Cardinal Robert Sarah – championed by conservatives as reflecting the doctrinaire and liturgically minded papacies of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI – is amongst these being thought-about to interchange Pope Francis.
An African cardinal from Guinea, Sarah, 79, is seen as a non secular and theological standard-bearer for conservative Catholics, as critics of Francis have argued the late pope was too closely influenced by fashionable secularism.
Sarah beforehand headed the Vatican’s charity workplace Cor Unum and clashed with Francis on many events.
Their ideological divide most critically got here to a head when Sarah and Benedict – who retired as appearing pope in 2013 – co-authored a ebook titled “From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy and the Disaster of the Catholic Church.” The 2020 ebook advocated the “necessity” of continued celibacy for Latin Ceremony clergymen and got here out as Francis was weighing whether or not to permit married clergymen within the Amazon to deal with a priest scarcity there.
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Cardinal Robert Sarah seems for the presentation of Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke’s ebook “Divine Love Made Flesh,” in Rome, on Oct. 14, 2015. (AP Photograph/Andrew Medichini, File)
Consequently, Francis dismissed Benedict’s secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, from his papal family job, and several other months later retired Sarah after he turned 75. The prospect of a retired pope attempting to affect a reigning one created the situation that canon attorneys and theologians had warned of when Benedict determined to retain the white cassock of the papacy in retirement as “pope emeritus.” The scandal died down after Benedict eliminated himself as a co-author.
It is truly Sarah’s 2019 ebook that is inflicting extra of a stir with conservative Christians within the wake of Francis’ passing.
Sarah has described “The Day Is Now Far Spent” as his most vital ebook. In it, the cardinal decries how Europe and Western civilization have turned away from Christianity and endure from ideological challenges introduced by mass migration.
Against this, Francis had overtly contradicted the Trump administration and Vice President JD Vance – a Catholic convert – over their crackdown on unlawful immigration.
Vance, one of many final dignitaries to satisfy with Francis on Easter Sunday earlier than his passing, has referenced Pope John Paul II – ideologically extra much like Sarah – in current public addresses. On the Munich Safety Convention, Vance praised John Paul II as “one of the vital extraordinary champions of democracy” when emphasizing the importance of Western values. The vice chairman additionally celebrated John Paul II’s name for brand spanking new evangelization on the Nationwide Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.
Sarah co-authored two different books – “God or Nothing: A Dialog on Religion” in 2015 and The Energy of Silence: In opposition to the Dictatorship of Noise in 2017 – each with French journalist Nicolas Diat.
Listed here are some key quotes by Sarah being highlighted forward of Francis’ funeral later this week. The papal conclave will convene within the coming weeks to decide on a brand new chief of the Catholic Church.
1. The West is ‘minimize itself off from its Christian heritage’
Sarah argued that the West has minimize itself off from its Christian heritage in “The Day is Now Far Spent.”

Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah attends a prayer on the Cathedral of Our Girl of Victories in Dakar on Dec. 4, 2023. ( GUY PETERSON/AFP through Getty Photos)
“The West not is aware of who it’s, as a result of it not is aware of and doesn’t need to know who made it, who established it, because it was and as it’s. The West refuses to acknowledge its Christian roots.”
“By shedding its religion, Europe has additionally misplaced its purpose to be. It’s experiencing a deadly decline and is changing into a brand new civilization, one that’s minimize off from its Christian roots.”
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2. Gender ideology is ‘Luciferian’
Sarah argued that gender ideology is an affront to God’s creation and can’t basically change whether or not an individual is male or feminine in “The Day is Now Far Spent.”
“Gender ideology is a Luciferian refusal to obtain a sexual nature from God.”
3. Referred to as mass migration a ‘new type of slavery’
In a March 2019 interview with the French publication “Valeurs Actuelles,” Sarah reportedly criticized the function of the Catholic Church in supporting mass migration insurance policies in Europe, noting the hurt triggered to the migrants themselves.
“All migrants who arrive in Europe are penniless, with out work, with out dignity,” Sarah reportedly said. “That is what the Church desires? The Church can not cooperate with this new type of slavery that has turn out to be mass migration.”

Newly appointed cardinal, Guinean Robert Sarah greets guests in the course of the traditionnal courtesy go to after the consistory on Nov. 20, 2010 on the Vatican. (ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP through Getty Photos)
4. Calls fashionable distractions ‘the satan’s device’
In “The Energy of Silence: In opposition to the Dictatorship of Noise,” Sarah argues that fashionable distractions separate humankind from God.
“Distraction is the satan’s device for reducing man off from God.”
5. Calls Christians to refuse loyalty to ‘recognition or politics’
In “God or Nothing: A Dialog on Religion,” Sarah asserts that one’s loyalty should be to Christ – slightly than to recognition or politics – and repeatedly argues towards ethical relativism in household and societal norms.
“The Church isn’t a human group. She isn’t topic to the fashions of the day or the winds of doctrine. She should be trustworthy to Christ.”
“God or nothing: there isn’t any different alternative. Those that select God have every little thing. Those that select nothing are misplaced.”
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“If fact not exists, if every little thing is relative, then man turns into a slave to his passions.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
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