Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya Says Pope Leo XIV Has “Special Care and Interest” for Africa, Expresses Hope for Papal Visit

In Africa, he went on to say, we have “fathers and mothers…the youth on which the future, not only of the Church but of the world, is built. Let’s work hard for that; let’s show the world that we can do it, that we are the future.”

In his remarks on October 5, the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya following his appointment in February 2019 reflected on Pope Leo XIV’s genealogy, saying he has links with Africa.

“Where does this man really come from? You know, because all Americans, in one way or another, are mixed up, they have blood from all kinds of people that came in,” Archbishop Van Megen said, and recalled that the Holy Father “has a father who is basically of Italian and French descent, and he has a mother who is of Spanish and African descent.”

With this, he said the Holy Father’s ancestors were “living in New Orleans, which is in the very south of the United States, and were registered as black. He basically came all the way from Haiti at that point.”

Recalling the period following the election of the new Pope after the passing of Pope Francis, the Nuncio shared that during interviews, he was asked about the possibility of an African Pope.

Reflecting on the question of the possibility of an African Pope during one of the interviews, the Nuncio said, “I remember saying, ‘Why shouldn’t it be? By now, nearly one-third of all Catholics are of African blood, of African descent. So, why shouldn’t it be an African?”

For him, the Vatican diplomat said at the event that had couples solemnize their marriage, “Actually, I would have voted maybe for an African.”

“I was wrong because he is an American, and twice I was wrong because, well, he also has a passport from Peru, because he worked more than 10 years in Peru, in Latin America,” the Nuncio said and added, “his Spanish is as good as his English.”

Singling out Kenya as among the African countries that the Holy Father might consider visiting, Archbishop Van Megen reiterated his message on the closeness of Pope Leo XIV with the East African nation, especially through the members of the Order of St. Augustine (OSA/Augustinians) in the country’s capital city, Nairobi.

In an interview with local journalists shortly after the July 10 news of the erection of the Catholic Diocese of Kapsabet in the country was made public, the Nuncio said that the Holy Father “has a special place in his heart for Kenya.”