Forgotten Pontiffs: 3 African Popes history rarely mentions

The death of Pope Francis on Monday, April 21, 2025, ushered in a period of mourning and anticipation for the global Catholic community as the process of electing his successor begins.

With the end of a transformative pontificate, speculation is rife regarding who will next lead the world’s Catholics.

A notable aspect of this upcoming conclave is the potential for an African cardinal to ascend to the papacy.

Several prominent African cardinals have been identified as possible candidates.

Among those frequently mentioned is Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, whose experience and standing within the Church have positioned him as a leading figure.

Other African cardinals whose names have been circulating include Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Unfortunately, Kenya will not participate in the election of the next Pope.

While the prospect of an African Pope generates considerable interest, it is a historical footnote that the continent has, in fact, contributed three pontiffs to the Catholic Church, a detail often overlooked in mainstream historical accounts.

The papacy, long perceived as an exclusively European institution, has deeper and more diverse roots than many realise.

In the early centuries of Christianity, three African Popes, Victor I, Miltiades, and Gelasius I, who hailed from the Berber ethnic group, rose to lead the Catholic Church during its formative years.

Long before the Arab conquest of North Africa and the subsequent spread of Islam, the region had a thriving Christian influence, which saw the then dominant Berber ethic group produce Africa’s only three popes.

The Berbers, also known as Amazigh (plural: Imazighen), are the indigenous people of North Africa, with a history that predates Arab arrival by thousands of years.

Their presence spans across countries like Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Mali, and Niger, with the highest populations found in the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara Desert regions.

Unlike Arabs, whose culture and language spread to North Africa through Islamic conquests in the 7th century, Berbers are pre-Arab and non-Arab by origin.

While many Berbers today speak Arabic due to centuries of Arabization, they maintain their own languages, identity, and traditions.

Berber languages belong to the Afroasiatic family but are distinct from Arabic. They are also ethnically and culturally different, though many share the Islamic religion.

At the time of Roman colonisation of North Africa, Islam had not yet been founded.

Islam emerged much later, in the 7th century AD, founded by the Prophet Muhammad around 610 AD, with the formal establishment of the religion beginning during his lifetime and solidifying after the Hijra (migration to Medina) in 622 AD.

By the time Islam emerged and spread to North Africa, the Berbers had already produced Africa’s only three popes [sic].

The stories of the three African popes, largely absent from modern discourse, reflect an era when Roman Africa was a cradle of theological and political influence in Christendom.

Pope Victor I (c. 189–199 AD)

Birthplace: Leptis Magna, Roman Libya

Origin: Berber

Pope Victor I was the first African to ascend to the papacy.

He played a decisive role in the Easter Controversy, advocating for a uniform celebration of Easter on Sunday rather than aligning with the Jewish Passover date.

Victor is also credited with transitioning Roman liturgical language from Greek to Latin, a shift that marked a turning point in the Western Church.

His assertive leadership laid the groundwork for the growing authority of the Roman bishop.

Victor was martyred during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus and is honoured as a saint, with his feast day observed on July 28.

Pope Miltiades (311–314 AD)

Birthplace: Roman Africa (exact location unknown)

Origin: Likely Berber

Miltiades guided the Church at a historical inflexion point – the legalisation of Christianity under Emperor Constantine.

Following the Edict of Milan in 313 AD, he oversaw the Church’s restoration from years of persecution.

He presided over the Lateran Synod to address the Donatist schism, reinforcing the authority of Rome.

Miltiades is seen as a transitional figure between persecution and imperial favour.

His brief but impactful reign is commemorated on December 10.

Pope Gelasius I (492–496 AD)

Birthplace: Roman Africa (likely in present-day Tunisia or Libya)

Origin: Berber

Gelasius I’s papacy was marked by his enduring doctrine of the ‘Two Powers’ – distinguishing between the spiritual authority of the Church and the temporal power of the state.

This became a foundational principle for Church-state relations in medieval Europe.

A prolific writer, he was deeply involved in theological disputes such as the Acacian Schism, defending Rome’s primacy in doctrinal matters.

He also abolished the pagan festival Lupercalia, a move some link to the emergence of Valentine’s Day.

He is venerated as a saint, though his complex legacy often goes unacknowledged in public memory.

A legacy overlooked

These Africa-born popes were instrumental in shaping Christian doctrine, ecclesiastical authority, and Church-state dynamics.

That their contributions are often forgotten reflects broader gaps in how Church history is taught and remembered.

N/B: Although the Berbers are indigenous to North Africa, they are not ethnically classified as Black Africans. Therefore, the Black race has yet to see one of its own ascend to the papacy.

Nonetheless, since the founding of the Catholic Church, there have been 266 Popes – three of whom were from Africa – yet this is a little-known fact among many Africans.

If an African cardinal succeeds Pope Francis, it would mark a monumental moment for the Black race, echoing the historic significance of Barack Obama’s rise to the US presidency.