ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV has selected a member of his own Augustinian religious order to oversee the Vatican’s charitable operations, continuing the expanded approach to papal charity work that Pope Francis established during his tenure.
The Pope announced Thursday that Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín, a Spanish cleric who currently serves as an undersecretary in the Vatican’s synod office, will take over as the Vatican’s primary charitable official and head of its charity department.
The new appointment means Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, age 62, will step down from the charity role to become Archbishop of Lodz in Poland, his native archdiocese that has operated without an archbishop for the past year.
Under Pope Francis, the Vatican’s top charity position was transformed from a traditional role into one of direct action and high visibility that became central to Francis’s papal identity.
During his tenure, Krajewski emerged as one of Francis’s most recognizable Vatican officials. His initiatives included establishing shower facilities for people experiencing homelessness near St. Peter’s Square, accompanying Francis during public events, and coordinating Vatican donations ranging from ambulances sent to Ukraine to COVID-19 vaccines distributed to a community of transgender sex workers.
His charitable missions extended internationally, including a trip to the Greek island of Lesbos to escort refugees to Rome and distributing 1,600 prepaid phone cards to newly arrived migrants on Lampedusa island, enabling them to contact family members and confirm their safe passage across the dangerous Mediterranean waters.
The Vatican’s charitable office has deep historical roots, with documentation tracing back to a 13th-century papal decree from Pope Innocent III, while Pope Gregory X formalized it as an official Vatican department for papal charitable works between 1271 and 1276.
Before Krajewski’s tenure, the position typically went to veteran Vatican diplomats nearing retirement at age 75. Francis revolutionized the role, creating a more active operation that deployed off-duty Swiss Guards to distribute food to homeless individuals during winter nights and authorized direct financial assistance to those in need on behalf of the Pope.
The department generates funding through the creation of papal parchments—custom-made certificates featuring the Pope’s photograph that Catholics can purchase for special occasions such as weddings, baptisms, or ordinations, complete with personalized names and handwritten apostolic blessings.
