VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider
Father Georg Gänswein is consecrated Archbishop reinforcing his position at Benedict XVI’s side
Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City
This morning in Saint Peter’s Basilica Benedict XVI will ordain as bishop his private secretary, 56 year-old Georg Gänswein, the new Prefect of the Pontifical Household. The appointment of Father Georg is without precedent as he will now control even the official hearings and will continue to shadow the Pope. The archiepiscopal promotion comes twelve months after the beginning of vatileaks: a clear recognition and declaration of appreciation for his work, but also a consequence of the scandal that shook the Vatican.
The new Prefect has a web site dedicated to him at and since 2005, when he entered the spotlight as the secretary of the new Pope, the media have not given him any peace, comparing him to George Clooney. Most famous was the comment about him expressed by Mrs Franca Ciampi during Ratzinger’s first visit to the Quirinale. Interviewed on Vatican Radio for his fiftieth birthday, Father Georg remarked about the comments on his looks: “I pretended not to hear them and with time I got used to them”. And he also revealed that he “had a serene and very natural relationship with women”. With the passing of time and the disappearance of the gossip about “Gorgeous Georg”, he carved himself an increasingly important role alongside the Pope, with an influence inversely proportional to his appearance.
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