Pope Francis accepted the controversial Cardinal’s resignation

Pope Francis accepted Cardinal Robert Sarah’s resignation from the position of President of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacrament. The African leader resigned last year. All because of reaching retirement age. The Holy Father often allows officials to stay longer in office, but in this case it was different, according to reuters.com.

Sarah the Pope often clashed in theological matters. He was the cardinal of choice among conservatives who had hoped that the cardinal would someday replace Francis as pope. However, such a solution was not likely, as the Guinean cleric was seen as a controversial person and would not have the broad support of the rest of the cardinals.

Sarah with Benedict XVI He wrote a book in defense of priestly celibacy. However, the pamphlet was largely composed by the cardinal, and the retired pope did not know that he would be considered the author of the post. A few days before publication, he requested that his photo be removed because, as he explained, he had little contribution to the work done. The African hierarchy did not initially agree with this version.

The former governor of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Organization of the Sacraments caused another controversy. In 2019, he stated that “Islam will conquer the world” if the Catholic Church fails to respond to the exodus. Referring to abortion, he said they are “terrible beasts” that could be compared to Nazism and Communism. In turn, he described homosexual relations as a step backward in terms of culture and civilization.