As the pope arrived today for the start of his UK visit, meeting the Duke of Edinburgh and other dignitaries on the tarmac of Edinburgh airport, his robes were caught by the wind and covered his face.A tall, athletically built man wearing a broad pink sash over his priestly black garb discreetly leaned over from behind the pontiff and gently patted the robes down: this is Father Georg Gänswein, the pope's good-looking private secretary, who will no doubt become one of the stars of the four-day visit.
Gänswein is one of a relatively small entourage that includes the secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who is roughly equivalent to a prime minister in the Vatican, and his deputy, Archbishop Fernando Filloni.
Since this will be a state visit, the pope is also bringing Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, his foreign minister, along with experts on relations with the Church of England.
Identifying Gänswein among his fellow clerics will not be hard. The blond hair he brought into the Vatican five years ago may have turned grey, but the 54-year-old canon lawyer still looks improbably youthful.
Writing in the London Review of Books last month, the Irish novelist Colm Tóibín described him as a cross between George Clooney and Hugh Grant but, in a way, more beautiful than either.
Like the pope, Gänswein grew up in an idyllic, solidly Catholic rural environment. He is the son of a blacksmith who became the owner of an agricultural machinery business in the Black Forest.
Papal secretaries are never popular. In an interview three years ago with Süddeutsche Zeitung, Gänswein explained how much of his time was spent on fielding endless requests [for access to the pope] along the lines of: 'Only a minute ... an exception just this once ... The pope has known me for years, he'd be glad of it'."
With every refusal, a papal secretary makes a new enemy, often of someone inside the Vatican administration. But, unlike his predecessor, John Paul II's secretary, Stanislaw Dziwisz, Gänswein is not felt to have exploited his position to build a power base.
Not that he has been free of controversy. Formerly a lecturer at a papal university funded by the theologically conservative Opus Dei fellowship, Gänswein has been blamed by some for reinforcing the pope's conservatism.
He is also suspected – though on what evidence it is not clear – of having guided Benedict towards designer accessories, like the Serengeti sunglasses and Cartier watch he was photographed wearing in 2005.
Gänswein's looks have also prompted speculation about the nature of his relationship with the pope.
According to the publisher's write-up, a book by an Italian author – The Pope is not Gay, which was launched in Britain two days before Benedict arrived – will contrast his doctrinal rigidity on issues such as birth control, abortion, and homosexuality with his extravagant attire and his "controversial" relationship with his private secretary.
SIC: TG/UK