Archbishop Georg Gänswein declares loyalty to Pope Francis

Archbishop Georg Gänswein was once one of the Vatican’s most influential clerics, at the side of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – later Pope Benedict XVI – for nearly 30 years.

After the German pope’s surprise resignation in February 2013, Gänswein acted as go-between with his successor, Pope Francis, and stayed on as personal secretary and carer until Benedict’s death in December 2022.

Gänswein’s life in the Holy See ended abruptly when his memoir appeared two weeks after Benedict’s funeral in January 2023, making public alleged private tensions between Benedict and Francis.

Banished from Rome, where he carried the nickname “Gorgeous George”, Gänswein was ordered back to his home diocese of Freiburg in southwest Germany, with no concrete role, in March 2023.