By Daoud Kuttab

A quiet administrative reform is taking place in institutions belonging to the Jerusalem Latin Patriarchate in Jordan. Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa has been spending long periods of time in the Hashemite Kingdom as he personally supervises the changes that are taking place.

There are over thirty congregations, twenty-five schools, a university, hospitals, convents, and other humanitarian institutions that belong to the Latin Patriarchate covering all of Jordan.

The head of the Latin church is meeting with his top church leaders and visiting various locations where the church is running schools and a university as well as other institutions in addition to the parishes throughout Jordan which have witnessed new priests have been ordained

Chief among the Patriarch’s interests is the financial hemorrhaging that is taking place largely in schools and the American University in Madaba. Latin-owned and run academic institutions have witnessed a drop in attendance which has reflected negatively on the financial situation causing the Patriarchates to constantly have to bail them out. Church officials say that the problem is not financial but also moral as the complaints on social media sites against the Church are not comfortable and require the attention of the top Church brass.

The Patriarch who is the chief director for both religious and administrative issues has decided to personally supervise the re-engineering reform process rather than delegate the sensitive issue to his subordinates. The effort is focused on professionalism as the church institutions are in need of high-level experts to properly navigate them and improve their efficiency.

Patriarch Pizzaballa’s efforts in regard to academic institutions have been the first to see change.

A new director of schools was appointed and the assistant to the president of American University in Madaba was gently asked to retire having reached retirement age. Sources say at least three to four other senior university officials will be retiring or resigning soon. A senior Church official was also asked to retire following the patriarch receiving a documented complaint from a Jordanian church lay member.

Rumors in Jordan say that the church is looking for high-level and experienced clergy possibly from Lebanon to help the university get back on its feet. At present, the sources say that the changes will not affect the university president.

Milhalard has reached out to the Latin Patriarchate but has not received any comment on the reform process.