Charles Zech, professor who launched papal-approved church management program, dies at 79
Charles Zech, a long-serving economics professor at Villanova University who founded and led the schoolʼs pioneering Church management institute, died on May 17. He was 79 years old. His death was announced in an obituary that described him as a “doting father and husband” who “prioritized spending time with his family” even as he spearheaded a major ecclesial management initiative that has quickly become a significant component of the U.S. Church. Charles Zech poses with family in an undated photo. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Zech family Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Zech attended the University of St. Thomas and received a doctorate in economics from the University of Notre Dame. He began teaching at Villanova Universityʼs School of Business in 1974 and would remain there until his retirement in 2018. Villanova launched the Center for Church Management in 2004 with Zech at the helm. On its website the center says it offers “education programs and scholarly insight contextualized for congregational leaders, addressing the areas of administration, professional financial management, human resource management, and more.” Among its programs includes a master of science in Church management as well as a webinar series and administrative education programs. The program received the endorsement of Pope Leo XIV in 2025; the pope, born Robert Prevost, is a Villanova graduate himself. Wen Mao, the dean of the Villanova School of Business, said in a statement that Zechʼs scholarly contributions were “world-renowned.” “During [his time at the university], he had a tremendous impact on his students, with many crediting him for their reason to study economics,” Mao said, describing the school as “deeply indebted” to him for his contributions. Zechʼs obituary said he authored or co-authored a dozen books and often appeared in the media as a “voice of authority on Church management.” In a widely-circulated white paper on Church parish management , Zech affirmed that the Church “is not a business,” but it “does have a stewardship responsibility to use the scarce resources that are available to it as effectively as possible to carry out God’s work on Earth.” Citing shifting demographic trends and low Church attendance numbers, Zech argued that “the old model of operating a Catholic parish won’t work in the 21st century.” A shift in parish management “does not necessitate a watering down of Church teachings,” he wrote, but it does require “a recognition that some business management practices can be applied to a faith-based organization while allowing it to remain committed to its core values.” He is survived by his wife, Ann — to whom he was married for 53 years — along with six children and eight grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his eldest son, Tom. Charles Zech plays with his grandchildren at the beach in an undated photo. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Zech family Friends and family shared reflections of Zechʼs life in his obituary. One family friend said he led a “beautiful and fruitful life filled with all of the important things,” while another praised his “great work for the Church.” His brother Ed said a few years ago the two were sharing a beer together when Zech remarked: “We had a good run, didnʼt we?” “We did have a good run; maybe a great one,” Ed said, describing him as a “great big brother” and writing: “I loved him dearly and I will miss him forever.” One of Zechʼs fellow economics professors at Villanova, Alan Donziger, described him as both academically accomplished and “a wonderful professional colleague.” Donziger said the two shared family celebrations including weddings and the birth of children and grandchildren. “Although I wasn’t able to discuss it with him, I hope he was able to get some joy from seeing his beloved Villanova produce a pope,” he said. His daughter Patty — who said her father always referred to her as “Trish” — told EWTN News that Zech had a “remarkable career” and that his founding of the Church management initiative was “truly a labor of love.” Yet she said his most cherished role in life was “that of a loving husband, father, and grandfather.” Charles Zech hugs his daughter Patty in an undated photo. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Zech family “His joy was being with his family,” she said. “And we loved being with him. He made us all feel so loved and cared for. He was fun to be around.” Patty said that as an undergrad at Villanova she would often stop by his office between classes “just to hang out with him” and would invite him “to nights out to get wings” with her friends. The mother of triplets, Patty said that Zech would regularly come over to help her and her husband with the children when they were infants, including “feeding them, diapering them, getting them down to sleep.” “He loved watching all his grandkids grow up and participate in activities,” she said. “No matter how busy he got at Villanova or with the center, he was always there for moments big and small in my life and my brothers’ lives.” “He just enjoyed spending time being a dad and grandpa,” she added. “To me, that is his real legacy.” A funeral Mass for Zech is planned for May 28 at 11 a.m. at St. John Chrysostom Parish in Wallingford, Pennsylvania.
4 months ago
Charles Zech, a noted professor who created a church‑management program approved by the Vatican, died at the age of 79 1 2 3.
Zech passed away in late May 2026, with multiple outlets reporting his death at 79 1 2 3.
He was a university professor known for developing a management system for Catholic parishes that received papal endorsement 1 2 3.
The program he launched continues to influence how churches organize finances, personnel, and operations under the guidance of the Holy See 1 2 3.
Evaluate Catholic Church’s role in modern ecclesial management reforms
The Catholic Church’s role in modern ecclesial (i.e., Church) management reforms is not primarily to imitate secular corporate management, but to reform structures so they serve mission, communion, accountability, and human dignity. The Church therefore supports modern tools—planning, budgeting, transparency, oversight, evaluation—while insisting that these instruments must remain ministerial and pastoral, not a substitute for evangelization or governance rooted in Christ’s purpose for the Church.
Modern management reforms can easily drift into a “bureaucratic” or “organizational” mindset. Catholic teaching and Church governance documents repeatedly warn against that reduction.
