Speaking at a week-long meeting in Rome of the global confederation of 162 national Caritas chapters, Czerny (pictured) explained that the move was necessary for the well-being of staff at Caritas and was not a condemnation of its work.

"I am sure that all of you were surprised and disturbed by this," Czerny told the audience.

"The appointment of a temporary administrator was an act of love and care, not a denunciation ... It was a necessary call to repair and fine-tune a body that is essential for the whole church."

The November decision saw Francis fire Caritas secretary-general Aloysius John, president Filipino Cardinal Antonio Tagle, Tagle's vice presidents, the treasurer, and ecclesiastic assistant.

The move came after an external investigation revealed "real deficiencies" in management that had affected staff morale at the Caritas secretariat in Rome.

While there was no evidence of financial wrongdoing or sexual misconduct, former employees described a toxic workplace environment under John, where staff were bullied, harassed and humiliated.

Several quit, giving up sought-after income tax-free Vatican employment rather than remain in abusive conditions.

Czerny insisted that the dismissals were necessary and appropriate and were by no means a criticism of Caritas or its work providing emergency aid and development assistance to the neediest worldwide.

The cardinal explained that the investigation had "revealed patterns of workplace relationships and processes that prevented the general secretariat from operating properly; furthermore, they undermined the well-being of staff.

They put the operations, name and reputation at risk, not only of Caritas Internationalis but of all Caritas."

"Brutal power grab"

On the eve of the Caritas assembly to elect new leaders, John wrote an open letter to the Caritas representatives, criticising Czerny's office for a "brutal power grab" and casting his ouster in racial terms.

John, a French citizen of Indian descent, said that the wealthier donor countries from the "North" had never wanted a Caritas secretary-general from the "South" and wanted to impose their will on the confederation.

On Saturday, Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo was elected as the organisation's new president.

He will hold office for four years and may be reelected for a second term.

Addressing the assembly's 400 delegates, the archbishop stressed that Caritas "must be in the front line to receive, accompany, serve and defend the poor and vulnerable."

"This mission must be upheld and capture all attention of the members of the confederation, and I would like to be the one to lead the entire organisation to fulfil this important mission of the Church together with the Secretary-General," Kikuchi said.

"All are invited to walk together."

Sources

AP News

CBCP News

CathNews New Zealand

Aloysius John, who was removed from his position as secretary-general in November 2022, alleged that his ousting was a result of the "deliberate will" of some Vatican officials.

Pope Francis removed the entire leadership of Caritas Internationalis after an independent review reportedly found deficiencies in the organisation's "management and procedures, seriously prejudicing team-spirit and staff morale."

The review examined "the workplace environment of the [Caritas Internationalis] General Secretariat and its alignment with Catholic values of human dignity and respect for each person."

Mr John, a French citizen of Indian descent, claimed that Caritas leaders from wealthier "Northern" regions never wanted a leader from the "South". The Caritas president, Filipino Cardinal Antonio Tagle, was also removed from his position during the clean-out of top management.

There was no evidence of financial wrongdoing or sexual misconduct, the Vatican said. But former employees described a toxic workplace environment under John, where staff were bullied, harassed and humiliated. As a result, several quit, giving up sought-after income tax-free Vatican employment rather than remain in abusive conditions.

Caritas was functioning well

John insists that Caritas was functioning well and was in good financial shape when he was fired. He also said he had sought the independent inquiry to better support staff who had complained.

He said the Vatican's decision to fire him was "made in haste, with incredible violence and very poor public communication." He added the decision had "discredited the Church and one of its jewels, Caritas Internationalis."

"It is a brutal power grab," he wrote of the takeover by the Vatican's development office.

The confederation's general assembly will take place from 11-16 May, during which new leaders of 162 national chapters will be elected.

John warned attendees to "guard against any 'political' drift and thus remain at the service of the poor, in the spirit of the Gospel." He also thanked Caritas Internationalis members who proposed that he run for this year's assembly but alleged that the Candidature Committee "arbitrarily and without any explanation rejected" the proposal.

Caritas Internationalis, founded in 1951, is a Catholic confederation of 162 charitable organisations in 200 countries worldwide. The governance of Caritas Internationalis is elected for four-year terms during the general assembly.

Sources

Religion News Service

Licas News

CathNews New Zealand

Whether that image of the pontiff was fair or not, it stuck, so much so that it featured in the opening paragraphs of many papal obituaries.

Today, one sometimes wonders why Francis, in equal and opposite fashion, hasn't yet been termed by his own critics the "Lear Pope," meaning a leader who doesn't hesitate to act - who, in fact, can come off as perhaps a bit rash or impetuous, but never indecisive.

Francis's latest such "Lear moment" came Tuesday, when the Vatican announced that he has essentially placed the global Catholic charity Caritas into receivership.

He fired its entire leadership team and appointed his own interim administrator, Italian organisational consultant Pier Francesco Pinelli, who will run things ahead of the next General Assembly of Caritas set for May 2023.

The changes came as a surprise even to most Caritas personnel, who were gathered in Rome for their first in-person meeting since the Covid pandemic broke out in 2019.

A press briefing with Caritas leaders from various parts of the world was staged Tuesday morning with no mention of the impending papal decree, which came out just as the briefing was wrapping up.

Caritas, whose headquarters are in the Vatican, is a federation of Catholic charitable organisations that operate in more than 200 countries.

In 2020 it reported income of $5.2 million and expenses of $4.5 million, though that's just the Rome budget and does not reflect income and expenses for its various members.

No real explanation was given for the abrupt papal take-over, other than a sort of via negativa - that is to say, we know what the reasons weren't, as a Vatican statement said there was no evidence of financial or sexual impropriety.

