Archbishop Gänswein criticised for speaking the truth

With the death of the Pope Emeritus, Archbishop Georg Gänswein began a media marathon of interviews and pre-publications from his book of revelations. People in the College of Bishops are showing disgruntlement - and the Pope is also dropping hints.

Archbishop Georg Gänswein's public statements after the death of the Pope Emeritus are met with surprise by cardinals and archbishops. "It would have been better to remain silent. Now is not the time for such things," Cardinal Walter Kasper told the newspaper La Repubblica on Sunday when asked about Gänswein's criticism of Pope Francis. In excerpts from Gänswein's new book, the former private secretary complained about his treatment by Pope Francis, who had put him on leave as prefect of the Papal Household. When the Pope suspended him indefinitely from his post as "Prefect of the Papal Household" in February 2020, he was "shocked and speechless", Gänswein said. The Archbishop also reported that the Pope Emeritus had read the withdrawal of his relaxations in the celebration of the pre-conciliar liturgy "with pain in his heart". Commenting on the publications, the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Vincenzo Paglia, said "silence would be better".

The President of the US bishops' conference, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, who is considered conservative, also told La Repubblica that although he had not read Gänswein's statements. "But I think if we are going to criticise the Holy Father, it should not be done through the mass media, but directly to him personally. And I consider Monsignor Gänswein a friend," the American military bishop said. Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, who as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was one of Ratzinger's successors, expressed restraint. He had read Gänswein's position in the newspapers. One has to know the context for an evaluation, he said. "Unfortunately, it is one of those controversies that are not good for God's people," Müller continued.

Pope Francis: Gossip is a deadly weapon

During his homily on Epiphany, Pope Francis had added an off-the-cuff remark, deviating from the original manuscript. After the sentence "Let us worship God and not the false idols that seduce us with the lure of prestige and power", he added "with the lure of false news". At the Angelus on Sunday, the Pope also took up the theme once again: "Am I a disciple of Jesus' love or a disciple of gossip that divides? Gossip is a deadly weapon: it kills, it kills love, it kills society, it kills fraternity. Let us ask ourselves: am I a person who divides or a person who sympathises?" Pope Francis also spoke personally with Gänswein on Monday: According to the list of papal audiences published by the Vatican press room, the archbishop was received by the Pope on Monday morning. The contents of the conversation are not yet known.

Already on Thursday, Gänswein's book is to be published under the title "Nient'altro che la verità. La mia vita al fianco di Benedetto XVI" ("Nothing but the truth. My life at the side of Benedict XVI") is to be published in Italy. It was time to "tell the truth about the blatant slanders and obscure manoeuvres" that have tried in vain to "cast a shadow over the Magisterium and the actions of the German Pope", the publisher's announcement says. Thus, "at last the true face of one of the greatest personalities of recent decades is revealed, who has been unjustly denigrated by critics as a 'Panzerkardinal' or 'God's Rottweiler'". A German translation will be published by Herder-Verlag. On request, the publisher said that neither the publication date nor the German title had been fixed: An autobiography by Dieter Bohlen was published in 2002 under the title "Nichts als die Wahrheit".

Since the death of the Pope Emeritus, Gänswein has been increasingly present in the media again. In several interviews he emphasised the importance of Benedict XVI and gave insights into the deceased's world of feelings and thoughts. In an interview with the television station EWTN, he said that a quick beatification was possible. A book by Vatican journalist Orazio La Rocca has also been announced, in which the emeritus Pope's confrontation with the Munich abuse scandal of the 1980s is to be a focal point. Gänswein has contributed a foreword.

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