DPA/Cape Town
Cardinal Peter Turkson from Ghana is considered the social conscience of the Catholic Church, although he is not a progressive.
The 64-year-old has since 2009 led the Church’s Council for Justice and Peace, the body that is tasked with developing Catholic social doctrine in areas such as labour relations, human rights and peace.
The council reacted to the financial crisis in 2011 by calling for a financial transaction tax and stronger state control of failing banks.
Although the West African is not staunchly conservative, he has become increasing sceptical towards Islam as extremists have extended their grip in several African countries.
Turkson grew up in a multi-faith family.
“An uncle of mine was Muslim, my mother was Methodist and my dad Catholic, and I don’t remember problems of co-existence,” he said in an interview with the Italian magazine 30 Giorni.
But the cardinal has distanced himself from homosexuals and other minorities seeking greater recognition in the Church.
He has made clear that he could well imagine an African becoming the next pontiff, even though he has not campaigned to take on the job himself. No cardinal would start lobbying on his own behalf, he stressed shortly after Benedict XVI announced his retirement.
He is known as a personable and media-savvy clergyman who speaks five languages.
After graduating in theology from the St Anthony-on-Hudson Seminary in New York, he worked as a theological scholar in Rome.
He was appointed an archbishop in 1992 and returned to Ghana that year.
The late pope John Paul II made him a cardinal in 2003.
Some 80% of Africans surveyed in a new poll want the next pope to come from their continent, but many worry that the Catholic world may not yet be ready for a black pontiff.
The survey of 20,000 people, conducted this month by CNN and Jana on mobile phones across 11 nations, also found that most people surveyed believe the Church would become more conservative if an African was at the helm.
Only 61% of those surveyed felt the rest of the world was ready for an African pontiff.
According to the survey, some 86% believe an African pope would increase support for Catholicism on the continent. There are currently an estimate 130mn Catholics in Africa.
