Cardinal Peter Turkson faces criticism abroad

Cape Coast – Ghana’s Peter Turkson, one of Africa’s two candidates considered eligible to become the next pope, has earned respect as a peacemaker at home, but faced criticism abroad over a controversial video.
The 64-year-old cardinal and head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is considered progressive by some supporters, and his mediation during a tight Ghanaian election in 2008 won him high praise.
But his image was marred last year after he showed an alarmist video on Muslim immigration in Europe at a synod. He later apologised.
Turkson is one of two Africans who could replace retiring Pope Benedict XVI, alongside South African Wilfrid Napier. When Benedict announced his resignation, bookmakers gave Turkson good odds at being elected.
Following Benedict’s announcement, there have been calls for an African to be elected pope.
Advocates of such a move point out that the Roman Catholic Church has seen rapid growth in Africa – currently home to some 15% of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics – in contrast to other regions of the world.
Parishioners and clergy remember Turkson as a learned, patient leader for 17 years of Ghana’s oldest archdiocese, the archdiocese of Cape Coast.
Supporters shrugged off the video controversy, but were mixed about whether he would be chosen as the first black pope.