See Dakar Role Cardinal Appointed June 2, 2000 Name Theodore-Adrien Sarr Archdiocese Dakar | Rank Cardinal-Priest Consecration November 24, 1974 Term ended 22 December 2014 Ordination May 28, 1964 | |
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Predecessor Cardinal Hyacinthe Thiandoum Successor Archbishop-elect Benjamin Ndiaye (previously, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaolack) Other posts Cardinal-Priest of Santa Lucia a Piazza d’Armi Education Cheikh Anta Diop University | ||
Created cardinal November 24, 2007 | ||
Cardinal theodore adrien sarr
Théodore-Adrien Sarr (born 28 November 1936) is a Senegalese cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is currently the Archbishop Emeritus of Dakar, having previously served as Archbishop of Dakar from 2000 to 2014, and before that as Bishop of Kaolack from 1974 to 2000. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Francis accepted his resignation as Archbishop of Dakar, in accordance with Canon 401.1 of the Latin-rite Code of Canon Law, on Monday, 22 December 2014, and appointed Bishop Benjamin Ndiaye, who until then had been serving as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaolack, in Kaolack, Senegal, as Archbishop-elect of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dakar. Cardinal Sarr had himself served as Bishop of Kaolack before coming to Dakar. Cardinal Sarr, 78, will retain his membership in the departments of the Roman Curia and will have the right to vote in a papal conclave until his 80th birthday in November 2016. Archbishop-elect Ndiaye will be installed as Archbishop of Dakar at a date in the near future.
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Early life and ordination
Théodore-Adrien Sarr was born in Fadiouth to Rôg (baptised Edouard or Roger) and Louise (maiden name : Louise Diakher Diouf) Sarr, as one of seven children (including two sons and four daughters). He was born to a Serer family and has many families members in Gambia. He completed his secondary studies at the minor seminary in Hann, where he received a baccalaureate. Sarr then studied philosophy and theology at the Major Seminary of Sébikhotane and the University of Dakar.
He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Hyacinthe Thiandoum on 28 May 1964, and furthered his studies at the University of Dakar, from where he obtained his licentiate in the classical languages of Latin and Greek.
Pastoral work
Sarr then did pastoral work at the parish of Saint-Thérèse in Dakar, as assistant to the groups of Catholic Action. He also served as a professor at the Minor Seminary of N'Gasobil, later as its superior from 1970 to 1974.
Bishop
On 1 July 1974, Sarr was appointed the second Bishop of Kaolack by Pope Paul VI. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 24 November from Archbishop Thiandoum, with Bishops Théophile Cadoux, MSC, and Augustin Sagna serving as co-consecrators, in an open-air ceremony at the grand square of Collège Pie XII in Kaolack. Bishop Sarr was later named the third Archbishop of Dakar on 2 June 2000.
In addition to his duties as Archbishop, he also serves as President of the Episcopal Conference of Senegal, Mauritania, Cape Verde, and Guinea-Bissau, and the first Vice-President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar.
Cardinal
Pope Benedict XVI created him Cardinal-Priest of S. Lucia a Piazza d'Armi in the consistory of 24 November 2007. Cardinal Sarr is no longer eligible to participate in any future papal conclaves as he reached the age of eighty on 28 November 2016. On 17 January 2009 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture by Pope Benedict.
He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that selected Pope Francis.
Abortion
Sarr discourages abortion, noting that the synod fathers affirmed that life must be respected from beginning to its natural end. He further stated that pastoral ministers in Africa must seek to help women with unwanted pregnancies, and that there are ways to deal with a difficult maternity other than abortion.
HIV/AIDS and condoms
In 2009, Cardinal Sarr defended the Pope over a controversy surrounding the latter's refusal to approve any sort of condom use in the fight against AIDS.