Pope Francis died at the age of 88. And his demise has kickstarted the search fpr his successor
If you've seen the movie Conclave with Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci, you understand that the selection of the next pope can be an all-consuming politically charged undertaking.
The culture wars and schisms which exist within the Vatican are much more explosive than anything you would find in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and other places in the conservative heartlands.
And these splits take on a whole new meaning given the extraordinary power which the Vatican still wields till this very day.
Totally unencumbered by its innumerable scandals of priests abusing children and supporting destructive causes all around the globe, the oldest established church is currently engaged in making the all-important decision of selecting a successor to the deceased Latin American pontiff.
And among the contenders is a Black Cardinal from Ghana, West Africa, who goes by the name Sarah.
At a time when our public discourse is wholly disfigured by the gutting of abortion and trans rights, racial strife and politicized immigration to the global north from the global south, and the continued exploitation of Africa’s resources, the next pope, regardless of his skin colour, will be stepping into a cauldron of chaos.
Here's a question: is having a Black pope preferable to the wholesale destruction of the catholic church?
The liberal elements within the movement might embrace the idea of electing its third Black pope and first for several centuries and the conservative elements (which is somewhat ironic given his extreme views) might very well baulk at this very notion.
And with good reason too.
With anti-Blackness becoming a global phenomenon, there will be a massive backlash from rank and file Catholics, who would regard Cardinal Sarah as a complete and utter abomination and a deviation from the natural order.
The likes of America, Argentina, France Italy, Spain, Brazil, and Hungary will lead the charge and in all likelihood provoke a split within the movement
But this is a red herring in my view.
The notion of a Black pope —liberal or conservative — will not change the fact that the catholic church is a morally decadent enterprise which profited immensely from the trafficking of Africans to the new world and allowed serial and prolific child abusers to die without accounting for their sins and crimes.
Simply put, our world will be a much healthier place without the catholic church; the multi-billion dollar asset on which it sits should be put to better use by redistributing it to those in need around the world.
Or even yet, taking the unprecedented step in paying reparations to the descendants of slavery in the Americas.
I also believe that there are far too many closeted priests whose lives would be much more enriched if they were married as opposed to living a lie under enforced celibacy.
If Jesus Christ were alive today, he would chafe at the degree to which these dinosaurs have deviated from his teaching and amassed power.