Pope Francis speaks in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 15, 2022. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Nov 22, 2022 / 12:30 pm (CNA).
Why did Pope Francis dismiss the entire leadership of the Church’s worldwide charity arm Tuesday?
What role will Pier Francesco Pinelli play as temporary administrator of Caritas Internationalis, appointed by papal decree on Nov. 22?
A key date to understanding the move and how it aligns with the pope’s broader reforms is Oct. 15, 2022.
On that day, Pope Francis received in audience at the Vatican Father Giacomo Canobbio and delegates of Bain Capital. The financial investment firm is where Pinelli previously worked. And Canobbio is the priest who, without announcement, was appointed by Pope Francis to the role of commissioner of the Pontifical Lateran University.
Both appointments are typical for the pontiff and his preferred modus operandi: Pope Francis sends an inspection or appoints a commissioner whenever he wants to reform something.
The papacy of commissioners
There were no apparent reasons for appointing a commissioner to Caritas Internationalis — just as there were no apparent reasons for appointing a commissioner at the Pontifical Lateran University.
However, Pope Francis has previously ordered a number of inspections.
Bishop Claudio Maniago was made the inspector of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, after which the pope appointed Archbishop Arthur Roche as prefect of the dicastery. Next, Bishop Egidio Miragoli inspected the Congregation of the Clergy, which was still in progress when the pope appointed the Korean bishop Lazzaro You Heung-sik — later created cardinal— as prefect of the dicastery.
At the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis appointed several commissions.
One such body was the commission of reference on the administrative-economic structures of the Holy See, known by its Italian acronym COSEA. Another was CRIOR, the commission for studying the Institute of Works of Religion reform, commonly known as the Vatican Bank.
Their work, once completed, resulted in the extensive overhaul of the Vatican’s financial departments and the new Institute of Works of Religion statutes, promulgated in 2019.
However, the appointment of a commissioner in Caritas Internationalis has another clear precedent: the inspection of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development.
The inspection took place in July 2021 and was led by Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago. The team also included Sister Helen Alford, vice-rector of the Pontifical Angelicum University, an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences; and Pinelli, the new administrator of Caritas Internationalis.
Pinelli’s profile
A trained engineer and experienced manager, Pinelli has worked with several institutions as well as a consultant for management and investment firms.
According to Vatican rumors not officially confirmed but provided to CNA from multiple sources, Pinelli was also involved in restructuring what is now the Dicastery for Integral Human Development.
A press release from the dicastery said Pinelli was an engineer “with a more humanist than technical way of proceeding” and that he was “formed in Ignatian spirituality,” a man who “from an early age was active as a volunteer working with recovering drugs addicts, in development cooperation, support for missionary works, and catechesis.” The statement also noted that he is married with three children and three grandchildren.
The release also emphasized that “in 33 years of work,” Pinelli had gained managerial experience in different sectors, including a large energy company.
Having worked both as a project manager for energy companies and as a management consultant for Bain, Pinelli also has experience working with religious and secular works and institutions, according to the release.
Obviously, his formation and positions in some Jesuit institutions may have played a role. It seems likely that Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, the current prefect of the dicastery, had a word in involving him and others.
However, it is still hard to assess which issues are at stake. It seems clear that the pope wants to reform Caritas Internationalis, including its statutes and bylaws.
Founded in 1951, the Catholic confederation is made up of 162 charitable organizations based in 200 countries around the world. Its headquarters are located on Vatican territory in Rome, and the Vatican oversees its activity.
According to Czerny’s dicastery, “no evidence emerged of financial mismanagement or sexual impropriety”; however, “deficiencies were noted in management and procedures, seriously prejudicing team spirit and staff morale.”
Pinelli’s task
The reform of the statutes will be the first task of the new commissioner.
Pinelli will be assisted by Maria Amparo Alonso Escobar, Caritas Internationalis’ head of advocacy, and by Jesuit Father Manuel Morujão, who will provide personal and spiritual accompaniment to Caritas employees, according to Pope Francis’ decree.
In May 2023, the next Caritas Internationalis general assembly is expected to be held in Rome, with the appointment of the new president, general secretary, and treasurer. By then, the reform process will likely be completed.
Caritas Internationalis will undergo a review “in order to improve its management norms and procedures — even while financial matters have been well-handled and fundraising goals regularly achieved — and so better to serve its member charitable organizations around the world.”
However, a reform of the statutes already took place in 2019 and was approved by the pope with a rescript of Jan. 13, 2020.
