How they shaped the Catholic Church during the Roman Empire

North Africa, once a center of Christianity, produced three Catholic popes: Victor I, Miltiades, and Gelasius I, all recognized as saints. Victor I standardized the celebration of Easter on Sundays and introduced Latin as the Church’s official language; Miltiades oversaw Christianity’s rise in the Roman Empire, receiving a palace from Constantine; Gelasius I, while possibly not born in Africa, asserted the papacy’s supremacy and established the Doctrine of the Two Swords. Many African Catholics hope for a return of the papacy to the continent after 1,500 years.