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[Catholic Caucus] Francis: Cardinal Sarah Is "Bitter" and Archbishop Gänswein "Has Hurt Me"Archbishop Georg Gänswein "did some very difficult things to me", the vengeful Francis claims in his interview book 'El Sucesor'.His example: When he replaced a head of a Vatican department, whose name he doesn't mention, the decision sparked controversy: "In the midst of all the noise, the secretary took the initiative to take him to see Benedict, because this person wanted to greet him. Since the retired Pope was very friendly, he accepted".The problem was that "the photo of this meeting was circulated, as if Benedict had reacted...

[Catholic Caucus] "Hell's Vengeance Boils in My Heart, Death and despair burn around me." Those are the famous first words of the Queen of the Night in one of the most famous arias in operatic history (from Mozart's The Magic Flute) -- and they describe well the feelings of "peace", "dialogue", and "mercy" inscribed in the heart of Jorge Mario Bergoglio when he deals with anyone he deems as an adversary.In true Peronist fashion, to the enemy, "not even justice."So it was with Archbishop Georg Gänswein, secretary of the late Pope Benedict XVI and former Prefect of the Papal Household,...

[Catholic Caucus] Francis Wants Ratzinger's MoneyArchbishop Gänswein’s January 9 audience with Francis was less about Gänswein's memoirs, and more about the fact that Francis wanted Benedict’s money, reports AffarItaliani.it (February 7).Benedict has named Gänswein as the “sole designated heir.” The legacy consists mainly in large revenues from the rights to the many Ratzinger books. Some of which have sold millions of copies. This money is channelled into the Ratzinger Foundation.But Francis told Gänswein that the patrimony belonged to the Holy See. The rigid Francis is said to have even warned Gänswein of the risk of “excommunication for revealing Church secrets”...

[Catholic Caucus] Gänswein After Visiting Synodality-Francis: “Now I Have To Be Quiet”Archbishop Georg Gänswein is "embittered" because of “malicious” interpretations of his book, taken out of the context, reports the propaganda outlet Corriere.it (January 10).Francis received Gänswein on January 9. After that, Gänswein told friends that he spoke with Francis about the book, adding that, “now I have to shut up.”

[Catholic Caucus] Francis Will Receive "Drag Queen" Francis will receive the militant homosexual Oliver Knöbel, reports Bild.de (January 31).Knöbel, a German, calls himself "Olivia Jones," and mocks Catholic nuns by dressing up in religious costumes.For his 50th birthday on November 21, he asked for an audience with Francis, obviously in order to perform a publicity stunt.Nevertheless, Archbishop Georg Gänswein replied affirmatively, asking only for a letter of recommendation from Knöbel's local bishop. Knöbel is not a Catholic. He lives in Hamburg where pro-gay Stefan Heße, a protégé of Dubia Cardinal Joachim Meisner (+2017), is an archbishop.Gänswein pointed out that Knöbel...

[Catholic Caucus] Who is Gänswein Really? What Role Has He Played And Is He Playing? Authorized English translation of Italian Original by Giuseppe PellegrinoDear readers, we have received a message from an elderly high-ranking prelate of the Curia; he is retired, but because he has over forty years of experience working inside the Vatican walls, from time to time he is still given delicate assignments. What “Monsignor X” writes to us is extremely interesting, because it helps us to piece together some of the problematic aspects of  the events of the last 72 hours. We are speaking, naturally, of the...

Rome, Italy, Jun 25, 2016 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- What is Benedict XVI's own view of his historical resignation? What has the fall-out been from his secretary Archbishop Georg Gänswein's controversial remark on an “expanded petrine office”? What about the “Prophesy of Malachy,” which allegedly sees Francis as the last pontiff? In a recent and candid conversation, veteran journalist and EWTN Rome correspondent Paul Badde sat down with Archbishop Gänswein, who gave his take on these and a number of other questions. The German archbishop currently serves Pope Francis as Prefect of the Papal Household, and has also maintained...

During his recent presentation of the book Beyond the Crisis in the Church: The Pontificate of Benedict XVI, Monsignor Georg Ganswein, who serves as personal secretary to “Pope Emeritus” Benedict XVI, inexplicably and quite mysteriously provided new depth, and thus new impetus, to the novel idea that Benedict’s renunciation of the papacy was qualified by a “changed understanding” of the papacy, according to which Benedict retained a “passive” aspect of the Petrine office while turning over its active exercise to Francis. In the course of the book presentation Ganswein made remarks that surely reflect Benedict’s own understanding of his situation,...

Since Monsignor Georg Gänswein, the secretary of Benedict XVI is engrossed in the duties of Archbishop of the Roman Curia, a German deacon has been called to Castel Gandolfo. The Pope has been living there in seclusion since 28th February. Four members of Memores Domini have been responsible for household duties in the Papal summer residence. Because of the frequent absences of Gänswein with his duties as Prefect of the Apostolic Household needed a commute between Castel Gandolfo and the Vatican, he called on a specially selected person of German mother tongue, to be near Benedict XVI. When the...

Continuing a JPII tradition he was initially loath to pick up, this morning again saw the Pope mark Epiphany by ordaining a new crop of bishops, the crop of four headlined by the elevation of his longtime personal secretary, now Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who Benedict XVI has made his ultimate gatekeeper by naming the 56 year-old German as prefect of the Papal Household. Two of the other new archbishops – the Nigerian Fortunatus Nwachukwu, 52, and the Genovese Nicolas Thevenin, 54 – will respectively serve as papal nuncio in Nicaragua and Guatemala, while the Italian Angelo Vincenzo Zani, 62, will...

A very special interview with Pope Benedict XVI's personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein. It contains important reflections on the Pope's 2006 Regensburg talk, on the new motu proprio, and on the Pope's day-to-day private life from the person who is closest to him...Special Note: The following interview with Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, Personal Secretary to Pope Benedict XVI from even before his election to the papacy on April 19, 2005, done by German writer Peter Seewald, appeared last week in the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung (Munich). It has now been posted in translation, in Italian as well as English, by various Web...

Father Georg Gaenswein: 'ethical, austere - and elegant' (EPA/AP) Donatella Versace has often raised eyebrows — and hemlines — with her outrageous designs for women. Yesterday, however, she stunned even blasé fashionistas by launching a “clergyman look” for men, inspired by Father Georg Gaenswein, the handsome 50-year-old private secretary to Pope Benedict XVI. The outfit, modelled at the Milan menswear 2007-08 winter collection, features grey-black trousers and jacket with a clerical-style collar. “I was thinking of an austere, severe and ethical man. I find Father Georg’s austerity very elegant,” said Ms Versace. Spirituality was “not the same as bigotry”,...

Ladies, here's one more man you won't be getting. The Rev. Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, the Pope's private secretary, has become the first papal pinup. Gorgeous Georg, as Gaenswein is often called, has movie-star looks - he has been compared to George Clooney and Hugh Grant - and a charismatic character that's been gaining him many female fans. The 50-year-old has been called "divinely handsome" by Maria Luisa Agnese, editor of the Italian magazine Corriere. And the former Italian first lady once congratulated the Pope on live television for choosing the Black Forest Adonis. He has been photographed in tennis shorts...