Archbishop Gregory: Obama’s election ‘a great step for humanity’

November 07, 2008

Calling Sen. Barack Obama’s election ‘a great step for humanity, a sign that in the United States the issue of race and the problem of discrimination have been overcome,’ Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta told the Italian newspaper La Stampa in an interview published yesterday that the Church is ready for a black Pope. ‘If Obama at the White House is like the first man on the moon, the same thing can certainly happen for the throne of Peter,’ the prelate said. According to the National Black Catholic Congress, Pope St. Victor I (186-197) was ‘a native of black Africa,’ and Pope St. Miltiades (311-314) was ‘one of the Church’s Black Popes.’

 

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Further information:

• ‘Siamo pronti a un Papa nero’ (La Stampa)
• Catholic Church ready for black pope: US archbishop (AFP)
• African Popes (NBCC)