311-14), and Pope St Gelasius (492-496)-were Africans. The Liber Pontificalis is composed of a series of biographical entries, which record the dates and important facts for each pope. It is the oldest and most detailed chronicle dating from the Early Church. The Liber Pontificalis is dated from the sixth century. The record of names begins with St Peter. As the work progressed the entries became longer and more detailed. The Liber Pontificalis continued to be written until 1431.1
The African popes in question are said to have come from the North African area that is present-day Algeria, Mauretania, Numidia, and Tunisia. Historians name this area the maghreb. Today it is mostly Muslim. The indigenous people of North Africa are Berbers, brown skinned as among the Tuaregs and Algerians. By the time of Pope Victor I, the Roman aristocracy had large land holdings on the Mediterranean coast. Carthage was the center.2 The language was Latin. The Berbers lived in the rural areas and the larger towns. Carthage was the primacy. Small scattered dioceses in the rural areas. The indigenous population, the Berbers, gradually accepted Christianity, but the details of evangelization are unclear.
Most historians today are of the opinion that Victor was a North African. He was the first Latin-speaking pope. He had to be persuaded to permit the Asian Churches of Syria to continue celebrating Easter on the 14th day of Nisan. Victor had desired to force the Asian churches to accept the Roman method of calculating the celebration of Easter, that is the first full moon on the Sunday after the vernal equinox. Contemporary with Victor I was Tertullian, the North African writer, who reworked Latin for expressing second-century theology. Just after the death of Victor I, St Perpetua and St Felicity underwent their martyrdom in Carthage (Perpetua was from the landowner class; Felicity the slave). The Scillian martyrs, first African martyrs put to death in Carthage just prior to the pontificate of Victor, with St Cyprian, the great bishop and martyr of Carthage martyred in 258 half a century after Victor. As one historian writes, it was "remarkable… that Latin should have won recognition as the language of African Christianity from the outset, while the Roman church was still using Greek."3 Although martyrdom was the great seal of African Christianity, most historians have concluded that Victor I was not martyred in Rome.
February 18, 2013 at 7:01 am
St Miltiades (311-14) is the second pope identified as an African. The Liber Pontificalis names him as born in Africa. More recent scholars consider that Miltiades was probably from an African family in Rome. In fact, Miltiades was pope in Rome at the time of the victorious battle of the Milvian Bridge when Constantine the Great defeated and killed Maxentius. With this victory, Constantine opened the way to the end of persecution of Christians. Miltiades is not recorded as making any intervention in drawing up the Edict of Milan that recognized the freedom of religion for all peoples. When the Donatists in North Africa had recourse against the Catholic Church, Constantine asked Miltiades to listen to their complaints. At this time the opposition in North Africa are called Donatists. They are the poor and the peasants. They make up the opposition to the well-to-do landholders. At present there is much study of the Donatists. These people are Berbers not Romans. Miltiades called a synod of bishops to examine the case. Historians have considered that Miltiades, seemingly an African, was chosen precisely because he had connection with the Church in North Africa.4
More recent historical studies consider that the question of Donatism in North Africa are not only doctrinal but also sociological, economic, and political factors. The schism continued after the death of Miltiades.
Finally, St Gelasius (492-496) is called an African in the Liber Pontificalis. In another document, Gelasius referred to himself as "born a Roman." It is suggested that he was of African family origin. He is known especially for his strained relationship with the Byzantine emperor Anastasius in Constantinople. Gelasius I unequivocally proclaimed his authority as pope over that of the emperor. The collection of liturgical prayers that bear his name belong to the seventh century.5
February 18, 2013 at 7:16 am
I found this information on the National Black Catholic Congress website.
Here in the USA, there are 17 Black Catholic Bishops. Interesting that not one has ever been elevated to be a Cardinal..thanks for letting me share this with you.. This selection of the next Vicar of Christ, begs for much Prayer at this time of Lent..