In front of the RTL cameras on Tuesday evening, the chairwoman of Caritas’ board of directors, Marie-Josée Jacobs, made amends for the lack of empathy shown by the board and management towards the group’s employees. “We should have acted differently,” she said, apologising and blaming this oversight on the stress and pressure caused by the discovery of the fraud affecting Caritas.
But above all, the interview highlights the total disconnect between the board of directors, management, the crisis committee and staff--as well as the lack of contact with the new entity that will replace the Caritas Foundation and Caritas Accueil et Solidarité ASBL: . Jacobs was unable to provide any answers to the many questions raised, such as the return of staff, the continuation of current activities, the state of the treasury and day-to-day management. She did confirm, however, that the chairman of the crisis committee, Christian Billon, had resigned on 20 September and that the committee’s activities were at a standstill. There was no meeting last week and no replacement has yet been made.
It’s not enough to reassure Caritas employees.
Employees fear the worst
The interview with Jacobs was a reaction to another interview broadcast by RTL earlier this week with Carole Reckinger, a 12-year Caritas employee in charge of social and political monitoring. This interview highlighted the situation of employees since the scandal broke, employees who feel like the collateral victims of an injustice and abandoned to their fate. on 31 July coincided with the end of all communication with employees, who were explicitly forbidden to speak to the press.
This lack of communication is continuing and has led employees to fear the worst, i.e., that they will not be included in HUT, the new entity that will replace the Caritas Foundation and Caritas Accueil et Solidarité ASBL. The OGBL denounces the latter’s desire to put pressure on staff to terminate current contracts themselves before signing new ones with HUT. .
Reckinger’s criticism of the lack of empathy in the governance of the foundation--which includes the management, the crisis committee and the board of directors--is also levelled at the Catholic Church in Luxembourg.
I can’t bankrupt the Church to save Caritas
The Church finally reacted to this accusation through Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich. Speaking to RTL, he said that “neither the management nor the president of the foundation” had come to see him to explain the situation. “I only received an email with a few lines. That was all.” “At the beginning, there was no communication at all. If Caritas sees itself in such a religious light, why didn't anyone come and talk to us?” Christian Billon, chairman of the crisis committee, then visited him twice. But this contact has been cut off since his resignation.
Should the cardinal have been more proactive? To this question, he replies that he did not want to “rush in headlong.”
As well as showing empathy, the Church is also being asked to put its money where its mouth is. It was approached by Caritas, but the request was turned down. “The request was for several million euros,” said the archbishop in a press release. “An internal analysis of the request concluded that any advance up to the amounts requested, whether from the archdiocese’s own funds or from external credit guaranteed by the archdiocese, would be irresponsible in terms of its own financial and economic management, given the risk management criteria to be applied. This observation should not be understood as indifference to the concerns of those who have to bear the brunt of the scandal.”
“I cannot bankrupt the Church in order to save Caritas,” commented monsignor Hollerich in front of the camera, insisting that he did not have €61m in cash in front of him. And if he did, would he give it away? He regrets not having been approached earlier by HUT to participate in this new project.
However, the diocese has transferred €310,000 “to cover Caritas’ commitments to its staff in Southern Sudan". This is money that will not be used to cover the deficits of something “that is going to fall apart anyway,” he added.
Staff meeting this Wednesday evening
The OGBL has called a plenary meeting of employees for the end of the day in order to “prepare the next steps to be taken by the unions in this matter.”
. In 2023, Caritas collected €3.3m euros in donations--including €935,000 collected to help the victims of the February 2023 earthquake in Turkey and Syria--and €82,000 euros in bequests and donations, as well as numerous gifts in kind and skills.
On the legal side of the case, the media outlet Reporter has announced that two local banks, believed to be BGL BNP Paribas and Spuerkeess, are the subject of a preliminary investigation by the public prosecutor's office for violation of the anti-money laundering law.
This article was originally published in .