[ED25447]

How will white Catholics feel if their next pope is black?

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Name : ED25447, Gender : F, Age : 43, City : Kansas City, State : MO Country : United States, 

[Zeke]

They will probably feel a little surprised at first, but it will make very little difference to most Catholics. Are there some Catholics who are bigots and racists who will be extremely upset? Sure, but for most Catholics it won't matter much at all.

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Name : Zeke, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 56, City : Josephine, State : AL Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Augustine23598]

It is almost a foregone conclusion that there have already been popes who would in the modern world be regarded as 'black.' Unfortunately we have no pictures or other artistic renderings of many popes, so we just don't know. The Catholic Church is very anti-racism, so the election of a black pope would be neither here nor there for most Catholics.

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Name : Augustine23598, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 39, City : Columbia, State : SC Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Anne23857]

The color of our next pope (I am a white Catholic) matters far less than his ability to lead the Catholic church and his position on controversies within the church. If the next pope is black, I presume he would be an African, rather than say African American. Based on my experience with visiting priests from Africa, they are on fire with their faith, and thus an African pope would be terrific, in my opinion.

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Name : Anne23857, Gender : F, City : Ann Arbor, State : MI Country : United States, 

[Paul-S30462]

I don't know about other Catholics, but I and those in my community have no opposition to a black pope. Some I don't know may oppose, and many will not.

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Name : Paul-S30462, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, City : Burnsville, State : MN Country : United States, 

[Astorian]

This is an interesting question, because it is not just idle speculation: There is a strong chance it will happen soon. John Paul II is in poor health and may not live much longer. Now, in the past, most of the cardinals were Italian, which meant that only Italians were elected Pope. But over the past 30 years, Popes Paul VI and John Paul II have appointed numerous cardinals from the Third World. Indeed, there are several prominent African cardinals who will be strong candidates for the papacy when the next election comes about. (By the way, there is also a prominent contender- Cardinal Lustiger- who was born Jewish!) A black African pope would not bother me in the least. It might shake up some of the blue-collar white Catholics I grew up with, but they'll just have to get over it.

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Name : Astorian, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 38, City : Austin, State : TX Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

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