Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Robert Sarah as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the discipline of the sacraments, but he has not yet nominated his successor.
The Vatican announced the pope’s decision today, February 20. It was no surprise in Rome that the pope would replace the cardinal in this key post, which oversees the celebration of the liturgy in the church, shortly after Cardinal Sarah reached retirement. age. But the lack of immediate replacement is unusual.
A number of the cardinal’s public statements on the liturgy and other topics reflect a pre-Vatican II traditionalist outlook that sometimes openly contrasted with the leadership of Pope Francis, who continues to implement the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. One public example of this is the cardinal’s unwillingness for many months to announce the pope’s decision, which was allowed to wash women’s feet during the Holy Thursday liturgy.
After the Vatican announced the news, Cardinal Sarah issued a tweet in French, saying: ‘Today, the pope accepted my resignation as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, after my 75th birthday. [of birth]. I remain in the hands of God. The only rock is Christ. We will meet again in Rome and elsewhere soon. ”
The Guinean-born cardinal was appointed archbishop of Conakry in 1979 at the age of 34 by Pope John Paul II. The same pope appointed him secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelism of Nations in 2001 after the archbishop took courageous political views in Guinea against the dictatorship of Sékou Touré and his successor, views that did not sit well with the country’s ruling class.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed him president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum and appointed him cardinal in 2010. Cardinal Sarah is taking part in the conclave that Francis elected pope in 2013. Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in November 2014. However, it soon became clear that the Afrikaans prelate shared a very different vision to the pope, not just about the liturgy , but also on several other matters, including those related to the family, as evidenced by the two recent synods. of bishops during the discussion on the pastoral approach to the divorced and remarried and to same-sex relationships. The cardinal had a great influence on all his pastoral questions on his brother bishops in Africa during these years, and this created problems for Rome.
Cardinal Sarah shared a very different vision to the pope, not only about the liturgy, but also about several other matters, including those related to the family.
The author of a number of books and a deeply spiritual man, the cardinal’s view of the dialogue with Islam deviated from the pope’s. In addition, at the time of the synod over the Pan-Amazon region, the cardinal was involved in the controversial publication of a book on the priesthood that contained a chapter from Benedict XVI and was presented as a book written with the emeritus pope. , something the German emeritus pope later denied.
Among other things, Pope Francis had to correct the cardinal about his advocacy for the celebration of the Eucharist looking to the East (“ad orientem”) and publicly correct him about the issue of translating liturgical texts from Latin in which, In contrast with the cardinal, the pope in this matter gave greater freedom to the local conferences of bishops.
In addition to the resignation of Cardinal Sarah, Pope Francis also has the resignation of the Italian Cardinal, Angelo Comastri (77), the Vicar General of Vatican City, Archbishop of St. Peter’s Basilica and President of the Administration of Works (“Fabrica”) of St. He appointed as his successor the new cardinal, Mauro Gambetti (55), an Italian and conventional Franciscan, who until recently had the leadership over the Holy Monastery of St. Francis in Assisi, which includes the tomb of the saint. The appointment is a reminder that Francis wants a reform in dealing with the administration of the Dust of St.