UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism

Jerry Slevin

Pope Francis, in a blistering criticism, listed at the Vatican’s Christmas party 15 “spiritual illnesses” that he suggested senior Catholic Church officials are especially prone to. In the current Harvard Business Review, a prominent consultant perceptively analyzes these “illnesses” from a management expert’s perspective. Please see, “The 15 Diseases of Leadership, According to Pope Francis“, here,

[HBR]

The management expert correctly observes that the Catholic Church is a bureaucracy: a hierarchy populated by less-than-perfect souls. In that sense, he notes, the Church is not much different than many corporate and other organizations. Of course, the Catholic hierarchy is unaccountable compared to most other organizations’ senior management. Bishops’ management performance (including the pope’s) is generally secretive and is neither reported on by independent public auditors nor subject to oversight by shareholders or publicly elected officials. Usually, the Vatican feeds the frequently opportunistic religious…