VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation from a top Vatican post of Cardinal Robert Sarah, a hero for many conservatives who often 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 of 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 considered this possibility extremely remote because Sarah considered it very divisive and would not have wide support among fellow cardinals.
In addition to openly disagreeing with Francis on a number of theological issues, Sarah was involved in an embarrassment last year over a book in defense of priestly celibacy, which he said was co-authored with 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 contributor and not co-author in future editions.
Reported by Philip Pullella; Edited by Frances Kerry