Pope is no gentleman when it comes to his dealings with people

Back home: How does Georg Gänswein live?

There will be no support from the State of Baden-Württemberg. The Archdiocese of Freiburg is therefore responsible for providing for the former papal secretary, Georg Gänswein. The financial burden: the bishop's consecration.

On 1 July, the Archdiocese of Freiburg will have one more Archbishop. From then on, the former Papal secretary Georg Gänswein will have to live in his home diocese - by order of Pope Francis, as the Vatican officially announced.

There was and is great public interest in this personnel decision, for which there is no comparable case so far: a Papal Secretary who serves two popes - Benedict XVI and Francis - then one dies and the other sends him back to where Joseph Ratzinger once brought him to Rome. Without an assigned office, Gänswein has to return to Freiburg, despite his Bishop's rank.

Case like Gänswein "not foreseen"

"Actually unique", says church historian and Vatican expert, Ulrich Nersinger to BR. For a bishop who is not retired and also not entrusted with the leadership of a Diocese would not actually be provided for in the Catholic world of office. "Resident bishops, emeritus bishops, female bishops and emeritus auxiliary bishops are envisaged. But such a case as Gänswein is not provided for."

In this respect, the question now also arises as to how Archbishop Georg Gänswein will earn his living in future. One thing is certain: he cannot expect any money from the Baden-Württemberg state government. In Baden-Württemberg, bishops are financed by church taxes, in the Free State by the state according to the Bavarian Concordat of 1924.

"No additional financial burden" for the State Treasury

Accordingly, the press office of the state government informs BR in response to a question: "In Baden-Württemberg - unlike in Bavaria - clergy are not paid from the state budget at any point. Therefore, the return of Archbishop Gänswein will not be associated with any additional financial burden on the state budget."

But it will be for the money pot of the Archdiocese of Freiburg, which is fed by church taxes, assumes church historian, Nersinger. Gänswein's home diocese is already talking about a possible position in the diocese. What the archbishop will earn in future will probably depend on the nature of his work.

Pope no longer wants Gänswein in Rome: "It would be stupid to deny it".

However, "We still have a strange formulation in the Vatican's communication, which says: 'per il momento'." So: "for the moment" back to Freiburg. "So it is completely unclear whether the Pope will not call him somewhere else at a later date," says Nersinger. This now makes it difficult for the Freiburg archdiocese to reliably plan with Gänswein. "This is quite a legal uncertainty for all involved," says Nersinger.

He would therefore have liked the Pope to make a definite decision about Gänswein. "Even if one no longer wants a person in Rome - one has the impression that it would be stupid to deny this - one must clearly state how someone is secured." Both officially and financially. In the latter case, however, it is clear to the church historian: "I don't think he has to sit in front of the Freiburg Cathedral with a cap and collect money for his upkeep.

In case of doubt, he still has the royalties from his book "Nothing but the Truth", which is being translated into several languages - and the many public lectures and appearances, which Gänswein will probably not let himself miss in the future. In addition, Gänswein is likely to have acquired pension rights through his many years of work in the Vatican.

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