Surprisingly even for church experts, the Pope dismisses the entire leadership of Caritas Internationalis. A Vatican decree states that deficiencies in the management of the umbrella organization have been identified. But there was no sexual misconduct.
Pope Francis has relieved the entire management level of Caritas Internationalis of their duties and appointed an Extraordinary Commissioner to head the aid organization. The Holy See published a corresponding decree in the morning. With the surprising decision, Francis wanted to “improve management norms and procedures”, as the dicastery responsible for holistic human development announced. In addition to the Caritas President, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the Vice Presidents, the Secretary General, the Treasurer and the members of the Executive Council were dismissed.
Now Pier Francesco Pinelli is to lead the umbrella organization of the 162 national Caritas associations as special commissioner; the Italian used to be the manager of numerous energy companies. Cardinal Tagle will initially remain as a consultant and take care of relations with the local Caritas organizations. In May 2023, the regular General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis with new elections will take place in Rome. According to the Vatican, the previous Caritas management “managed the financial matters well and regularly achieved the donation goals”.
A review of the organization by external experts – including Pinelli – revealed weaknesses in management “that seriously damage team spirit and employee morale,” it said. Alongside this, the dicastery wrote: “No evidence of financial mismanagement or inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature was found, but at the same time issues and areas that required urgent attention were identified.”
The statement from the Vatican states: “During the term of the commissariat, all current appointments of executives within CI are suspended.” The appointment of a special commissioner for CI should not affect the functioning and work of the member organizations “but on the contrary strengthen them”.