Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson
The resignation of Cardinal, Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, a key adviser on climate change and social justice at the Vatican, has been accepted by the Pope.
Pope Francis accepted the resignation of the prominent African from the Vatican office on Thursday, December 23, 2021.
The Vatican said Cardinal Peter Turkson was leaving the large department, officially known as the Dicastery for Integral Human Development.
Reports indicate that other superiors had also offered their resignations.
The Dicastery for Integral Human Development was formed in 2016 to merge four offices that dealt with issues such as peace, justice, migration, and charities.
It has however been plagued by management problems and turf wars from the start, Vatican sources said.
The Vatican has not commented on the timing of Turkson’s departure or the claims of dysfunction in his department.
Turkson, seen by some as a candidate to become the first African pope in about 1,500 years, offered his resignation again last week, following an automatic procedural offer at the end of his term in August.
One source said he had told some staff he was “fed up”.
Turkson, 73, from Ghana, represented the Vatican at high-profile international venues such as the World Economic Forum at Davos.
His departure leaves the Vatican with no African heading a major department, following the retirement of Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea earlier this year.
A senior Vatican source said the Pope was expected to give Turkson another top Vatican job.
*Shake-Up*
The department underwent an external review headed by Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago at the pope’s request earlier this year.
The shake-up follows two high-level departures from the department over the summer, one because of retirement and another sudden and unexplained.
Turkson will be eligible until he turns 80 to enter a conclave of cardinals to elect the next pope after Francis dies or retires, according to Church rules.
The Vatican said the department would be run on an interim basis by Cardinal Michael Czerny, an immigration specialist, and Sister Alessandra Smerilli, an economist.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri