Pope Benedict says farewell in 2013 (Image: GETTY)
Mr Le Bec wrote in 2019: The Guinean cardinal’s strong opinions differ so much from those of the Argentinian supreme pontiff that traditionalist Catholic movements in search of high-ranking clergymen to promote their point of view have made him their champion.
He cited an episode where Francis had told Catholics to go to the peripheries of the church and the world to welcome the marginalised and the non-believers into the faith two years ago.
This incensed Cardinal Sarah, who said the church was going through a great crisis , and swiped at Francis during an interview with Current Values.
Pope Benedict remains inside the Vatican (Image: GETTY) The people want someone who cares, and Benedict never did. Finding a pastoral Pope like Francis must have seemed ideal, let him lead from the front while they rule from behind. Unfortunately he wasn t what they expected, so the traditionalist backlash started.
Benedict s resignation was the first time a living Pope had resigned since the 1400s, and some supporters were critical of his decision.
During his farewell speech, Benedict vowed to not interfere with his successor s agenda, despite claims he would later use his influence over the traditionalists within the church to ensure rituals such as celibacy continued to be observed.
Scott Pelley, host of CBS Evening News (Image: AMAZON PRIME)
He admitted that the cardinals couldn t have predicted the immediate positive response Francis appointment would garner, but added: I sometimes wonder whether there is any buyer s remorse in the past months and past year, among the cardinals. Did they really know what they were getting into?
Although there has been an overwhelming outpouring of support for Francis since he was installed in 2013, this sentiment - according to Clemente Lisi, assistant professor of journalism at The King s College in New York, started to crumble.
Pope Benedict while he was head of the Vatican (Image: GETTY)
Vatican: Cardinal Robert Sarah with Pope Benedict (Image: GETTY)
In a piece last year for Religion Unplugged, he said: Criticism of Francis’ papacy is especially felt across conservatives in North America and Western Europe, where the growth of political populism in the Donald Trump and Brexit era has put Pope Francis’ views on climate change and immigration to the left of many Catholic voters. The Vatican press office, and the mixed messaging to come out of Rome in recent years, hasn’t helped fill this divide. If anything, it has grown larger in recent years.
He argued that Cardinal Sarah of Guinea would make sense as the next Pope, with the church keen to grow in Africa and that he could bring new followers and intensify the faith of Roman Catholics across that continent .