Caritas Internationalis revamp a ‘positive challenge,’ —Caritas Manila

The revamp in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church's worldwide charity arm Caritas Internationalis is a “positive challenge” to further improve the church service, according to Caritas Manila executive director Fr. Anton Pascual.

Pope Francis earlier fired the entire leadership of the Roman Catholic Church's worldwide charity arm, including Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, and appointed a commissioner to run it until new executives are elected.

Pascual, however, said this will not affect the relationship of Pope Francis and Tagle because the Cardinal was not involved in the day-to-day operations in the Vatican.

“Ang Santo Papa ay patuloy na nag-iisip at kumikilos upang pagtibayin at maging epektibo ang pagtulong sa mga mahihirap lalong lalo na yung mga biktima ng kalamidad,” Pascual said in a “24 Oras” report on Thursday.

“It is a positive challenge for us. We look at this re-organization of Caritas Internationalis in a positive light,” he added.

Tagle, meanwhile, said the removal of the entire leadership of Caritas Internationalis was not due to sexual abuse and financial management.

He said the move was a call for “walking humbly with God” and “a process of discernment.”

Tagle will step down as Caritas president but he will still assist newly installed commissioner Dr. Pier Francesco Pinelli in keeping the charity’s relations and election of a new leadership next year.

A separate statement from the Vatican's development department, which oversees Caritas, said a review of the workplace environment by external management and psychological experts found malaise and bad management practices at its headquarters, according to a report of Reuters.

One staffer told Reuters of cases of verbal abuse, favoritism, and general human resources mismanagement that had led some staff to leave.—Richa Noriega/LDF, GMA Integrated News