On May 19, Pope Francis summoned Archbishop Georg Gänswein to an audience. The Argentine pontiff opened up to him: Gänswein, who until the death of Benedict XVI. served as his private secretary and had to leave Vatican City on 1 July. This emerges from “high-ranking church sources,” according to the world.
In the Archdiocese of Freiburg, where Gänswein, 66, is from, nothing is known about the future of Joseph Ratzinger’s once intimate confidant. It is true that it is part of Vatican rituals that the private secretaries of the former popes used to leave Rome. However, it is also true that this is happening under different circumstances. Stanislaw Dziwisz, private secretary to Pope John Paul II, became Archbishop of Kraków. Loris Capovilla, assistant to John XXIII, became Archbishop of Chieti.
Gänswein is only sent back home as a private. There are openings for a man with the rank of Archbishop of the Curia. Rumors had spread for months that Gänswein might fill one of the vacant German bishoprics. Bamberg, Osnabrück and Paderborn are currently vacant. But a position at a pilgrimage site would have been better than the current situation. Speculation that Gänswein might go to Costa Rica as an ambassador turned out to be small talk.
One cannot help but notice that the Pope is chasing the disgraced Gänswein from court. The process gives the public the unpleasant impression of a dishonorable discharge. The Argentine has humiliated Benedict XVI’s confidants in the past. Apparently, he wants to lead by example. Not mercy but authority characterizes this pontificate.
In the medium term, this could close ranks that are becoming uncertain. In the long run, however, a phenomenon can occur, as has already happened in the cases of Burke, Müller or Viganò. The deposed appears as a martyr. The question again arises as to whether Bergoglio’s claim to mercy is just a patina under which a Peronistically colored nature rests. Gänswein is already on the receiving end of pity from those who were once skeptical of him.
At the same time Francis sends a signal. If Gänswein had gotten a job in Germany, he would have immediately become part of the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK). Their relationship with Rome has been tense since the beginning of the “Synodal Way”. As part of the DBK, Gänswein could have developed a counter position. He would have been a Vatican troublemaker in the German Catholic Sonderweg.
Francis deliberately avoided such a situation. Perhaps because he didn’t want to give Gänswein power and popularity; or because he doesn’t want to actively limit the synodal path, as the Curia claims. But perhaps – and this is to be feared – both are true.
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