My mistake. I was reading two articles at CBSNews.com. One mentioned he was the first non-Italian Pope, the other clarified to say "since the 15th century."
I should have come back to fix my post....mea culpa.
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Originally Posted by Mbwuto
Actually there's been an African pope before. Three of em. Now I don't know for sure, but rudimentary googlage indicated Pope Miltiades was a black man. I really don't see why the shock for a non white pope. Europe's catholicism is waning while South America's is booming.
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I can't find anything to suggest they were black. African, yes, but not black.
Pope St. Victor I, was from Africa, but that doesn't mean anything in and of itself. In my rudimentary search, I found only one website willing to say he was the first black Pope. Unfortunately it was surrounded by a bunch of "conspiracy of the white man" stuff, so, I took it with a grain of salt.
Pope St. Gelasius I's birth is confusing as hell. I can't tell if he was born in Africa to Roman parents or born in Rome to African parents. I can't find anything that settles the question definitively.
Pope St. Militiades (or Melchiades) was an African native, but again, there are a lot of non-black Africans out there. Everyone seems to agree he was born of African parents and born in Rome.
There seems to be no official pictures of any of these guys, but I did find a couple of rudimentary drawings and engravings that a few souls put up. Most of them are so dirty and dilapidated it makes it difficult to figure out what color anybody is.
If somebody else can find anything definitive about this, by all means post away. I know I'm going to be doing a lot of looking later.
Sidenote: South America's Catholicism may be growing, but "The Church" is in Rome along with the Papal provenance. I seriously doubt a South American Pope is going to sit on "The seat" anytime soon. I mean, I've talked to a lot of older Catholics who are still upset they elected John Paul II because he was Polish.