Conservative African Cardinal Robert Sarah, who is considered a hero to many conservatives and who clashed with the Pope on theological matters, has resigned.
Cardinal Robert is from Guinea and in the last 20 years, he held various Vatican positions. He was the recently head of the department that oversees matters of worship and sacraments.
The African Cardinal had submitted his resignation in June last year when he turned 75, as Church law requires of all bishops. However, the pope often allows Vatican officials to remain in their posts longer.
Pope Francis has accepted his resignation and the Vatican announced on Saturday that he was stepping down.
He held his latest position since 2014 and in it
he was slow in implementing changes wanted by Pope Francis, such as allowing women to be among those taking part in Holy Thursday services.
Conservatives in the Church hoped for the day when Cardinal Robert would succeed Francis as pontiff. However, this possibility was considered extremely remote by most observers because he was seen as highly divisive and would not have wide support among fellow cardinals.
Lastly, the African Cardinal was involved in an embarrassing episode over a book defending priestly celibacy that he said was jointly written with former Pope Benedict. Furthermore, he has openly disagreed with Pope Francis.
Days before the publication of the book, Benedict said he wanted his name removed from the cover because since his contribution was minor.
Robert contested Benedict’s version publicly. However, he agreed that in future editions, Benedict would be named as a contributor and not co-author.
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