Monday, 11 April 2005

African Pope will not be church's 'first black leader'
(Letter to The Guardian, 04 Jan 05)

Your report (4 April) on a likely successor to Pope John Paul II was subtitled "First black leader possible". This is incorrect.

The Catholic Encyclopaedia records three African popes in the history of the early church, all of whom were subsequently canonised: St. Victor I (189 - 199), St. Miltiades or Melchiades (310 or 311 - 314) and St. Gelasius I (492 - 496).

Victor was a strict conformist: he set a universal date for the celebration of Easter and changed the language for celebrating Mass from Greek to Latin.

Miltiades presided over the church's greatest victory: the publishing of the Edict of Milan in 313 that ended persecutions and established Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire.

Gelasius is remembered for his scholarship and concern for the poor highlighted by his theory on relations between Church and state and his efforts to save ordinary citizens from famine - difficult issues that a successor to John Paul II will have to grapple with in a modern age.