Meet Cardinal Robert Sarah, who’s in the running to be the next Pontiff.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 21, 2025
He’s conservative, pro-life, anti-woke, and has compared Western woke liberal cultural trends to communism and Nazism.
Cardinal Robert Sarah is a Guinean Catholic prelate known for his influential roles… pic.twitter.com/Sq3D9cOpZg
Meet Cardinal Robert Sarah, who’s in the running to be the next Pontiff.
He’s conservative, pro-life, anti-woke, and has compared Western woke liberal cultural trends to communism and Nazism.
Cardinal Robert Sarah is a Guinean Catholic prelate known for his influential roles in the Vatican and his conservative stance on Church teachings.
Born on June 15, 1945, in Ourous, Guinea, to a family of animist converts to Christianity, Sarah was inspired by missionary priests and entered the Saint Augustine Minor Seminary in Bingerville, Ivory Coast, at age 12. He was ordained a priest on July 20, 1969, in Conakry, Guinea, and later earned licentiates in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and in Scripture from the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem.
At 34, Sarah was appointed Archbishop of Conakry in 1979 by Pope John Paul II, becoming one of the world’s youngest bishops. He served during the oppressive regime of Ahmed Sékou Touré, resisting Marxist policies and maintaining the Church’s independence, earning widespread respect in Guinea. In 2001, he was named secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, serving nearly a decade. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum and elevated him to cardinal. From 2014 to 2021, Sarah served as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments under Pope Francis, retiring at age 75.
A vocal advocate for traditional Catholic teachings, Sarah has emphasized sexual morality, the right to life, and liturgical reverence, often promoting practices like ad orientem worship.
He has criticized Western cultural trends, including gender ideology, abortion, and same-sex marriage, comparing their impact to historical ideologies like Nazism and communism. He has also denounced Islamist radicalism, particularly ISIS, for its threats to family structures. His 2023 “Dubia” to Pope Francis, alongside four other cardinals, sought clarity on doctrinal issues like same-sex blessings and women’s ordination, reflecting his orthodox concerns.