by Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, December 18 (Reuters) – Cardinal Peter Turkson, considered by some to be a possible candidate to become Africa’s first pope in 1,500 years, has suddenly tendered his resignation from a key Vatican entity, it has been reported learned Saturday from sources familiar with the matter.
The 73-year-old cardinal from Ghana has been an influential adviser to Pope Francis on issues such as global warming and social justice. He is the only African to head a dicastery of the Vatican Curia.
According to Vatican sources who requested anonymity, the Pope has yet to say whether he accepts the resignation.
Peter Turkson heads an important Vatican administration known as the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development. It is the result of the meeting in 2016 of four different departments dealing with the subjects of peace, justice, migration and charities.
According to one of the sources, the cardinal, who is two years from the retirement age for bishops set at 75, was tired of internal dissension.
Another source clarified that the prelate intended to give more explanations to his teams once the pope has made his decision.
His departure would mean that there would no longer be an African at the head of a major administration at the Vatican, Cardinal Robert Sarah, originally from Guinea, having retired this year.
The dicastery of Peter Turkson had been the subject of an internal review conducted by Cardinal Blase Cupich at the request of the Pope earlier this year.
His proposal to resign comes after two notable departures from the dicastery during the summer, one of the people having retired, the other having left his functions in a brutal and unexplained manner.
The Catholic Church has had several popes of North African origin in its history, the last in the 5th century.
Italian conservative blog messainlatino.it was the first to echo Peter Turkson’s decision to resign. (French version Gwénaëlle Barzic)
click here for restriction
© 2021 Reuters