Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Robert Sarah as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, but has not yet named his successor.
The Vatican announced the pope’s decision today, February 20. It was no surprise in Rome that the pope replaced the cardinal in this key position, which oversees the celebration of the liturgy in the church, shortly after Cardinal Sarah retired. But the lack of an immediate replacement is unusual.
Several of the cardinal’s public statements on the liturgy and other topics reflected a traditionalist pre-Vatican II perspective that sometimes contrasted openly with the direction given by Pope Francis, who continues to implement the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. A public example of this is the cardinal’s reluctance for many months to publish the pope’s decree that allowed the washing of women’s feet in the liturgy of Holy Thursday.
After the Vatican broke 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 soon meet in Rome and elsewhere ”.
The Guinean cardinal was appointed archbishop of Conakry by Pope John Paul II in 1979, at the age of 34. The same pope appointed him secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in 2001, after the archbishop took courageous political positions in Guinea against the dictatorship of Sékou Touré and his successor, positions that did not please 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 participated in the conclave that elected Francis as 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 African prelate shared a very different view for the pope, not only on the liturgy, but also on several other issues, including those related to the family, as was evident in the two recent synods bishops during the discussion on the pastoral approach of divorced and remarried and same-sex relationships. The cardinal had, over the years, had an enormous influence on his brother bishops in Africa in all these pastoral matters, and this created problems for Rome.
Cardinal Sarah shared a very different view with the pope, not only on the liturgy, but also on various other subjects, including those related to the family.
Author of several books and a deeply spiritual man, the cardinal’s view of dialogue with Islam also differed from that of the pope. In addition, at the time of the synod on the Pan-Amazon region, the cardinal was involved in the controversial publication of a book on the priesthood that included a chapter of Benedict XVI and was presented as a book co-authored with Pope Emeritus, somewhat the Pope. German emeritus later denied.
Among other things, Pope Francis had to correct the cardinal on his defense of the celebration of the Eucharist facing the East (“ad orientem”) and to correct him publicly on the question of the translation of liturgical texts from Latin in which, in contrast to the cardinal, the pope, gave the local episcopal conferences greater freedom in this matter.
In addition to accepting the resignation of Cardinal Sarah, Pope Francis also accepted the resignation of Italian Cardinal, Angelo Comastri, 77, vicar general of Vatican City, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and president of the administration of the works (“Fabrica”) of Saint Peter. He appointed as successor the new cardinal Mauro Gambetti, 55, Italian and Franciscan convent who until recently was responsible for the Sacred Convent of São Francisco de Assis, where the tomb of the saint is located. The appointment is a reminder that Francisco wants a reform in the way the administration of Fábrica de São Pedro is being managed, especially in terms of finances and contracts, since problems have arisen in this area.