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Revision as of 22:34, 21 October 2015 by Astro5665 (talk | contribs) (→Priestly career)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| His Eminence Robert Sarah | |
|---|---|
| Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments | |
 Robert Cardinal Sarah, then an Archbishop and nl [Koen Vanhoutte] in 2009 | |
| Appointed | 23 November 2014 |
| Predecessor | Antonio Cañizares Llovera |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal-Deacon of San Giovanni Bosco in via Tuscolana |
| Previous post(s) |
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| Orders | |
| Ordination | 20 July 1969 by Raymond-Maria Tchidimbo |
| Consecration | 8 December 1979 by Giovanni Benelli |
| Created cardinal | 20 November 2010 by Benedict XVI |
| Rank | Cardinal-Deacon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1945-06-15) 15 June 1945 (age 79) Ourous, Guinea |
| Nationality | Guinean |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Motto | sufficit tibi gratia mea |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Styles of Robert Sarah | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
Robert Sarah (born 15 June 1945) is a Guinean Cardinal Prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments by Pope Francis on 23 November 2014. He previously served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum. He has been outspoken on the threat posed to Christianity by Islam, as well as movements such as those redefining marriage.
Early life and schooling
Sarah was born in 1945 in French Guinea and studied at Ourous. In 1957, at age 12, he entered the Seminary of Bingerville in Ivory Coast. On 2 October 1958, Guinea became independent after the referendum of 28 September. The Guinean seminarians who were studying in Bingerville returned to the new country and entered the Seminary of Dixinn in 1960 for one year. On 15 August 1961, the Democratic Party of Guinea nationalised all private Catholic schools, including the seminary.
After staying in their respective parishes, the seminarians, including Sarah, gathered at the locals of the parish of Sainte Croix, Kindia, waiting for the opening of Seminary Jean XXIII, situated 135 kilometers from Conakry. After obtaining a baccalaureate in 1964, Sarah was sent to France to study at the Grand Seminary at Nancy. Because of the political relations between France and Guinea, he went to Sébikotane, Sénégal, to finish his theological studies. Later that year he studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained a licentiate in theology; and at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of Jerusalem, where he obtained a licentiate in Sacred Scriptures. Sarah returned to Guinea in 1974.
Priestly career
Robert Sarah was ordained to the priesthood on 20 July 1969, aged 24, and incardinated in the diocese of Conakry. A decade later, at age 34, he was appointed as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Conakry on 13 August 1979 by Pope John Paul II. He received his Episcopal Consecration on 8 December 1979 from Giovanni Cardinal Benelli.
He served as the ordinary of the Archdiocese of Conakry until his appointment by Pope John Paul II as the Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples on 1 October 2001. In October 2010 he was appointed as President of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" replacing Paul Cardinal Cordes, whose resignation had been accepted for age-related reasons. Cordes had served as President since 1995. In his new role as Archbishop he was charged with organising Catholic relief around the world. He became the second African appointed by Pope Benedict to lead a Vatican dicastary. The first was Peter Cardinal Turkson of Ghana who was appointed as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in 2009.
On 1 September 2010 Sarah criticised Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's call for Islam to become the religion of all of Europe, labelling it disrespectful to the Pope and Catholic Italy. Sarah stated: “To speak of the European continent converting to Islam makes no sense because it is the people alone who decide consciously to be Christian, Muslim or to follow other religions”.
On 20 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI created and proclaimed him Cardinal-Deacon of San Giovanni Bosco in via Tuscolana. He has voting rights in papal conclaves until his 80th birthday. On 29 December 2010, Sarah was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Pontifical Council for the Laity and Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. On Tuesday, 10 March 2015, Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Sarah to serve as a Member of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses. He speaks French, English and Italian fluently.
On 28 January 2012, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, gave a speech calling on African nations to repeal laws that place sanctions on homosexual conduct. Speaking to a journalist, Sarah called the speech stupid. The journalist reported: "Asked if Ban Ki-moon was overstepping his responsibilities, Cardinal Sarah replied: 'Sure, you cannot impose something stupid like that.' He added: 'Poor countries like Africa just accept it because it's imposed upon them through money, through being tied to aid.'" He said that African bishops must react against this move against African culture.
He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis.
In 2015, at the Synod on the Family in Rome he compared the promotion of equal rights for gay people as akin to support for Nazism: "We need to be inclusive and welcoming to all that is human; but what comes from the Enemy cannot and must not be assimilated. You cannot join Christ and Belial. What Nazi-Fascism and Communism were in the 20th century, Western homosexual and abortion Ideologies and Islamic Fanaticism are today."
Sources
- http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2014/11/24/0882/01897.htmlRE
- "Vatican slams Khadafi call for Muslim Europe", cathnewsasia.com. 1 September 2010.
- http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2015/03/10/0176/00389.html
- Disclaimers and appointments, 10.03.2015
- National cCatholic Register, 21 February 2013, "Cardinal responds to UN's criticism of Africa's Social Policies"
- http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/top-african-cardinal-lgbti-rights-and-islamic-extremism-are-communism-and-nazism-for-the-21st-century/
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byRaymond-Maria Tchidimbo CSSp | Archbishop of Conakry 13 August 1979–1 October 2001 |
Succeeded byVincent Coulibaly |
| Preceded byMarcello Zago OMI | Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples 1 October 2001–7 October 2010 |
Succeeded bySavio Hon Tai-Fai SDB |
| Preceded byPaul Cordes | President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum 7 October 2010–23 November 2014 |
Vacant |
| Preceded byAntonio Cañizares Llovera | Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments 23 November 2014-present |
Incumbent |
Categories:
- Use dmy dates from March 2013
- Living people
- 1945 births
- 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops
- 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops
- 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops
- Pontifical Council Cor Unum
- Pontifical Gregorian University alumni
- Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI
- Guinean cardinals
- Guinean Roman Catholic bishops
- Members of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples