How they formed the Catholic Church during the Roman Empire

Now, mostly Muslims, North Africa was once a Christian heart, producing Catholic popes that have left their imprint on the church to this day.

Their papati were in the era of the Roman Empire, which extended through the modern Tunisia, the northeastern part of Algeria and the shore of the Western Libya.

“North Africa was the biblical belt of ancient Christianity,” says Prof. Christopher Belito, a historian at Keen University in the United States.

Many Catholics in Africa hope that the papacy will return to the continent for the first time in more than 1500 years, with Pope Francis being elected.

Here we look at the three previous African popes – and how they made Christians celebrate Easter Sunday and Valentine's Day.

All three are recognized in the church as saints.

It was thought to be of Berber descent, Pope Victor I was responsible for the Catholic Church at a time when Christians were sometimes persecuted by Roman officials for refusing to worship Roman gods.

He is probably the best known for ensuring that Christians celebrate Easter on Sunday.

In the 2nd century, some Christian groups from the Roman province of Asia (in modern Turkey) celebrated Easter the same day when the Jews celebrated Easter, which could fall on different days of the week.

However, Christians in the western part of the empire believed that Jesus was resurrected on Sunday, so Easter should always be celebrated that day.

The debate, when the resurrection took place, made it an extremely controversial question.

The Easter dispute was symbolic of more east and west conflicts, and whether or not Christians should follow Jewish practices or not.

Victor I called the first Roman Synod – the collection of church leaders – to resolve the impasse.

He did so by threatening to excommunicate those bishops from the church who refused to comply with his desires.

“He was a very strong voice for the fact that everyone literally on the same page,” Prof. Belito told the BBC.

It was an impressive feat, the historian said because “he was the bishop of Rome when Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire.”

Another important part of Victor I's legacy was to introduce Latin as a common language of the Catholic Church. Previously, the ancient Greek was the main language of the Catholic liturgy, as well as the official communication for the church.

Victor I himself wrote in – and speaks – Latin, who is widely spoken in North Africa.

Pope Miltiades is believed to have been born in Africa.

During his reign, Christianity gained more and more reception than consistent Roman emperors, ultimately becoming the official religion of the empire.

Previously, the pursuit of Christians was widespread at different points in the history of the empire.

However, Prof. Belito pointed out that the police were not responsible for this change, saying that the Pope was a “recipient of Roman benevolence” rather than a great negotiator.

Miltiades received a palace from the Roman emperor Constantine, becoming the first pope to have an official residence.

He also received permission from Constantine to build the Lateran Basilica, now the oldest public church in Rome.

While modern popes live and work in the Vatican, the Lateran Church is sometimes called Catholicism as “the mother of all churches.”

Gelassius I is the only one of the three African popes that historians believe were not born in Africa.

“There is a reference to being … born in a novel. So we don't know if he (ever) lived in North Africa, but it seems clear that he was of North African origin,” explained Prof. Belito.

He was the most important of the three African church leaders, according to Prof. Belito.

Gelassius I is widely recognized as the first pope, officially called the Vicar of Christ, a term that means the role of the Pope as a representative of Christ on earth.

He also developed the teaching of the two swords, which emphasizes the individual but equal powers of the Church and the state.

Gelassius I made the critical distinction that both forces were given to the church by God, who then delegated the earthly power of the state, making the church ultimately superb.

“Later, in the Middle Ages, the Pope sometimes tried to veto the choice of an emperor or a king, because they said that God had given them that power,” said Prof. Belito.

Gelassius I also remembers his reaction to Acacian schism – a split between Eastern and Western Christian churches from 484 to 519.

During this period, Gelassius defended the rule of Rome and the papacy over the whole church, east and west, which experts believed had gone further than any of its predecessors.

Gelassius is also responsible for a popular celebration, which is still celebrated every year – establishing Valentine's Day on February 14 in 496 to mark the Christian martyr St. Valentine.

Some accounts say that Valentine was a priest who continued to do weddings secretly when they were banned by Emperor Claudius II.

Historians believe that the day of lovers are rooted in the festival of Roman love and fertility of Lupperalia and has been the move of Gelassius I to Christian pagan traditions.

Prof. Belito says that there is no way to know with any degree of accuracy how the three popes looked like.

“We must remember that the Roman Empire and indeed the Middle Ages did not think of a race, as we think about it today. It has nothing to do with the color of the skin,” he told the BBC.

“The people of the Roman Empire did not deal with race, they were engaged in ethnicity.”

Prof. Philomena Mawura, an academic at Kenyan University in Kenya, told the BBC that Roman Africa is very multicultural, with local barberry and Punic groups, liberated slaves and people who came from Rome found there.

“The North African community was quite mixed and it was also a commercial path for many people who participated in the trade in ancient times,” she explained.

Instead of identifying themselves with specific ethnic groups, “most people who belonged to areas in the Roman Empire are considered Roman,” added Prof. Mwaura.

None of the 217 Pope after Gelassius I is thought to have come from Africa.

“The church in North Africa was weakened by many forces, including the fall of the Roman Empire, as well as the invasion of Muslims (in North Africa) in the 7th century,” said Prof. Mwara.

However, some experts say the spread of Islam in North Africa does not explain the absence of a pope from the whole continent for more than 1500 years.

Prof. Belito said the process of choosing a new Pontiff has become an “Italian monopoly” for many years.

However, he said that in the near future there was a strong chance of a pope of Asia or Africa because Catholics in the southern hemisphere outperform those north.

In fact, Catholicism expands faster in Africa of Subsahara today than anywhere.

Recent data show that in 2023 there were 281 million Catholics in Africa. This represents 20% of the world congregation.

Three Africans are in the Pope Francis' legacy race, the Democratic Republic of Fridolin Ambongo of Congo Amgonngo, Peter Kodvo Apia of Ghana and Robert Sarah of Ghana.

But Prof. Mwaura claims that “Although Christianity is very strong in Africa, the power of the church is still north where resources were.”

“Maybe, since it continues to be very strong within the continent and support, then there will be a time when there may be African Pope,” she said.