Pope Francis has ordered the removal of all Caritas Internationalis leaders, including Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as president, and appointed a commissioner to run the Catholic Church’s worldwide charity arm until new officers are elected.
“It would appear necessary to revise the current regulatory framework to make it more appropriate to the statutory functions of the organization, and to prepare it for the elections to be held at the next General Assembly. With the fervent wish to facilitate the envisaged renewal of the Institution,” the Decree dated Nov. 11 read. The Vatican made the announcement on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
The Pontiff removed from office all the executives of Caritas Internationalis (CI), a Vatican-based confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social services organizations working in more than 200 countries and territories around the world.
Founded in 1951, CI, the Vatican said, has more than a million staff and volunteers around the world.
A report by the Catholic News Agency said an independent review found deficiencies in Caritas Internationalis’ “management and procedures, seriously prejudicing team-spirit and staff morale.”
The next general assembly, where the new officers are elected for a four-year term, is scheduled for May 2023.
In the meantime, Pope Francis has appointed Pier Francesco Pinelli as Temporary Administrator (Commissario straordinario in the original Decree) of Caritas Internationalis. The Holy Father also appointed Maria Amparo Alonso Escobar and Rev. P. Manuel Morujão, S.J., as support to Pinelli "for the personal and spiritual accompaniment of the employees,” the decree said.
Cardinal Tagle, the CNA said, will be assisting Pinelli in preparation for the general assembly next year. The Filipino cardinal was first elected to head Caritas Internationalis in 2015, making him the first president from Asia. He was reelected in 2019 and was supposed to end his term in 2023.