As for the change of the statutes of Caritas Internationalis, it was simply a matter of passing the competencies from the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which no longer exists, to the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, which has absorbed its functions.
As for the rules of procedure, these changes were not communicated. But they generally accepted some of the requests approved by the Caritas General Assembly, which envisaged encouraging the presence of women within the highest representative bodies and including two young people in the same representative bodies.
In particular, there was talk of the Representative Council of the federation, abbreviated with the name RE.CO., the acronym for Representative Council. These indications have now been implemented and will become operational.
The structure of Caritas Internationalis was thus “adjusted” and adapted to the reform of the Curia.
However, the statutes of Caritas Internationalis remained confirmed in the structure as Pope Benedict XVI reformed them in 2012. Those statutes strengthened the collaboration between Caritas Internationalis and the Holy See and clearly outlined the competencies of the Vatican Secretariat of State.
Not only that: the new structure of Caritas Internationalis gave greater coordination to departments and bodies connected to the Holy See, which also concerned doctrinal aspects.
The rationale behind Benedict XVI’s reform
It is noteworthy that the 2012 reform was part of a more extensive project by Benedict XVI to accomplish Pastor Bonus’s provisions fully.
Pastor Bonus was the apostolic constitution that regulated the functions and tasks of the Curia offices, and Praedicate Evangelium now replaces that.
However, the reform came after a governance crisis. In 2011, the Secretariat of State did not approve the renomination of the former secretary general, Lesley-Anne Knight. (However, her work was praised by the president of Caritas Internationalis at the time, Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga.) As a result, she was replaced by Michel Roy, a Frenchman who worked with Secours Catholique — the Caritas in France.
Knight’s non-confirmation also stemmed from the new approach given with the subsequent reform of Caritas Internationalis.
It was an approach that derived from the formulation of Benedict XVI’s encyclical Caritas in Veritate. In the encyclical, Benedict XVI stressed that human development and foreign aid could not be separated from the demand for truth. The encyclical also pointed to the fact that many international organizations were promoting abortion, contraception, sterilization, and euthanasia.
This was an approach that Knight did not fully share, as she publicly explained to the media at the time.
While some approved of Knight’s departure, others were disappointed. Despite a robust generational change in Caritas Internationalis in recent years, these divisive feelings may have lingered in the background and fueled some complaints about “management and procedures.”
What will the new reform look like?
The tone of the dicastery’s press release suggests that the reform will be more managerial. But, above all, it is a substantial change in philosophy from the reform of Benedict XVI.
In short, it could be another paradigm shift by Pope Francis, comparable to some degree to his restrictions of the Traditional Latin Mass.
From this point of view, Pope Francis has identified several people to help complete his changes to the Church’s structure.
In carrying out the reform, the pope does not hesitate to demote someone like Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, current president of Caritas, who now finds himself mandated to “liaise” with Pinelli and his staff for the upcoming general assembly.
Tagle was rumored to be appointed the next prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops. Even if these rumors were to be confirmed, Tagle’s public image has now been compromised by the Caritas decision. This will also weigh in a future conclave.
Pope Francis, however, is completing his goals. As he said in one of his homilies in the days of the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020 — and also in a meeting with the Candia Foundation in April — he remains critical of humanitarian organizations that do good work but spend 60% of their budget on wages. The pope called on them to keep costs to a minimum, “so that most of the money goes to the people.”
[…]
May God bless Fr. Weinandy.
They hadn’t the courage to fire him. Similar to Pilate washing his hands. What’s disheartening is what it says about the USCCB. They unlike Churchill say, “We will always surrender”. Darkness pervades. Catholics faithful to the Gospel of Christ firmly rooted in the Apostolic Tradition are mocked, disdained, forced to resign, fired like Josef Seifert by other Catholics who have sworn allegiance to the new gospel. Whether these are End Times is unknown. Prayerfully a passing phase soon to be corrected. Yet it certainly is unprecedented. Unlike previous Pontiff’s who erred this distancing from Apostolic Tradition is too sweeping. Can this be permitted by God and why asks Fr Weinandy. As do most of us. Sin and disobedience to Christ’s commandments. Apostasy. As a priest I cannot repudiate the Gospels for something other than what the Apostles handed down to me. At judgment I, all priests [Bishops and Cardinals included] will be asked “Peter, did you feed my Lambs”. My hopeful prayer is, “Yes Lord, I fed them good food. Your words”.
Is Weinandy seriously a Theologian and still acts thinking he can lay conditions on God to prove to him that he should proceed as planned.?? Come off it! The management of the Church and indeed the planet Earth rests solely in evolution and in the hands of humanity protected by oversight of the Spirit of God.
