Pope sacks leadership of worldwide Catholic charity
Pope Francis has fired the entire leadership of the Catholic Church’s worldwide charity arm and appointed a commissioner to run it until new executives are elected.
The surprise move involved the executives of Caritas Internationalis (CI), a Vatican-based confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social services organisations working in more than 200 countries.
Caritas Ireland, which is established under the name Trócaire, said it is not affected.
It said: “Trócaire, as the overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland, is a member of the global Caritas Internationalis network.
“Trócaire is entirely independent of and governed separately from Caritas Internationalis. Trócaire is not affected by this decision of the Vatican.”
The sackings of the executive level of CI, which has more than a million staff and volunteers around the world, were announced in a papal decree released by the Vatican press office.
A separate statement from the Vatican’s development department, which oversees CI, said a review of the workplace environment this year by external management and psychological experts found malaise and bad management practices at its headquarters.
One staffer told Reuters of cases of verbal abuse, favouritism, and general human resources mismanagement that had led some staff to leave. CI is based in a Vatican-owned building in Rome.
“No evidence emerged of financial mismanagement or sexual impropriety, but other important themes and areas for urgent attention emerged from the panel’s work,” the statement from the development office said.
“Real deficiencies were noted in management and procedures, seriously prejudicing team spirit and staff morale,” it said.
It said that while “financial matters have been well-handled and fundraising goals regularly achieved”, management norms and procedures had to be improved.
A CI spokesperson referred all questions to the statement.
Among those affected by the decree was Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who was nominally president of Caritas but was not involved in the day-to-day operations. His main job at the Vatican is head of the church’s missionary arm.
The president’s position is traditionally held by a cardinal.
Cardinal Tagle, a Filipino who is often considered a possible future pope, will step down as president, but remain in a new role to help the commissioner keep up relations with national Caritas offices and prepare for election of a new leadership next year.
Two Caritas insiders, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said the decree was aimed at the management practices by the office of the outgoing secretary general and the board.
Apart from Cardinal Tagle and one priest, all members of the CI executive were lay people.
Trócaire was founded in 1973 as the overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
The organisation was given a dual mandate: to alleviate poverty and injustice abroad, and to educate people at home about the structural causes of poverty.
Trócaire works in over 20 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
The organisation’s key programme areas are resource rights, women’s empowerment, and humanitarian response.
