From the moment Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope, even Avvenire, the newspaper published by the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), has focused on his secretary’s robust countenance, describing him as a “Blond, 1 metre 80 cm tall, athletic body and distinctly good looking man.”
For a long time he was just the priest in a black cassock that took care of Benedict XVI’s agenda. More than a butler but not quite a spin doctor.
Things have changed however since the “dossier war” broke out, in the Vatican, between the old guard who were close to Angelo Sodano and the current leadership loyal to the Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
As the successor to Fr. Stanislao Dziwisz in the second half of John Paul II’s pontificate, Fr. Georg Gaenswein has become the barycentre and mediator of a Curia that is writhing with poison pen letter writers and spies.
This 50 year old man, who combines athletic build with the grizzled charm of Hugh Grant, is the son of a blacksmith from the Black Forest, a former postman and a Pink Floyd fan.
From family quarrels about the length of his hair, he went on to develop a passion for the stock market until he finally found his true love: theology.
After obtaining a degree in Canon law in Munich, he arrived in the Vatican entering the Congregation for Divine Worship and the following year entered the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
For the past decade he has shown complete dedication to Benedict XVI.
The Pope’s secretary is no longer just the “guardian angel” of the papal apartment but the “dominus” of the Holy See which upon his arrival he had described to mass media as a mixture of fear and aloofness: “The Vatican is also a court and so like in any court, rumours and gossip exist here too. But here there is also a conscious shooting of arrows aimed at very specific targets. At first I had to learn to live with this.”
He also confided something which now looks like the fulfilment of a prophesy in the context of the burning controversy over the confidential letters written by the Governorate’s number two man, Viganò (accusing the Vatican’s Secretariat of State of corruption), the confidential documents on the IOR and the memorandum about an alleged attack against the Pope: “Indiscretions are certainly an Achilles heel. Unfortunately, there are always news leaks about nominations, the preparation of documents or about disciplinary measures. Not only is this unpleasant, but there is also a danger that outside influences could cause disturbances.”
Right from the beginning, from his days at the Opus Dei-run Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, he was seen as an antithesis to the highly influential Dziwisz, who is today Cardinal of Krakow.
John Paul II’s right hand man got a say on the thousands of routine Church government decisions that the Pope neglected.
While Wojtyla ruled over the Vatican, his secretary governed it. He was never absent from a single meeting or interview.
Indeed, once Ratzinger occupied the papal throne, Fr, George seemed shy in his appearances and had less of an influence.
The German Pope always used to speak to his interlocutors directly.
But now Fr. George is behind many of the decisions taken, smoothing the edges.
His “baptism of fire” as “shadow leader” was anticipated three years ago in the Boffo case: he was person behind the scenes who was responsible for bringing peace to the clash between the Sacred College and Bertone and Ruini.
And he seems to be developing a growing resemblance to the Stanislao “model”, the most influential man in the Vatican thanks to his ties to the Pope.
In 2007 he confided to his fellow countryman, Peter Seewald, the writer, that he even “receives love letters now and again” and had experienced “clerical envy”.
He also gave a description of the changeover of roles: “There is no such thing as a school of “papal etiquette”. I just had a face to face interview with my predecessor.”
This was approximately two weeks after he was elected and entered the papal apartments.
“Fr. Stanislao handed me an envelope which contained some letters and the key to a safe, a very old German safe; all he told me was: you have a very important and beautiful but also incredibly difficult task ahead of you. All I can say to you is that the Pope must not be crushed by anything or anyone; you will have to work out for yourself how to achieve this.”
The content of that envelope is top secret: “They are things that are passed on from one papal secretary to the next.”
This discretion will bode him well in an unruly Curia.
Stanislao docet.