Unfreezing the Organizational Culture of the Catholic Church: A Case Study of Pope Francis' Organizational Culture Change Initiative Using the Transformational Leadership Theoretical Framework

Abstract

The aim of this case study was to examine Pope Francis' organizational culture change initiative where it is argued that he is attempting to shift the organizational culture of the Catholic Church from a cleric-centric orientation to one that is Catholic social teaching- centric. One research question was posited in this study: (1) What organizational leadership competencies does Pope Francis employ to facilitate the shift in the orientation of the organizational culture of the Catholic Church from being cleric-centric to Catholic social teaching-centric? Kurt Lewin's (1951) change model was used in conjunction with transformational leadership theory to answer the research question and give insight into Pope Francis' change initiative. Data for this investigation included discourse, writings and reports of Pope Francis's behaviors. It was concluded that Pope Francis is a transformational leader and his change initiative is in the unfreezing stage of Kurt Lewin's (1951) three-stage model of planned change.