New statutes for Caritas International underline Vatican control
May 3, 2012: Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic Church’s confederation of charitable
and development agencies, will become more accountable to the Vatican under new guidelines
published May 2. Monsignor Osvaldo Neves de Almeida, an official with the Vatican
Secretariat of State, said in the official explanatory note for the rules that the
Holy See will follow Caritas’ activity and exercise vigilance over it so that “both
its humanitarian and charitable action and the content of the documents that it disseminates
may be in harmony with the Apostolic See and with the Church’s Magisterium.”The new
statutes and rules, set out in today’s “General Decree,” will enable the Vatican to
increase its oversight of the operations, finances and staffing of Caritas. Senior
officials in the organization will also have to promise loyalty to the teachings of
the Church. The overhaul was prompted by fears that the charitable body was losing
its Catholic identity, a concern repeatedly expressed at the confederation’s General
Assembly in Rome last May by several high-ranking Vatican figures, including Pope
Benedict XVI. “On that occasion, the Holy Father recalled that Caritas Internationalis
cannot be assimilated into the major Non-Governmental Organizations, even though it
carries out with exemplary professionalism and competence, roles that they too fulfill,”
said Msgr. Neves. The Vatican also did not approve a second term for then-Secretary
General Lesley-Anne Knight. She was replaced by the Frenchman, Michel Roy, at the
2011 General Assembly. Up until now, Caritas has been governed by norms set out in
Pope John Paul II’s 2004 document “Durante l’Ultima Cena” (At the Last Supper). Today’s
new statutes are seen as clarifying the legal framework under which the confederation
operates. The Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which oversees the work of Caritas, will
now be responsible for approving texts issued by the charity that have “doctrinal
or moral content.” Cor Unum will also have a say in any agreements struck between
Caritas and other non-governmental organizations. The new guidelines also change
the selection process for Caritas’ executive board. Three of those board members will
now be directly appointed by the Pope “in order to underline the close bond between
the organization in question and the Successor of Peter.” The majority of the board
members, however, will continue to be nominated by national Caritas agencies. Until
the charity’s next general assembly, Pope Benedict has appointed Bishop Bernard Hebda
of Gaylord, Texas; Archbishop Paul Yembuardo Ouédrago of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso;
and the Maronite Archbishop Youssef Antoine Soueif of Cyprus as members of the executive
board. Cor Unum will also have the ability to appoint an “ecclesiastical assistant”
to Caritas whose job it will be to “promote its Catholic identity.”