Pope Benedict XVI Resignation: 7 expert picks for the next pontiff
Peter Cardinal Turkson, 64, Ghana
Credit: Gregorio Borgia/AP Photo
Turkson, who hails from Ghana, may be in the running. He is currently the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, a post he was appointed to by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. The job has sent Turkson, who speaks six languages, around the world to handle mediations. "The fact that an African cardinal is a candidate to be elected pope is the statement to the diversity of the church and the remarkable growth around the world," Bunson said. Turkson discussed the possible of a black pope at a press conference in 2009, following the U.S. presidential election. "And if by divine providence -- because the church belongs to God -- if God would wish to see a black man also as Pope, thanks be to God," he said. Francis Cardinal Arinze, from Nigeria, has also been discussed as a potential pope.
