Théodore-Adrien Sarr

Théodore-Adrien Sarr (born 28 November 1936) is a Senegalese cardinal of the Catholic Church. He 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.

Biography 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, (including two sons and four daughters). He was born to a Serer family and has many family 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.

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.

Cardinal Sarr was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that selected Pope Francis. However, he is no longer eligible to participate in any future papal conclaves as he reached the age of eighty on 28 November 2016.

Views 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 pregnancy 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.