Three popes have had African birth or heritage.
According to the records of the Liber Pontificalis, all three were from the Roman Province of Africa (corresponding to the territory of modern Tunisia and Libya). The conquest of Byzantine North Africa by Islam during the 7th century largely eliminated the chance for another African pope until modern times.
*Pope Victor I (189 to 199) *Pope Miltiades (310/311 to 314) *Pope Gelasius I (492 to 496)
Modern African papabile Francis Arinze, a Nigerian cardinal and advisor to Pope John Paul II, and was considered papabile before the 2005 papal conclave, which elected Benedict XVI. In the next conclave, Peter Cardinal Turkson of Ghana has been called "the most likely" candidate from Africa.
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