On Sunday, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Robert Sarah, the Guinean prelate with whom he has publicly clashed on a few occasions. Pope Francis was widely expected to accept Cardinal Sarah’s resignation soon after his 75th birthday in June, but the pope surprised Vatican watchers this week by declining to fill Cardinal Sarah’s now-vacant post as head of the Congregation for Divine Worship.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” host Colleen Dulle gives a brief update on this news, along with the Vatican’s $60.3 million budget shortfall and its newly-announced penalties for employees who decline the Covid-19 vaccine.

Links from the show:

Pope Francis accepts the resignation of Cardinal Sarah as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship

Vatican expects multi-million dollar budget deficit for 2021

Vatican tells its employees to get a Covid vaccine, or risk getting fired

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