Turin, Italy - Barack Obama's victory in the US presidential vote marks a "great step forward for humanity" that could be mirrored with the election of a black pope, according to a top US Roman Catholic cleric.

"If Obama at the White House is like the first time man (stepped on) the moon, then it can certainly happen at the threshold of St Peter's," the Archbishop of Atlanta, Wilton Daniel Gregory, was quoted as saying in an interview published Thursday in an Italian newspaper.

The election of a black man as successor to Pope Benedict XVI is "certainly possible," Gregory told Turin-based daily La Stampa. Gregory is the first African-American to have served as president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, holding the position from 2001 to 2004.

"Through the wisdom of the cardinals guided by the Holy Spirit, this could happen at the next conclave," Gregory said, referring to the assembly of top prelates that elects popes. Not wanting to seem to wish ill health for Benedict, he quickly added: "We all hope this will take place as far away in the future as possible."

Gregory pinpointed the efforts of several recent popes who, he said, gave the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican hierarchy more of an international outlook.

Among these were, John XXIII (1958-1963), who paved the way for masses to be held in local languages, instead of Latin; Paul VI (1963-1978), the first modern-era pontiff to undertake major journeys abroad; and the globetrotting John Paul II, the first non-Italian pontiff in over 400 years.

Gregory also gave credit to the German-born Benedict, who before his 2005 election said that an election of an African as pontiff would be "a beautiful sign."

"For some time there's been a new mentality in the Church. It is no longer centred on the West but it is global, and this is expressed through its ecclesiastical mission," Gregory told La Stampa. (dpa)