Nine Africans among cardinals to elect Pope

PARIS, France, Apr 11, 2005 (PANA) — Nine Africans are among the 117 cardinals
that will take part in a conclave to be convened in Vatican City
to elect the 264th Pope. The conclave will convene its meeting to
elect the Pope on 18 April, according to the Vatican.

Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako of Sudan.

The late John Paul II was laid to rest on Friday. He died on 2
April after a long illness.

The Africans are archbishops Bernard Agre (Abidjan, Cote
d’Ivoire), Emmanuel Wamala (Kampala, Uganda), Tumi Christian
Wiyghan (Doula, Cameroon), Etsou Nzabi Bamungwabi Frederic
(Kinshasa, DR Congo), Okogie Antoni Olubunmi (Lagos, Nigeria),
Zubeir Wako Gabriel (Khartoum, Sudan), Napier Wilfrid Fox
(Durban, South Africa), Turkson Peter Kodwo Appiah (Cape Coast,
Ghana) and prefect of the congregation for the Divine Cult and
Discipline of Sacrements, Nigeria’s Francis Arinze.

Due to their advanced ages, six of the 15 African candidates who
are members of the College of Cardinals will not participate in
the vote that is reserved for those less than 80 years old.

These are Margeot Jean of Mauritius, Bishop of Port Louis, Copt
Patriarch of Alexandria (Egypt), Ghattas Stephanos II, Dean of
cardinal college of Benin, Gantin Bernardin, Archbishop of Luanda
(Angola), Alexandre do Nascimento, Maputo (Mozambique)’s
Alexandre Jose Maria dos Santos and Armand-Gaétan
Razafindratandra, the Antananarivo (Madagascar) archbishop.

The cardinals in charge of assisting the pope and electing his
successor are appointed by papal decree according to their
qualities of being “remarkable men by their doctrine, morals,
piety and carefulness in the conduct of affairs.”

The new Pope must be elected by two thirds of the cardinals
during a secret vote, which is strictly kept by the voters
for fear of being excommunicated.