FACES OF THE NEWS Luis Antonio Tagle

Former Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, a strong contender for the papacy, has been replaced as head of Caritas Internationalis (CI), Vatican’s chief humanitarian arm. Pope Francis made known the removal of Tagle and the rest of the CI leadership through a papal decree last week, without giving the reasons for the revamp. Until a new set of officers is elected next year, CI will be run by an Italian management consultant. A day after Francis’ decree came out, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development disclosed that it had commissioned a review of CI operations and found “deficiencies in management and procedures, seriously prejudicing team spirit and staff morale.” As CI goes through a transition, Tagle will still be playing a key role as he assists CI temporary administrator Pier Francesco Pinelli in preparing the general assembly that will select the new leadership. Despite losing the Caritas post, a global platform, he remains a leading papabile as he still heads the Dicastery for Evangelization and sits as a member of at least seven key Vatican offices.