Bloodless Coup

Cardinal Turkson - The New Leading Papabile from Africa?

With his new promotion Ghana's Peter Turkson may have become the most likely cardinal to become the first pope from Africa (not that the current pope is in poor health or that I think it's especially likely his successor will be from Africa).

Ordained archbishop of Cape Coast - the West African country's oldest local church - in 1992 and made a cardinal eleven years later, the rise of the 61 year-old returns an African dicastery-head to the ranks of the Roman Curia, which had gone without a top-tier presence from the continent since last December, breaking a nearly four-decade practice. Reportedly reluctant to leave home and accept the Vatican's social-justice portfolio, the move likewise brings to Rome the church's lone non-retired cardinal with an advanced degree in Scriptural studies.