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By Amira El-Fekki
Middle East News Reporter
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Conservative Christians have flooded social media with support for Cardinal Robert Sarah to succeed the late Pope Francis because of his strong traditionalist stands on sexuality and church doctrine as well as his opposition to mass immigration and Islamism.
Why It Matters
The rising profile of the African cardinal, 79, comes at a time of ideological division within Catholicism, as the Church grapples with questions of modernity, sexual identity, and religious pluralism, and also as more right wing political movements in Europe and elsewhere have challenged what they see as the orthodoxy of a liberal global elite.
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Unlike Pope Francis—who often leaned into progressive stances on social justice and inclusion—Sarah represents a starkly different vision rooted in doctrinal rigidity and cultural conservatism. He is not currently among the frontrunners despite the support on X and other platforms.
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What To Know
Sarah is known for his staunch opposition to liberal theology, gender ideology, and what he sees as the moral decline of Western secularism.
Sarah has warned that Western secularism—including abortion, euthanasia, pornography, and gender ideology—are eroding the Christian foundations of Western civilization. "There is no 'homosexual problem' in the Church. There is a problem of sins and infidelity," he told The Catholic Herald in a 2019 interview.
In a pushback against Pope Francis, Catholic bishops from Africa and Madagascar in 2024 rejected his approval of blessings for same-sex couples. Priests from sub-Saharan Africa have also played a notable role in shaping conservative Catholic views in the United States.
Enemy of Islamic Fundamentalism
Sarah also described Islamic fundamentalism as one of two "apocalyptic beasts," naming organizations such as Boko Haram, the Islamic State, and Al-Qaeda, according to The Catholic News Agency in 2015.
His own roots are in the West African country of Guinea, where Islam is the most widespread religion but had a tradition of tolerance. He became a bishop there at a time of repressive dictatorship.
Reverence for Tradition and Liturgy
American conservative Catholic writer Michael Warren Davis advocated for Sarah to succeed Francis, arguing that Sarah's profound reverence for tradition and liturgy positions him as the ideal candidate to lead, in a 2020 Crisis Magazine article.
No pope has yet come from Africa, which has over 250 million Catholics and some of the fastest-growing Christian communities in the world.
But according to online betting markets, Sarah is not one of the frontrunners at the moment. Polymarket gives him only a 2 percent chance of becoming the next pope, while OLBG estimates an implied probability of approximately 11.1 percent. This places him behind other prominent candidates such as Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.
What People Are Saying
Cardinal Robert Sarah told The Catholic Herald in 2019: "As a bishop, it is my duty to warn the West! The barbarians are already inside the city. The barbarians are all those who hate human nature, all those who trample upon the sense of the sacred, all those who do not value life, all those who rebel against God the Creator of man and nature. The West is blinded by science, technology, and the thirst for riches."
Conservative political commentator Joey Mannarino on X: "'Those who use the Bible to justify mass immigration are bewitched.' 'Gender ideology is a luciferian refusal to receive a sexual nature from God.' Both quotes from Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea. Make him the next Pope!"
Right-wing journalist and podcaster Nick Sortor on X: "WOW! One of the frontrunners for Pope, Cardinal Robert Sarah, is a HARDLINER against mass migration. HUGE!"
What Happens Next
The election of the next pope will be held among the 135 cardinals who are eligible to serve in the papal conclave in the coming weeks. While Sarah may be unlikely to emerge as the next pope, if he were to do so it would mark a strong contrast with Francis's legacy.
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