There have been three African popes of the Roman Catholic Church. Their skin color is unknown. All three African Popes ruled early in the history of the Catholic Church. As attitudes about race changed, and much of Africa was lost by Christianity to Islam, chance of more African popes diminished.

• Pope Victor I
• Pope Miltiades
• Pope Gelasius I

There is also an Eastern Orthodox Patriarch, whose formal title is the Patriarch and Pope of Alexandria and All Africa. Moreover, the Coptic Pope is in Alexandria, Egypt.