Increasing speculation about the future of Archbishop Gänswein

What will become of "Don Giorgio"?

Beyond Germany, experts are puzzling over the future of Benedict XVI's former private secretary Georg Gänswein and what moves Pope Francis to send him to Freiburg. There is no specific mandate.

The speculation about the return of former Pope's secretary Georg Gänswein is not abating. This is also due to the fact that the status of the Archbishop who was sent away from the Vatican remains unclear. Pope Francis has decided "provisionally" ("per il momento") that he must return to his home diocese in Freiburg.

In the meantime, the Archdiocese has confirmed that he will live in a rented flat at the seminary, not far from Freiburg Archbishop Stephan Burger. Some observers interpret the "for the time being" as a hint that it might only be a stopover. And Gänswein himself, who otherwise has such an affinity with the media, is not responding to enquiries at the moment.

It is clear that the Bishop, who comes from Riedern am Wald in Baden, will not become a member of the German Bishops' Conference. The statutes of the German Bishops' Conference stipulate that, in addition to diocesan bishops, administrators and auxiliary bishops, Bishops who hold a special office in the Conference area conferred by the "Apostolic See or by the German Bishops' Conference" are also entitled to a seat in the Conference. But such a mandate is not contained in the sober farewell communication of the Vatican of 15 June.

Previous speculation included that the Pope might offer the long-serving Curia staffer, who had served Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI for over 20 years, a post in the diplomatic corps - for example, as papal ambassador to Costa Rica. An appointment to the episcopal see in Vaduz/Liechtenstein was also discussed, as the Bishop there has to offer his resignation this summer due to age.

According to Roman sources, however, the Pope was more interested in employing Gänswein as a university lecturer for Canon law; he is also said to have given him the option of leaving for Italy or Germany. It is certain that the Pope no longer wants his predecessor's private secretary in the Vatican, although Gänswein is said to have recently renovated an official flat - also with considerable personal funds.

Gänswein has drawn criticism

But the private secretaries of earlier popes were also employed outside the Papal States after their service. However, they were usually given bishop's seats at the same time. For example, John Paul II's secretary, Stanislaw Dziwisz, became Archbishop of Krakow. However, Gänswein had recently attracted criticism with book publications and interviews on the death of Benedict XVI. Influential cardinals such as Luxembourg's Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich publicly rebuked him.

Observers are currently outdoing each other in interpreting the dismissal of the soon-to-be 67-year-old from the Vatican. The US magazine Crux interprets the decision as a signal to the Catholic Church in Germany, which in turbulent times is getting back a media-savvy defender of Benedict XVI's legacy.

In contrast, the Italian journalist Andrea Gagliarducci sees the removal from the Vatican as an additional humiliation and also as a signal to others there who are at odds with the current Pope. Francis has even backdated the termination of Gänswein's ministry to 28 February 2023, which means that, if necessary, his salary since March will have to be reclaimed.

Critics of many reform projects

So far, all speculation and rumours. And thus somehow also fitting for "Don Giorgio", who has already made headlines as the "George Clooney of the Vatican", as a sun-tanned tennis player, as a welcome interview partner of the "Bunte", as a guest of racing legend Michael Schumacher and not least as an author. And his mention regularly guarantees a media echo, which others find increasingly difficult, not least the reform-minded majority of the Bishops' Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) or even the conservative minority in the Synodal Path.

Within the Church, Gänswein continues to position himself as a critic of many reform projects, especially the German reform project Synodal Path. At the same time, with his book title "Vom Nine-Eleven unseres Glaubens" (On the Nine-Eleven of our Faith), he has made clear with an unmistakable comparison how he interprets the abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Gänswein has rough edges. That obviously continues to make him interesting for many. Even without a seat and a vote in the German Bishops' Conference.

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