"Putting an end to tensions"

Pope wants to appoint Gänswein as nuncio

Archbishop Georg Gänswein was the deceased ex-pope's private secretary.(Bild: AFP)

Despite the tensions of recent months, Pope Francis has decided to appoint Archbishop Georg Gänswein, private secretary to Benedict XVI, as apostolic nuncio. After his "exile" without a mission in Freiburg, Gänswein is to receive the prestigious post as ambassador of the Holy See.

Where exactly Gänswein is to move to as nuncio has not yet been decided. The Pope's decision is a gesture of "mercy" to end a controversy that has ended up being "embarrassing" for everyone, writes the Argentinian daily newspaper "La Nación".

On permanent leave in 2020
Gänswein was the private secretary and confidant of German Pope Benedict VXI for many years and looked after the pontiff emeritus until his death in 2022. The German prefect had already been granted a permanent leave of absence by Pope Francis in 2020. He no longer had an official function in the Vatican.

"Lack of humanity"
In the book in interview form "El Sucesor" (The Successor), published at the beginning of April, in which the Pope was interviewed by Spanish journalist Javier Martínez-Brocal, Francis accused Gänswein of a "lack of humanity" and accused him of "using" the German Pope and spreading untruths.

"It hurt me that Benedict was used. The book was published on the day of the funeral, which I felt was a lack of nobility and humanity."