Death of Pope Francis: Will the next pontiff be from Africa?

Despite having the world's fastest-growing Catholic population, odds are against Africa producing the next pontiff.

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The continent's Catholic population is expanding more rapidly than anywhere else, representing more than half of the global increase.

While there have been at least three pontiffs from Africa, the last - Pope Gelasius I - died more than 1,500 years ago, many would argue it is high time for another.

When the cardinals who vote for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church - known as the cardinal-electors - meet at the Vatican to choose Pope Francis' successor, will these facts influence their decision making?

"I think that it will be great to have an African pope," Father Stan Chu Ilo, a Nigerian Catholic priest and associate professor at DePaul University in Chicago, told the BBC, arguing that the leadership of the Church should better reflect the make-up of the global congregation.