The Brevity of Memory

In this Times (UK) article, Archbishop of Atlanta Daniel Gregory claims that "[t]he election of Barack Obama as the first African-American US President could pave the way for the election of the first black Pope." You see, Archbishop Gregory said that the next time cardinals gathered to elect a Pope they could "in their wisdom" choose an African pontiff.

It seems there are still some things Barack can't do; if only because of history. The Catholic Church has already had at least 3 African Popes. Granted, there is some controversy as at least some, if not all, of these Popes have Berber ancestry and are not considered "black" by some people. However, Catholic tradition holds that there was least 1 "black" Pope during the first couple centuries B.C.