(It's telling about the Catholic Church in 2022 that if someone gets fired, you have to say out loud that it wasn't because of money or sex - because if you don't, everyone will assume one of those two things had to be the reason.)

Beyond excluding those two factors, the statement simply said that an internal review had revealed "real deficiencies" in management, leading to damage to "team-spirit and staff morale."

Many observers tend to believe that the problems, at least in part, centred around the ousted Secretary General of Caritas, meaning its day-to-day CEO, an Indian layman with French citizenship named Aloysius John (Pictured).

John came to power in 2019 after other candidates for the top job dropped out, and rumours suggest charges of heavy-handed leadership and suspect management on his watch.

In one possible sign of discontent, Vatican News, the official news platform of the Vatican, reported Tuesday that when Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle read the decree aloud to Caritas members, it was greeted with applause.

Speaking of Tagle, his reputation likely will take something of a hit in the wake of the upheaval. Continue reading

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle (pictured left), whose second term as Caritas president was to end in May, has also lost his position.

Francis appointed a temporary administrator to oversee improved management policies and to prepare for the election of new officers in May.

Caritas Internationalis is a hub for 162 charitable organisations in 200 countries. Its mission is to serve the poor and most vulnerable. The Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development oversees it.

The Dicastery said a review by an independent panel on Caritas Internationalis's workplace environment found no evidence of financial mismanagement or sexual impropriety.

In a statement it said, however, "other important themes and areas for urgent attention emerged from the panel's work.

"Real deficiencies were noted in management and procedures, seriously prejudicing team-spirit and staff morale."

Pier Francesco Pinelli, a business management consultant, and two psychologists conducted the review, which included interviewing current and past employees.

Francis has now appointed Pinelli to temporarily oversee the Dicastery. Maria Amparo Alonso Escobar, a Caritas veteran, and the Rev. Manuel Morujão SJ will assist him.

Tagle will also assist Pinelli prepare for the future by taking "special care of relations with the local churches and the member organisations," the papal decree says.

The Dicastery says the officers' suspension "has no impact on the functioning of member organisations and the services of charity and solidarity they provide around the world.

"On the contrary, it will serve to strengthen such service."

Tagle says member organisations should be reassured knowing that the Pope's decision came after "a careful and independent study of the working environment of the secretariat and the governance exercised by the people and bodies in charge."

The papal decree, he said, is "a call to walk humbly with God" and be open to a process of discernment, which includes acknowledging shortcomings.

The announcement about the Caritas leaders' replacement came while about 100 Caritas representatives from around the world were having a two-day meeting in Rome.

They were reflecting on "how to strengthen local leadership within the confederation and enhance fraternal cooperation among member organisations".

In his decree, Francis said Caritas Internationalis assists him and the bishops "in the exercise of their ministry to the poorest and most needy, participating in the management of humanitarian emergencies and collaborating in the spread of charity and justice in the world in the light of the Gospel and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

"To improve the fulfilment of this mission it seems necessary to revise" the current regulations governing Caritas Internationalis, a task that Pinelli will guide, Francis said.

Pinelli says he hopes "to initiate processes of reconciliation and improvement that can bear fruit in the long run for this association".

"My visit to Bangladesh was first of all to witness the solidarity of the confederation in Caritas Bangladesh and to the people of Bangladesh for their generosity in receiving the displaced people from Myanmar — the Rohingya" he said during a press briefing at Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium on February 24 during his five-day visit to the South Asian nation.

He lamented that "our world is undergoing a major disaster today.

"Millions of people are being put on the wrong road with no point of return because of selfishness, because of wrong decisions and because of violence. So they are put on the wrong road, in exile. I met some of them," he said.

Read More

The global "Share the Journey" campaign aims to build "bridges of hope between islands separated by fear," says Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, president of Caritas Internationalis.

Although the campaign has formally ended, its message continues. Communities are encouraged to change attitudes toward immigration by getting them to know their migrant neighbours.

"We gave ourselves a few challenges: not just seeing the migrants but looking at them with compassion; not just hearing their voice but listening to their stories and concerns; not just passing by the other side but stopping, as the good Samaritan, and living a moment of communion with them," Tagle says.

Anyone can get involved.

They can go on a sponsored or symbolic solidarity walk with refugees, invite migrants to shared meals, or light a virtual candle.

Some people may want to share messages or stories, which will be gathered into a compilation for Pope Francis.

Asked about ways to measure the success of the four-year "Share the Journey" campaign, both Aloysius John, secretary-general of Caritas Internationalis and Tagle spoke of individual encounters where people were "converted" to recognizing the migrant in their midst as a brother or sister.

"People have been touched in different ways, touched by the suffering," says John.

The ongoing campaign hopes to develop "a new consciousness, a new way of looking at people on the move and developing this culture where, instead of fear of the 'other,' we see a human person and we give them the love, the attention, that we know every human being deserves," Tagle says.

"We cannot set a time frame; we cannot say, 'At the end of 2021 everyone, including Caritas workers, should have been converted already.' We hope that happens, but knowing human freedom and human frailty," some people will need more time."

With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing and with many nations claiming a need to protect their own citizens first, we face "the risk of intensifying selfishness and the fear of strangers," Tagle says.

The call is for everyone to show solidarity and " continue to share the journey with migrants, especially at this most difficult moment."

"The mission continues," Tagle says.

"Where there is indifference and intolerance toward migrants, Caritas will stand by them to express the love and concern of the Mother Church," John says.

His comment is echoed by Msgr Bruno-Marie Duffé, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

He notes the campaign's key elements reflect Catholic teaching on migrants, beginning with the fact that they are human beings with dignity and rights to be protected.

Everyone has a journey, an intimate pain that haunts them and each of them has a hope: to be considered as a person, to be called by name, to be welcomed and recognized, he says.

Source

• Detroit Catholic
• Image: Caritas Internationalis