Why Has There Never Been A Black Pope In Over 2000 Years ?

[Guest]

?

[MissyP89]

Why did it take 250ish years to elect a black president?

[EmilyAnn]

JPII was the first non-Italian pope in almost half a millennium.

Also, the Church in Africa suffered a lot after the Arab conquest in the late 600's-early 700's. It was only when Europeans colonisers returned in the 1800s that the Church was really re-established there.

There were several early popes who came from North Africa, so it hasn't just been restricted to Europeans.

Edited March 26, 2012 by EmilyAnn

[Lil'Monster]

I don't know......dont blame me for it

[CatholicCid]

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_black_popes_have_there_been

There have been three black/African Popes so far:

Pope Victor I, who was Pope from 186-197;
Pope Militiades, who served from 311-314;
Pope Gelasius, who sat in Peter's chair from 492-496.

However, all were from North Africa and probably had darker skin but it is not known if they were truly black.

[zabbazooey]

good question

[Winchester]

You misspelled "stupid".

[EmilyAnn]

[quote name='CatholicCid' timestamp='1332727549' post='2408478']
[url="http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_black_popes_have_there_been"]http://wiki.answers....have_there_been[/url]

There have been three black/African Popes so far:

Pope Victor I, who was Pope from 186-197;
Pope Militiades, who served from 311-314;
Pope Gelasius, who sat in Peter's chair from 492-496.

However, all were from North Africa and probably had darker skin but it is not known if they were truly black.
[/quote]

They were probably not that dark. Northern Africans are more Arab-toned than black.

[Lisa]

A couple of things come to mind:

1. The Church is centered around Rome, and in the first 1,000 years of the Church, there wasn't too much action happening south of northernmost Africa.
2. Even though the Church is ultimately good, people within the Church often have the same hang-ups as the rest of the world. That means, for the first 1800ish years, Black Africans were viewed as a people of slavery.
3. That brings us to the last 200ish years since slavery has been outlawed (it happened far earlier in most Western European countries than in the U.S). Point number 2 still applies. People everywhere took steps towards understanding the dignity of these peoples.
4. There are far fewer Popes than presidents or most political leaders. JPII had an extraordinarily long 'term', but even still, many Popes serve for 10+ years. So, there's been fewer chances for that to happen!

Edited March 26, 2012 by Lisa

[dominicansoul]

cos teh Holy Spirit hasn't picked one yet?

[J-Roq]

It also makes me disappointed that Saint Martin de Porres, who was known for being about as black as black gets, is often painted to look like a slightly tanned white man. One of his main messages was that color had no value regarding piety and individual worth.

[Winchester]

So you complaining about him being painted whitish seems a little silly...

[EmilyAnn]

[quote name='J-Roq' timestamp='1332728487' post='2408496']
It also makes me disappointed that Saint Martin de Porres, who was known for being about as black as black gets, is often painted to look like a slightly tanned white man. One of his main messages was that color had no value regarding piety and individual worth.
[/quote]

Really? I've only ever seen pictures of him depicted as dark-skinned. Even just searching google now there is not a single one that portrays him as anything other than black.

[Lil'Monster]

[quote name='EmilyAnn' timestamp='1332728622' post='2408501']
Really? I've only ever seen pictures of him depicted as dark-skinned. Even just searching google now there is not a single one that portrays him as anything other than black.
[/quote]

Yeah me too

[qfnol31]

Historically the Church of Rome has been connected to the immediate surrounding area. The Holy Father has often come from the region around Rome or the diocese itself. Until the latter half of the second millennium, the Church of Africa would have been associated with their local Churches, just like the rest of the Churches at the time. Only in the last few hundred years has this really begun to change as we think of it now. This is part of the reason we've never had an Asian Pope or an American Pope (including all of the Americas).