Pope Francis says the Office of Papal Charities, otherwise known as the pope's almoner, will now be headed by a cardinal. The Office oversees help for the poor.

The current Papal Charities chief, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, will be promoted. His successors will have the same rank.

Francis says this will institutionalise a higher profile for the department.

Explaining his reasons for promoting the almoner, Francis explained his vision of the "two long arms of the pope - that of being custodian of the faith, and there the work is done by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the prefect has to be a cardinal.

"And the other long arm of the pope is the almoner, and there must be a cardinal there.

"These are the two long arms of the pope - faith and charity."

Francis's direction has seen Krajewski revitalise the Papal Charities office.

He is often seen on the streets of Rome in simple, non-clerical clothes helping the homeless.

He has set up shower stalls and medical facilities for the homeless, elderly and destitute near St. Peter's Square and taken groups to the circus and on private tours of the Sistine Chapel.

Other reforms Francis discussed include:

• Breaking with the custom of automatically naming cardinals to head major dioceses around the world. Five major Italian cities who have always had cardinals are currently without them.
• Possibly making changes in the group of cardinal advisors from around the world known as the C-9.

Source

• The Express Tribune
• Reuters
• Image: Catholic Herald

The 30-year-old Catholic, of Italian-Egyptian parentage, is a communications expert employed as a management consultant by multinational Ernst & Young in Rome.

After her appointment, journalists checked her very active Twitter account and found several indiscreet tweets. For example:

• Back in February, she tweeted that Pope Benedict XVI had leukemia, although the Vatican has repeatedly denied that any specific health concern led to his decision to resign the papacy.
• She also sent out several seemingly friendly tweets about Gianluigi Nuzzi, the journalist who received stolen documents from the Pope's butler and gave rise to the Vatican leaks affair. At one stage, Chaouqui told Nuzzi he was "bleeding right".
• At another point, Chaouqui tweeted: "Syrian children are dying, and the Church is fighting against the butler. How can a Catholic stay Christian like this?"
• She also made a critical comment about the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. On February 11, the day Benedict announced his resignation, she tweeted: "Bertone has won ... as a believer, I'm depressed."

National Catholic Reporter correspondent John Allen — who suggests Chaouqui might become the first papal nominee in history to lose a job because of use of social media — says "that last tweet suggests Chaouqui may have something to learn about the Vatican. If anything was clear about Benedict's resignation, it was that it also meant the imminent end of Bertone's run".

Allen says Chaouqui also sent a tweet on the evening that Pope Francis was elected, saying "they tell me he's French" — apparently because she got confused between "Francesco" and francese (the Italian word for "French").

However, Allen believes the Pope will probably retain Chaouqui, otherwise he would create the precedent "that anyone who wants to stop his reform can do so by digging up dirt on the people he tasks with carrying it out".

Sources:

National Catholic Reporter

Chiesa

Image: ManagerOnline