In 2022, Pope Francis ousted the leadership of Caritas Internationalis, the Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies. Among those dismissed were Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle (president, roughly equivalent to the board chairman of an American corporation), and Aloysius John (secretary-general, roughly equivalent to CEO).
John’s predecessor, Michel Roy, sees Cardinal Tagle as the victim of a takeover of Caritas by the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, led by Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ. The takeover, said Roy, took place after Cardinal Czerny investigated complaints about John’s managerial style.
“How can you suspend the whole leadership — president, board, representative council, secretary general, and ecclesiastical assistant — to punish the bad management of one person?” asked Roy. “At a time when clericalism is pinpointed as an evil, and when synodality is promoted as the best way forward for the Church, this decision is totally incomprehensible.”