As the first non-European to ascend the Throne of St Peter for many centuries Pope Francis was not imbued with the closed culture of the Vatican operating significant change within the Church.
On embarking on this change process within the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has looked to the idea of employing the Inverted Triangle, a change tool which is widely used with varying degrees of success in all sectors of a modern economy. Fr. Gerry O’Hanlon SJ1 describes in the clearest terms possible the struggle the Holy Father is having in getting the Vatican and thus the Church to come into the 21st Century in terms of Goals, Vision, Message, and the delivery of God’s Message within a modern setting. O’Hanlon comments on the Inverted Triangle and it is the intention of the writers that this note will explain the uses of this and other tools of organisational theory as they might be applied to the power structures within the Church, and to share our experience of the essential elements in the process – and strategies to be employed for any possibility of success and change to occur.