Will Pope No. 266 be Nigerian or Ghanaian?

It was a great shock in the Catholic community yesterday when POPE BENEDICT XVI announced to the 1.2 billion worshipers of his intending resignation as the 256th Pope.

The 85-year-old Pope said age and illness were forcing him to step down at the end of the month.

Pope Benedict XVI broke the news in Latin to Vatican cardinals, saying his deteriorating ‘strength of mind and body’ means he could not go on. According to sources, the decision was so secret that not even close aides knew.

Pope Benedict XVI

His elder brother Georg Ratzinger, 89, said; ‘His age is weighing on him – at his age, my brother wants more rest.’

Pope Benedict XVI, who was born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany; is the first pope in almost 600 years to resign; and this will force a rare election process in which the sitting Pontiff will oversee his replacement.

Now that there is a vacancy in the Vatican; many people both Catholics and other faiths are now tipping the Roman Catholic Church to appoint its first black Pontiff.

It’s this going to be a dream come through for Africa and the “Black Race?” The two most prominent Cardinals in the Vatican are from Nigeria and Ghana.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, 64, of Ghana and Cardinal Francis Arinze, 80, of Nigeria.

• If there is to be a “Black Pontiff” in the Vatican come Easter, who would be your choice?
• Should the African Church start “Praying and Fasting” for an African Pontiff?
• Should all Churches join “Hand & Faith” in praying for a “Black Pope”?

About Pope Benedict XVI

“Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI; German: Benedikt XVI; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; German pronunciation: [ˈjoːzɛf ˈalɔʏzi̯ʊs ˈʁatsɪŋɐ]; born 16 April 1927) served as Pope from 2005 until his resignation in 2013.

Pope Benedict’s election occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Since his resignation, Benedict holds the title Pope Emeritus.

Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Ratzinger established himself as a highly regarded university theologian by the late 1950s and was appointed a full professor in 1958. After a long career as an academic and professor of theology at several German universities, he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising and Cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1977, an unusual promotion for someone with little pastoral experience.

In 1981, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the most important dicasteries of the Roman Curia. From 2002 until his election as Pope, he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals.

Prior to becoming Pope, he was “a major figure on the Vatican stage for a quarter of a century”; he had an influence “second to none when it came to setting church priorities and directions” as one of John Paul II’s closest confidants. He has lived in Rome since 1981.” Source, Wikipedia.