NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Catholic Church leaders in Africa remember Pope Francis as a pontiff who kept the continent close to his heart, advocating for its poor and the marginalized. As Catholics’ attention around the world turns from Francis’ funeral to the election of his successor at the Vatican, bishops and priests in Africa express hope that the next pope will continue Francis’ concern.

Francis’ death is being widely mourned on the continent, where many people felt he was “their” pope.

“I think even as cardinals pray and reflect during these congregations, we need a moral global leader, in an increasingly divided world — someone who will follow up on the agenda or legacy of Pope Francis,” said the Rev. Marcel Uwineza, a Rwandan Jesuit priest who is president of Hekima University College in Nairobi.

“A leader who can be a global figure, a prophet of our time in an increasingly divided world,” he added. 

The priest, who attended Boston College and is a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, approved of a homily by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, on Sunday (April 27) that urged the church to continue outreach to the marginalized, care for the Earth and interfaith dialogue.

Francis visited Africa five times in the 12 years of his pontificate. The trips took him to 10 African countries, including the war-torn Central African Republic and Congo. From Cairo to Kinshasa, he called for peace and reconciliation, compassion and mercy, care of creation, and attention to refugees and migrants.

The number of Catholics dramatically increased during his papacy. Seven million people in Africa converted to Catholicism in the last year of Francis’ pontificate, according to the Vatican, and more than 270 million people, or a third of the world’s Catholics, now reside in Africa.

According to Uwineza, the concerns Francis addressed, from migration to the question of bad governance, are especially important to young people. “The message to young people in an increasingly growing world, where the majority of Africans are in their mid-20s, encouraging young people not to lose hope, is certainly fitting in the jubilee year of hope,” he said. 

The African Catholic hierarchy is regarded as being focused on the traditional moral and doctrinal stances of the previous two popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. If the African church has a serious chance of seeing one of its own named pope, it is thought to be Cardinal Robert Sarah, a hard-liner when it comes to doctrine. 

But the Rev. Joachim Omolo Ouko, a priest of the Apostle of Jesus order in the Archdiocese of Kisumu, said Pope John Paul II, like Francis, is much treasured among African Catholics for his concern for the marginalized. 

“The two popes are remembered for that legacy, because they felt that people in the developing countries, mainly in Africa, did not have a voice. So, they made it their focus. This is what we expect of another pope,” said the priest in a telephone interview.

According to Ouko, Francis was heavily criticized after he released “Fiducia Supplicans” in 2023, which allowed Catholic priests to offer pastoral blessings to same-sex couples, but Ouko said the pope was speaking for the rejected and dejected.

“His idea was not a bad one. He was saying (LGBTQ people) should not be rejected. They should not be condemned but should be given a chance to reform or to repent,” said Ouko, adding that the misunderstanding that resulted, forcing the Vatican to clarify that the blessings were not liturgical rites akin to marriage, meant that “the next pope may want to avoid this issue.”

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of the Tombura-Yambio Diocese in South Sudan, told news outlets this week that his favored profile of a new pope would be one who would share Francis’ inclusiveness, humility and missionary zeal. “The church needs a shepherd who could listen deeply, unite the faithful globally, and continue to bring the church to the margins,” said Kussala in a widely reported statement.

If it’s God’s will, the pope will be an African, the bishop said, observing that Africa is vibrant in faith and youthful in spirit. “A pope from Africa could bring fresh perspectives rooted in the realities of the Global South, but ultimately, we trust the Holy Spirit to guide the church in choosing the shepherd we need now,” he said. 

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja, Nigeria, told the BBC that the African cardinals at the conclave have the same chance as anyone from America and Europe. 

“So, it’s possible that an African would be pope, but what we are praying for is not an African pope, a Black pope, an American pope, an Asian pope. No, we are praying for a good and holy pope,” said the archbishop.