Pope Francis accepted the resignation from a leading Vatican post of Cardinal Robert Sarah, a hero for many conservatives who regularly clashed with the pope over theological issues.
The African cardinal, who hails from Guinea, has held various positions in the Vatican for the past twenty years, most recently as head of the department overseeing matters of worship and sacraments.
Sarah resigned in June last year when he turned 75, as the canon law requires all bishops, but the pope often allows Vatican officials to stay longer in their posts. The Vatican announced his resignation on Saturday.
In her most recent position since 2014, Sarah has dragged her feet in implementing changes Francis wanted, such as allowing women to participate in Holy Thursday services.
Conservatives in the church regularly put Sarah on their wish list to succeed Francis as pope one day. But most observers saw the possibility as extremely remote because Sarah was considered a very divisive personality and would not have much support among fellow cardinals.
Aside from the fact that she openly disagrees with Francis on a number of theological issues, Sarah was involved in an embarrassment last year over a book in defense of the priestly celibacy that he said was co-authored with the former pope Benedict.
A few days before its publication, Benedict said he wanted his name removed from the cover because he had only made a small contribution.
Sarah publicly disputes Benedict’s version, but agrees that Benedict will be named a contributor in future editions and not a co-author.
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