Fr. Emmanuel Ojeifo of the Archdiocese of Nigeria told Newsmax on Friday that there’s a growing movement in the Vatican to elect an African pontiff following the death of Pope Francis.

“I am not the only one who thinks that the time has come for an African to be pope,” Ojeifo said on Newsmax’s “National Report” in an interview from Vatican City. “Many people across Africa think that it’s time to have an African Pope. Maybe it’s already even too late in terms of we should have had an African Pope before now.”

The Catholic Church has had three popes of African descent in its history: the 14th, Saint Victor, 32nd, Saint Melchiades, and 49th, Saint Gelasius, all of whom served as pontiff between the years 189 A.D. and 496 A.D., meaning that if an African candidate is elected, they would be the first African pope in more than 1,500 years.

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