South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu has expressed the hope that Pope John Paul II will be succeeded by an African.
However, Catholic commentators in South Africa sounded less certain that the election of an African Pope would be the first choice of African Catholics.
Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze has been mentioned among the more likely candidates to succeed the Pope, opening the possibility of an African leading the Catholic Church for the first time in 1,500 years.
"We hope that perhaps the cardinals when they meet will follow the first non-Italian Pope by electing the first African Pope," Tutu told reporters in Cape Town on Sunday.
There are around 130m African Catholics - which is more than one in 10 members of the faith worldwide.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4409353.stm