Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a senior Vatican official from Cardinal Robert Sarah, a hero of many conservatives who often clashed with the pontiff over theological matters.
The African cardinal, from Guinea, has held various Vatican positions for the past 20 years, most recently as head of the department overseeing matters of worship and sacraments.
Sarah had resigned in June last year when she turned 75, as Church law requires all bishops, but the pope often allows Vatican officials to remain in office. more time. The Vatican announced on Saturday that it was stepping down.
In her last position, which she has held since 2014, Sarah dragged her feet in implementing the changes Francis wanted, such as allowing women to participate in Holy Thursday services.
Church conservatives often put Sarah on their wish list to one day succeed Francis as pontiff. But most observers saw this possibility as extremely remote because Sarah considered herself very divisive and would not have broad support among the other cardinals.
Aside from being in open disagreement with Francis over various theological issues, Sarah participated last year in an embarrassing episode about a book in defense of priestly celibacy that she said was written in conjunction with former Pope Benedict.
A few days before its publication, Benet said he wanted his name removed from the cover because he had only made a minor contribution.
Sarah publicly answered Benedict’s version, but agreed that in future editions, Benedict would be named a contributor and not a co-author.
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