“The management of the Church and indeed the planet Earth rests solely in evolution…”
Do you really want to keep this up? It’s embarrassing.
Signor Olson. We’re all due for a bit of comic relief.
ditto!
I agree with Carl that this comment is truly embarassing.
I hope comment is made about some authors’ use of the word “dissent.” It is VERY misleading and slanderous against Father Weinandy.
Yes, Father Weinandy is courageously opposing dissenters in the highest places. Who among us could ever imagine that we would experience this persecution of the Faith in our lifetime, when it seems like yesterday, that it was honored by all? Who could have believed that the most vigorous persecution would come from the pope and his team of unprincipled (as though they were not Christian) revolutionaries?
Today, those who vowed to preserve and defend our Faith, dishonor it in word and deed, while bowing low before all kinds of false beliefs.
Sometimes the shock and terror are overwhelming. I must remind myself constantly that this has been known from the beginning. Our Lord Jesus Christ says: Fear not!
I should abandon my bad inclination, and I should trust and obey Him.
Given the extraordinarily rapid timeline, with publication of the letter and publication of the USCCB press releases only six hours apart, it appears that the member bishops did not hold a meeting, make sure they had a quorum, and hold a vote. It appears that one or more post-Catholic ordained bureaucrats made this decision, which may go down in history as the “jumping of the shark” by the USCCB.
A pope who will not clarify his own exhortation, either in private or public. This pope who is on the brink of formal heresy while claiming to be “a faithful son of the Church”.
Fr. Martin weighs in????
How long, Lord?
I’m curious, why did he not just let them fire him? This is not a criticism, but what advantage to him if he “resigns” than if he is “fired”? Is there something in the vow of obedience? Although if he were to have been fired, it may well have raised his standing even more? I imagine Father did not fully anticipate the fallout of his letter.
These folks also don’t seem to realize that this infers Francis is proposing new teaching, for what else would require a new/current act of assent, as though Weinandy would have withdrawn his previous assent from the perennial teaching?
I am a lay Catholic. I do not agree with what Father Weinandy did: I disagree with both the content of the letter and the way he made it public. I am only weighing in on this because Father Weinandy emphasized that he received many letters and emails, mostly from lay people, all of them positive. I support Pope Francis and thought the letter read like an attack on him. The USCCB was right to force Weinandy’s resignation (they could have just terminated him; it was very gracious of them to allow him to resign).
Irene,
You present a false notion: that Fr. Weinandy is “anti-Francis” and this was the reason for his letter. This is unfortunately a way people are trying to discount it and if you think about it, this mode is exactly what they are accusing him of. It was quite the opposite if you read his reasons for it. The ultimate point is whether what he states in the letter is true and that even what one might call the more subjective parts are his actual experience as a priest, hearing from what he says is “many” people. Exactly what in his letter is false? Can you say without any doubt that none of what he mentions is happening anywhere? Are you saying he is lying when he speaks of his personal experience? If you can’t rule this out then the foundation of his letter stands.
Oh, yes, very gracious… So Fr. Martin now calls himself “Irene” ?
So where is the “mercy and dialogue” that Pope Francis and bishops keeps talking about? Did I miss something here?
There is “mercy and dialogue” for the LGBTQ people, so-called “catholic” politicians or pro-aborts or atheists but none whatsoever for the catholic theologian who embraces and preaches the Gospel?!!
Remember when St. Paul rebuked Peter (the first pope) in Galatians 2:11-13
In John 16:2 Jesus said “They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour* is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.
They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me”.
Rejoice Fr. Weinandy!! You are truly blessed for being found worthy!
Jesus will bless you greatly!
I fully agree, Fr. Weinandy is our hero. I hope he will honor us by becoming a Member of our newly founded John Paul II Academy for Human Life & the Family!
Mercedes Arzú Wilson.
What I would like to know is: did anyone at USCCB get a phone call from the Vatican before “encouraging” Father Weinandy to resign?
Yes. May God bless Fr. Weinandy. He is a good and faithful servant of the Lord.
If Fr. Weinandy had come out in support of Planned Parenthood, he would still be judged employable by the USCCB.
I would love to know, on what date was Father Weinandy ‘s letter published and on what forum?
Thank you for a reply,
Teréz Barna
Fr. Weinandy’s letter appeared on November 1st, and was published by various outlets, including on Sandro Magister’s site, CRUX, and The Catholic Herald. It also appeared here at CWR on the same day, with a note of explanation by Fr. Weinandy.