HONG KONG — The abrupt — and underhanded — sacking of a key lay Catholic official by Vatican clerics raises disturbing questions about where Pope Benedict XVI is taking the Roman Catholic Church.
That the official is the only woman leading a major Catholic body may be accidental proof of the crass chauvinistic behavior of male cardinals and monsignors. But the fact that the body is the most important interface between the Church and the largely non-Catholic developing world makes the sacking more troublesome.
The victim was Lesley-Anne Knight, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, the umbrella organization for 165 Catholic aid and relief bodies worldwide. Her dismissal could have disastrous effects for the millions of people worldwide who receive billions of dollars of aid each year either from or through Catholic charities, which together have combined budgets of more than $5 billion. There are also widespread potential consequences for the 1.3 billion Catholics and their faith.