Pope shakes up Vatican development office, accepts African cardinal's resignation

FILE PHOTO: Cardinal Peter Turkson attends a news conference for the presentation of Pope Francis' message for 2022 World Day of Peace at the Vatican, December 21, 2021. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a prominent African cardinal who was a key adviser on climate change and social justice as part of a rare shake up of an entire Vatican office.

The Vatican said on Thursday that Cardinal Peter Turkson, was leaving the large department, officially known as the Dicastery for Integral Human Development. All other superiors also had offered their resignations.

The department was formed in 2016 to merge four offices that dealt with issues such as peace, justice, migration, and charities. It was 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.

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 Catholic Church had several popes of north African origin early in its history, the last in the 5th century.

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.

Both were already members of the department.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Toby Chopra)