A Conversation with Ambassador Ken Hackett, Former President & CEO of Catholic Relief Services

A Conversation with

Ambassador Ken Hackett

Former President & CEO of Catholic Relief Services

Olivia Colombo

Boston College alumnus Ken Hackett ’68 worked for 39 years for Catholic Relief Services (CRS), rising through the ranks to become CRS executive director and then CRS president and CEO from 2003–2011. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana, Hackett ran CRS relief and development efforts around the world, including CRS’s response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. In 2013, President Obama named him U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, a post he held until 2017. Paulist Press will publish Ambassador Hackett’s The Vatican Code: American Diplomacy in the Time of Francis in September 2022.

AAmbassador Hackett, How did your Jesuit

Catholic education contribute to your deciding to dedicate your life to international service?

Well, the Jesuits have this phrase, “men and women for others.” In my day, I never heard that phrase, but it was certainly something I witnessed. In fact, I found that the Jesuits were all about others. And they instilled that commitment and passion in so many of their students and followers, urging us to be concerned about others along our journey. Also, I had an uncle who was a Passionist priest, and he would bring home some of his colleagues when I was young, who told stories about the Philippines and other places around the world. And I think that I was captivated by these role models. I didn’t have international experience as many students do now, but I think it was a mix of my education and life experience that influenced my choices. While I interviewed for jobs in business, having studied in what is now the Carroll School of Management, I also learned about the Peace Corps in college, and ultimately decided to accept an assignment with them. I was posted to Ghana for three years and very much enjoyed it, and found that I indeed had a calling to international humanitarian and development work.

How did you come to work at Catholic Relief Services?

When I came back from Ghana, I thought I might pursue something with the UN or Care or Catholic Relief Services. I decided to pursue my international dreams and headed off to New York for some interviews with these organizations. When I got to Catholic Relief Services, I met some very nice people, and they offered me a job on the spot. They asked if I would like to go back to Africa and I said yes! Thus began a 40-year career.

I was sent to Sierra Leone in West Africa first, which was a real deep learning experience, to support a program of maternal and child health, where there were nurses and mobile teams delivering health services around the country. We had a school feeding program for about half the country and a very large leprosy control program. The priest managing the program left after six months and put me in charge. It was really enjoyable and also difficult at the same time. Like many places, the people were wonderful and dedicated, even as the situation in the country was challenging. After three years there, I decided to go to graduate school, so I returned to New York and worked as an assistant for seven years in the CRS Africa regional office, handling all of the develop-

In this 1996 black-and-white file photo, Mother Teresa visits Catholic Relief Services headquarters in Baltimore, Md., accompanied by Ken Hackett, then president of CRS.

ment projects that we funded around the continent. In 1978, I became the Africa regional director. That was a challenge, because we had programs in 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and I traveled about 60% of my time. Eventually, I asked for an overseas assignment and headed to the Philippines with my family for five years during the tumultuous presidency of Cory Aquino, then back to East Africa during the Somalia crisis in the early 90s and the outbreak of genocide in Rwanda. In 1993, I took over as CEO of Catholic Relief Services and held the position until my retirement. It was a wonderful 40year career with CRS, but it became time for younger and smarter people to take over.

What were some of the most memorable and effective programs or relief efforts during your time at CRS?

One particularly memorable and effective effort was the antiretroviral HIV/AIDS program. We won one of the largest grants from the U.S. government to use in 11 countries. We were able to support tens of thousands of families. It was not just lifesaving, it kept families together. And of course, every year there would be a cataclysm of some sort—a tsunami or earthquake— which we would always respond to, supporting the local Church in its efforts to reach out to the community. We were able to garner a lot of resources, which we made available to the local institutions, and restored dignity and life to hundreds of thousands of people.

There was also a whole other side of CRS, which was the long-term development programs, self-empowerment programs for women, agriculture programs, and a broad array of other things. So, my task as the leader was to find the best and smartest people I could, and then let them go and do their work, supporting and encouraging them. Those were the ingredients for success.

How is a faith-based relief organization different from a secular one?

I believe that many relief and human development organizations are wrestling with their identity. For a faithbased organization, it’s important to be true to yourself, and ask questions like: What are your core beliefs? Does your faith and religion support your actions? And then put that in an organizational model that works. Whether you’re Lutheran World Relief, or Church World Service, or government services, you can create the right framework for your situation.

When you became U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, you must have brought with you many useful relationships.

It’s true, and I found that personal relationships were crucial to doing business at the Vatican. For example, in my first meeting with the Vatican’s foreign minister equivalent, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, I recalled that I had met him in Burundi years earlier, when he had become papal nuncio there on the heels of the assassination of the previous nuncio, Archbishop Michael Courtney. He reminded me that actually we had met years before that, when he was a Holy See diplomat in the Philippines, and I was the country representative for CRS there. That was the continuation of a very productive relationship that included consulting on numerous crises around the world as well as Pope Francis’s trip to the United States in 2015.

Based on your experience at the Vatican, what do you think the Holy See can do to help the situation in Ukraine?

Diplomatically, Pope Francis is in a difficult position. He has made it clear since the Russian invasion that he has great concern for the Ukrainian people and is horrified by war. At the same time, he wants to be heard by the Russians and the Russian Orthodox Church and potentially influence the outcome and aftermath of this conflict. Cardinal Parolin, the Holy See secretary of state, as well as other Vatican officials, have pointed out the Russians’ culpability more directly.

Looking back at your whole journey, what advice do you have for young people who have a passion for social justice around the world?

I haven’t told you the full story about the original job offer I received from CRS. On my wall over there is my initial rejection letter from them in 1971. They said I wanted too much money because I suggested $6,500 as my salary, but I didn't give up. I knew that the organization had something I wanted. And I knew I had something to give. My advice would be to stay with it, be true to yourself, keep focused on what you want, and choose what is going to make you a better person … remember, a person for others. And lastly, I’d also tell you to say a prayer and then jump in. There is always something important to learn in every endeavor. ■

Olivia Colombo, Boston College senior, interviewed Ambassador Hackett for C21 Resources and for her podcast, To the Heights.

Please listen to the complete recording of the interview at: bc.edu/c21spring22