REORGANIZATION inside the Catholic Church is nothing new, a Filipino cleric based in Rome clarified following news of reshuffling at Caritas Internationalis, a Vatican charity led by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.
Speaking over Radyo Veritas, Fr. Ramon Gregory Gaston, rector of the Pontificio Collegio Filippino, described the decision of Pope Francis to sack the entire leadership of Caritas Internationalis, including its president, Tagle, as an excellently timed move for “better service.”
“In the Church, we can be moved anytime. We are not attached to any assignment. Never ask for an assignment, never refuse an assignment,” Gaston said on Friday, Nov. 25.
“He did not want to simply pass the same old Caritas to his successor; he wanted a well-examined Caritas, for better service, that would be inherited by the next directors,” said the rector of the college for diocesan priests studying in Rome.
Tagle became Caritas president on May 14, 2015, replacing Óscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga, elected by more than 300 Caritas delegates worldwide.
The Vatican had clarified there was “no financial management or sexual impropriety” involved.
“Cardinal Tagle was not removed but given more work within Caritas! He was made President even when he was still Archbishop of Manila, with staff in Rome for the day-to-day operations,” Gaston said.
Gaston’s reaction came after short videos and other content emerged on social media alleging that Tagle was sacked due to wrongdoing, such as supporting leftist organizations using Church money.
The leadership of Caritas Internationalis is renewed every four years. Tagle’s second term would have ended in 2023.
Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 relief, social development and social service organizations in 200 countries worldwide.
