Past popes from Africa introduced new changes to Christianity, invented Valentine's Day

Past popes from Africa introduced new changes to Christianity, invented Valentine's Day

North Africa once produced Catholic popes who shaped Church traditions, including Easter Sunday and St Valentine’s Day. Will Africa see another pope after centuries?

How African popes changed Christianity– and gave us Valentine’s Day

Now predominantly muslim, North Africa was once a Christian heartland, producing Catholic popes who left their mark on the church to this day. Their papacies were in the era of the Roman empire, which stretched across modern-day Tunisia, the north-east of Algeria and the coast of western Libya. “North Africa was the Bible Belt of ancient Christianity,” says Christopher Bellitto, a historian at Kean University in the United States. Many Catholics…

Throughout the history of the Catholic Church, three popes of African origin have occupied the seat of St. Peter: Victor I, Melchiades and Gelasius I. They were all born in North Africa, a region that in Antiquity was an important Christian center and of the Roman Empire. Their pontificates, though separated ... Read more The entry The three African popes in the entire history of the Catholic Church was first published in #BorderPeriodism.