African papal contender Peter Turkson wants change

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In 2009, the pope gave Turkson the high-profile job of running the biannual meeting of bishops to discuss the challenges of the Catholic Church in Africa. A year later, Benedict named him a member of one of the Vatican’s most important boards, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Benedict once headed.

Benedict’s bombshell announcement that he would resign Feb. 28 has set the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope likely before the end of next month.

On Tuesday, Turkson fielded a steady stream of TV crews and journalists and gamely responded to a host of questions about the qualities of the next pope.

The media interest may have been whetted by the high marks British bookmakers gave Turkson in the hours after the announcement: William Hill made Turkson its 3/1 favorite Monday, followed by Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, a serious papal contender at 7/2. Ladbrokes also had Turkson as its favorite.

Speculation about the possibility of a pope from the developing world has swirled for years, as that is where the Catholic Church is growing most: In Africa, between 1978 and 2007, the number of Catholics grew from 55 million to 146 million. Latin America counts 40 percent of the world’s Catholics. By contrast, Catholic communities in Europe are in decline.

In 1978, the Polish-born Pope John Paul II became the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. Cardinals followed in 2005 by electing the German-born Benedict.

Whether the European-heavy College of Cardinals will look outside Europe for Benedict’s successor is an open question. There is speculation that the Italians may recapture the papacy with strong contenders such as Milan’s archbishop, Cardinal Angelo Scola, a serious intellect who is leading Italy’s largest and most important archdiocese.

But as in 2005, there is once again clamoring for a pope from the developing world to represent the majority of the world’s Catholics and give a nod to the part of the world where the church is growing.

“I think in a way the church is always and has forever been ready for a non-European pope,” Turkson said.

Already, a handful of Vatican offices, aside from his own, are headed by prelates from the developing world: Another papal contender, Brazilian Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, 65, heads the Vatican’s office for religious congregations, while Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, 69, heads the Vatican’s office for Eastern rite churches.

“Although the majority is still Italian or European, we still have a growing number of Africans and people from Asia and Latin America in the Roman Curia,” Turkson said. “If we’re talking specifically about the pope himself, I don’t think we’re too far away from that, either.”

He laughs when asked about speculation that he himself is a contender.

“I’ve always answered ‘if it’s the will of God,'” he said. But turning serious, he said the job is difficult, and few would look for it willingly. And he may be running the risk of jinxing himself, following the conventional wisdom that he who enters a conclave a pope leaves a cardinal.

“Being the pope of the church is not going to be an easy task,” given the challenges ahead. Prime among them, he said, is restoring the church’s credibility, crushed after the clerical sex abuse scandal which drove away thousands of faithful.

“We need to repair our credibility,” Turkson said. “Our pastors need to be believed in again and recognized and taken seriously. If we say we are celibate clergy, we need to live faithfully to that celibacy. There’s one thing we can’t compromise on and that’s our credibility.”

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.