In 2005, following the passing of Pope John Paul II, the Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze came close to becoming the first African and Black Pope. Two decades later, the Catholic Church is set to have another pope following the death of Pope Francis. Yet again, another African, Cardinal Peter Turkson, stands among the favorites to wear the shoes of St Peter and become the leader of the Catholic Church and its around 1.4 million faithful.
With the buzz around the person of Turkson, we look at who he is while the world awaits the College of Cardinals to go into conclave and return with a new pope.
Who Is Cardinal Peter Turkson?
Peter Turkson is a Catholic prelate who serves as the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson was born on October 11, 1948, in Wassaw Nsuta, Ghana.
Turkson was born into a family of 10 children in a home that supports religious tolerance. His father was Roman Catholic, his mother was Methodist, and he had a close paternal uncle who was Muslim.
He grew up in a modest home with a father who worked as a carpenter and a mother who made a meagre income selling vegetables in the open market.
Peter had his education in Amisano at St. Teresa’s Minor Seminary, and from there, he moved to St. Peter’s Regional Seminary in Pedu, Cape Coast. He proceeded to the United States, where he attended St. Anthony-on-Hudson Seminary in Rensselaer, New York, for his Master’s degrees in Theology and Divinity.
Priesthood and Rise of Peter Turkson in the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson was ordained a Catholic priest on 20 July 1975 by John Kodwo Amissah, who was at the time the Archbishop of Cape Coast. Five years after his ordination, Turkson was sent to St. Theresa, and he was sent to St Peter’s Seminary a year later, where he served as vice-rector.
Having proven himself in both his academic pursuits and pastoral assignments, he was appointed Archbishop of Cape Coast by Pope John Paul II on October 6, 1992. He was consecrated on 27 March 1993.
Through the years, he became one of the most influential catholic leaders in Ghana, where he served as the president of the West African nation’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference from 1997 to 2005. He was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in what was his last consistory.
His elevation earned him the enviable position of becoming the first Ghanaian cardinal. He took part in the 2005 Conclave, which produced Pope Benedict XVI as leader of the Catholic Church, and again, the 2013 conclave that produced Pope Francis.
Positions he held in the Catholic Church
A multilingual who speaks English, French, Italian, German, and Hebrew, apart from his local Fante Language, Peter Turkson has held many offices in the ranks of the Catholic Church, including the following:
- President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
- Member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
- Member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
- Member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
- Member of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church
- Member of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses
- Member of the Congregation for Catholic Education
- Member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
- Mediator in the Ivory Coast civil conflict
- Special Envoy to South Sudan for peace efforts
- Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
- Homilist at the opening ceremony of the World Meeting of Families 2018
- Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
Speculation on Papal Candidacy
The first time the name of the Ghanaian Cardinal came up as a potential pope was in 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI resigned as leader of the Catholic Church. The gambling companies, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes, went on to give him good odds of emerging as Pope.
Other African cardinals also mentioned as frontrunners to succeed Pope Benedict included Robert Sarah of Guinea and Fridolin Ambongo of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Heading into the conclave in 2025 to select the successor of St Peter, the apostle of Jesus and Pope Francis, the three men are still being considered, although Turkson is still preferred by many.
See Also: Aubrey Qwana- His parents Were Pastors- Bio, Net worth, 8 Unknown Facts
The Views of Peter Turkson are often Considered Conservative
The former general secretary of the Church’s second Synod for Africa is one among the Cardinals who have remained resolute in the conservative mode of doing things.
This is one of the things that may count against him if the College of Cardinals feels they still want to maintain the position of the late Pope Francis, who is considered to be one of the most progressive popes in the history of the church.
On the issue of homosexuality, the church leader insisted that while there is a need to call for the rights of people, there is also a need to respect the culture of all kinds of people. He stated that there has to be a distinction between moral issues and human rights. He asked the question,” …but when you’re talking about what’s called ‘an alternative lifestyle,’ are those human rights?”
Once accused of religious bias after a video of his surfaced on YouTube where he made a comment on Muslim demographics and how they may soon take over parts of Europe and France, he apologized for his choice of words while maintaining that any attack on Islam would be an attack to him because he had an uncle who was a Muslim and who took care of him as a child.
