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ROME (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV on Thursday entrusted the Vatican\u2019s charity works to a fellow Augustinian, signaling a line of continuity with Pope Francis who had elevated the centuries-old job to a position of action and prominence that helped define his legacy.<\/a><\/p>\n Leo named Archbishop Luis Mar\u00edn de San Mart\u00edn, a Spanish member of Leo’s religious order and an undersecretary in the Vatican\u2019s synod office, as his chief almsgiver and prefect of the Vatican\u2019s charity office.<\/p>\n Mar\u00edn replaces Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, 62, who becomes the Archbishop of Lodz, in Poland, his home archdiocese that has been without an archbishop for a year.<\/p>\n Francis had redefined the role of the Vatican\u2019s chief almsgiver and had asked Krajewski to essentially be the hands-on extension<\/a> of his own personal acts of charity that he could no longer do himself as pope.<\/p>\n Krajewski became one of Francis\u2019 most visible officials<\/a>. He installed showers for homeless people around St. Peter\u2019s Square, sat at Francis\u2019 side at public audiences and spearheaded Vatican donations of everything from ambulances for Ukraine to COVID-19 vaccines for a group of transgender prostitutes.<\/a><\/p>\n He once traveled to Lesbos, in Greece, to bring refugee<\/a> s to Rome and provided 1,600 free calling cards to recently arrived migrants on the island of Lampedusa so they could let their families know they had survived the perilous Mediterranean crossing.<\/p>\n The existence of the Vatican almoner dates back centuries. It is mentioned in a papal bull from the 13th-century Pope Innocent III, and Pope Gregory X, who ruled from 1271-1276, organized it into an official Holy See office for papal charity.<\/p>\n Until Krajewski came along, the almoner was typically an aging Vatican diplomat who was serving his final years before being allowed to retire at age 75. Francis changed that, making it a much more dynamic position that enlisted off-duty Swiss Guards to deliver meals to homeless people on cold nights and write checks to needy people in the name of the pope.<\/p>\n The office funds its work by producing papal parchments, handmade certificates with a photo of the pope that the faithful can buy for a particular occasion \u2014 say a wedding, baptism or priestly ordination \u2014 with the name of the recipient and an apostolic blessing written in calligraphy.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n