In a book, Gänswein reveals previously unknown details about the not always conflict-free coexistence of Pope Francis and former Pope Benedict XVI. Francisco asked him for an interview on Monday.
Pope Francis on Monday appointed the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s longtime private secretary. receive. The Vatican announced this on Monday without giving further information about the meeting. Archbishop Georg Gänswein recently caused controversy with excerpts from his book “Nient’altro che la verità” (“Nothing but the truth”) about the pontificate of Benedict XVI, published on Thursday.
In the book, Gänswein reveals, among other things, hitherto unknown details about the coexistence that was not always conflict-free between Pope Francis and former Pope Benedict XVI in the years 2013 until his death on December 31, 2022. on January 12, which the German archbishop wrote together with Vatican expert Salvatore Gaeta, he declares himself “shocked and speechless” by the decision taken by the current Pope Francis in 2020 to dismiss him as head of the prefecture of the Pontifical Household.
Critics call for publication to be stopped
Several Italian priests asked Gänswein in an open letter to stop the publication of “Nient’altro che la verità”. The letter to Gänswein was written by a priest from the diocese of Bergamo, Father Alberto Varinelli. Attacks on Francis “would do great damage to the unity of the church,” Varinelli argued, according to media reports on Sunday.
Benedict XVI was head of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013 and resigned for health reasons. Thereafter he lived in seclusion in the Vatican. He died on December 31 and was buried in St. Peter’s Square last Thursday after a funeral service. Shortly after his death, the Holy See published his spiritual testament, which dates from 2006 but does not regulate the patrimony.
Withdraw to the Adriatic? Or bishop in Germany?
Now the rumor is boiling. According to insider information, Gänswein could leave Rome and spend his life outside the Vatican walls. Thus, he was able to retire to Urbisaglia, the central city of Italy, where he has his titular diocese. Like all bishops in the Roman Curia, Gänswein carries the title of bishop without leading a diocese as a local bishop. Since 2012 he has been titular archbishop of the ancient lost city of Urbs Salvia, today Urbisaglia, in the Adriatic region of Marche.
There is also speculation about a return to Germany, where some of his family members still live. Bishops are still being sought in Bamberg and Paderborn. Incidentally, Gänswein is still a priest in the German archdiocese of Freiburg, where he was ordained in 1984. Other Vatican voices, on the other hand, think it is possible that he will stay in Rome and get another job at the Curia. In the eyes of some, this would be a better occupation for the theology-savvy archbishop of the Curia than a bishopric in Germany.
Francis could keep Gänswein in the Vatican so as not to stoke additional tensions with Vatican conservatives who were close to Benedict XVI and his private secretary. A return to the still-vacant post of prefect of the Pontifical Household is ruled out, as Gänswein, as head of Vatican protocol, would be very close to Francis. It is very unlikely that Gänswein, who was born in Riedern am Wald, would have been able to retire early. At 66, he is too young to retire as archbishop, which usually doesn’t happen before age 75.
(APA)