Robert Sarah's accurate statements, who could be the 'first black pope'

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of faithful mourn the death of Pope Francis, all eyes are on the possible successors who will occupy the throne of Saint Peter. One of the names that has been mentioned for years is that of Cardinal Robert Sarah, who was even one of the contenders against the Argentine pontiff in the last conclave.

So far, an African pope has never been chosen, a topic that is circulating strongly on social media. Currently, there are three African cardinals in the running to lead the Catholic Church, and among them, Sarah's name stands out particularly, both for his well-known conservative stance and his insightful statements in the few interviews he has given.

Robert Sarah was born in Guinea on June 15, 1945, and is 79 years old, an age considered suitable to aspire to the highest position within the Catholic faith. Throughout his life, he witnessed three pontificates, and in the last decade, he gained notoriety in the Italian media.

"I am calm because I know that I am very faithful to the pope. They can't take a single word, a phrase, a gesture from me in which I oppose the pope. It's ridiculous, I am at the service of the church, the Holy Father, and God. We must not fall into this trap, I don't care what they say, we must continue teaching," he expressed euphorically in 2021, trying to put an end to the rumors accusing him of being an "opponent" of Francis.

Robert Sarah is not unknown in the Vatican corridors; in fact, he was already among the possible candidates in the 2013 conclave. He was Archbishop of Conakry between 1979 and 2001, and in 2010 Benedict XVI made him a cardinal. In 2020, he published the book "From the Depths of Our Hearts," in which he firmly defended priestly celibacy.

Regarding his thinking, Sarah is a great defender of the family, the preservation of traditional Catholic morality, and the fight against the decline of the West, warning about the dangers posed by "fanatical and essentialist Islamism" and "the dictatorship of relativistic thought."

Although he usually doesn't expose himself to the press, he occasionally made exceptions and participated in television interviews. On December 26, 2021, he was interviewed on the CNEWS program broadcast by Europe 1, where some of his insightful statements regain relevance, especially those referring to blended families.

"There is a crisis of families because vocations come from families. If the family no longer has children, if it doesn't last long enough to pass on its faith to its children, how are they going to inspire the vocation and the desire to dedicate themselves to God?" he stated on that occasion.

He added: "Vocations are not isolated, they are situated in a family context; if the family is destroyed, if family stability is not favored; there are too many divorces, children are helpless, they don't know how to live, they have no support, because a child needs to have their dad and mom to have balance, if they don't have that constant support in their life, they lose balance," he stated.

In another of his television appearances, he warned: "Those who use the Bible to justify mass immigration are bewitched." There he also referred to the decline of the West and the "invasion of other cultures."

"The main concern is that Europe has renounced or lost the sense of its origins, it has lost its roots, and a tree without roots dies: there are countless signs; there is no birth rate, they are being silently invaded by other peoples, who will progressively dominate them in number," he expressed.

During the Synod on the Family in 2015, Robert Sarah also labeled abortion, homosexuality, and Islamism as "contemporary evils." One of his most remembered phrases was: "Gender ideology is a Luciferian refusal to accept God's sexual nature."

Additionally, Sarah spoke out against "reducing the demands of the Catholic faith" or modifying its essential foundations. "Can a woman reduce her love for her husband or a husband reduce his love for his wife? No. Our relationship with God is a relationship of love, and if we reduce that love, it's because we are no longer in love," he stated categorically.