Ousted Caritas chief denounces Vatican ‘power grab’

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The recently ousted head of the Vatican’s main charitable organization is breaking six months of silence to denounce his removal as a “brutal power grab.” Aloysius John has penned an eight-page open letter to the Caritas confederation on the eve of a general assembly to elect his successor. He was fired in November after a Vatican-backed independent inquiry determined there were “real deficiencies” in his management. The Caritas General Assembly meets May 11-16 to elect new leaders. The gathering is a key step in Pope Francis’ efforts to renew the Vatican-based confederation of 162 national and regional groups that provide emergency disaster relief and support development, health care and refugee programs around the globe.