Pope Francis, addressing the U.S. bishops, draws a sharp line: restoring credibility cannot be achieved “by issuing stern decrees or by simply creating new committees or improving flow charts,” as if Church leadership were “in charge of a department of human resources.” He argues that such a vision “ends up reduc[ing] the mission of the bishop and that of the Church to a mere administrative or organizational function in the ‘evangelization business.’”
He insists that reforms must include a change of mind-set (metanoia)—affecting how authority, prayer, power, money, and relationships are handled—so that reforms are not self-referential or defensive, but capable of credible Gospel witness.
In other words, the Church’s role in management reform is evaluative and normative: it tests management reforms against ecclesial purpose—mission, communion, and human dignity—rather than against internal bureaucratic efficiency alone.
A key element of Church reforms is structural reorganization—what counts as overlapping work, which dicastery handles which competencies, and how governance becomes more effective for evangelization.
In Praedicate Evangelium (2022), Pope Francis presents the reform of the Roman Curia explicitly as part of the Church’s missionary nature. It includes reducing dicasteries to “avoid an overlap of competencies and improving the effectiveness of their work,” while also requiring regular reporting by heads/secretaries of curial institutions to the Roman Pontiff.
Crucially, Praedicate Evangelium links structural reform to ecclesial theology: mission and communion are “so closely united” that the purpose of mission is making “everyone know and live the ‘new’ communion” introduced by Christ.
It further frames the Curia’s renewal as needing to reflect the Church’s synodal character—“reciprocal listening,” with “the faithful people… the College of Bishops, the Bishop of Rome: all listening… in order to know what he says to the Churches.”
This gives the Church a distinctive approach to management reform: it is not just “better systems,” but governance that embodies ecclesiology—mission as communion, and decision-making as listening.
Modern management reforms in the Church often focus on financial governance: budgeting, accounting, procurement, anti-money laundering measures, and the prevention of abuse of resources.
Pope Francis approved regulations aimed at “transparency and control of procedures for the awarding of contracts,” to improve how resources are managed “to achieve the purposes proper to the Church.”
The same document specifies the “general principal and of the utmost respect” as the “diligence of a good family father,” and connects it to canon law requirements for administration of ecclesiastical assets (canon 1284 §1 CIC).
A distinctive Church contribution is the insistence on institutional safeguards. In I beni temporali (2016), Pope Francis emphasizes the need to “separate in a clear and unequivocal way the direct management… from the control and vigilance” over that management.
It explains the core rule (summa divisio) between the administration of patrimony (responsible for assets and finance management) and the secretariat for economy (responsible for control and vigilance).
Financial reform is also moral and spiritual in its horizon. Pope Francis frames measures against money laundering and terrorism financing as monitoring movements of money and intervening when irregularities are detected.
He also warns against idolatry of money: “You cannot serve both God and money,” and “Once the economy loses its human face, then we are no longer served by money, but ourselves become servants of money.” He quotes the principle associated with Evangelii Gaudium—“money must serve, not rule.”
In a 2024 letter to the College of Cardinals, Pope Francis describes continuing economic reform as requiring “ethical policies,” improved economic performance, external resources for the mission, and “essentiality” (avoiding the superfluous and selecting priorities).
He likewise reiterates collaboration and unity among institutions as “authentic collaboration and cooperation towards the sole objective, the good of the Church.”
Pope Leo XIV, speaking on ethical management in the health sector, offers a principle that applies beyond health care: reforms must never lose sight of “the human relationship,” “recognition that the real person, in his or her fragility and dignity” must remain central, so that management structures do not lose “the most important thing: the good we are called upon to protect.”
This human-centered ethic is a Church-specific criterion for management reform: effectiveness is judged by fidelity to protecting human dignity and the good of the Church, not by metrics alone.
Modern management often adds audits, reporting, and evaluation. The Church accepts these—but insists they are not “bureaucratic” for their own sake.
A 2024 Synod of Bishops text (For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission) argues that it is “not a bureaucratic task for its own sake,” but a “communication effort that proves to be a powerful educational tool for bringing about a change in culture.”
It also sets concrete expectations:
This is the Church’s role in ecclesial management reform in its most distinctive form: it integrates accountability with evangelizing purpose and cultural formation, linking governance tools to communion and mission.
Even where reforms are well-intended, there is a spiritual and ecclesial risk: governance can be reduced to managerial authority structures that compete with Church authority and charismatic office.
A discussion drawing on Joseph Ratzinger’s reflections warns against leaders becoming “mere ‘Chief Executive Officers of Catholic Inc.’” and notes that when “experts” make poor decisions, they may resist intervention—implicitly highlighting the danger of technocratic capture of ecclesial authority.
The deeper point aligns with Pope Francis’s critique: management reforms cannot become a substitute for pastoral conversion, right authority, and Gospel credibility.
Putting these sources together, the Catholic Church’s role in modern ecclesial management reforms can be evaluated in three judgments:
In sum, Catholic management reform is best understood as ecclesial stewardship and governance reform subordinated to evangelization and communion, with transparency and accountability serving—and never replacing—the Church’s sacramental and missionary identity.