Ganswein absent on the first day: the Freiburg exile begins with a slight
It has arrived the moment of departure of Monsignor Georg Ganswein, the former personal secretary of Benedict XVI and former prefect of the Papal Household frozen in office for years. Today Father Georg is back in Germany, in his diocese of origin, in Freiburg. The confirmation of Ganswein’s departure for Freiburg arrived in the days in which the Pontiff was hospitalized at the Gemelli Polyclinic for intestinal surgery. A two-line note from the Vatican let it be known that “on February 28, Mons. Ganswein concluded his office of Prefect of the Papal Household”. By decision of the Pope “from 1 July, for the time being, he will return to his diocese of origin”.
What will Father Georg do in Germany? The prelate is 66 years old and is still far from the retirement age of 75. Among the hypotheses there was talk of his future as a teacher; who hypothesized a role of parish priest. We will see. In recent days, the local media have made it known that the diocese of Freiburg will continue to guarantee him adequate support.
Repubblica recounts that “Georg Gänswein’s latest slap on Pope Francis is a surprise stop along the imposed journey to the diocese in southern Germany, forced to welcome back Benedict XVI’s former personal secretary”. Before arriving in Freiburg, writes Repubblica, “Gänswein instead decided to stop 190 kilometers earlier, in Bregenz, the Austrian capital of Vorarlberg, on Lake Constance. Here, in the afternoon, the deacon Marton Héray, a guest of the spiritual family “Das Werk”, will be ordained a priest. The function was organized in the parish of the Sacred Heart by the German Catholic conservative group which has always been close to Joseph Ratzinger, publicly aligned against the reforms and openings of the Church of Francis”.
As Repubblica explains, “Father Georg’s decision to reaffirm his role as a point of reference for the more traditionalist clergy surprised even the Curia of Freiburg: up to the last minute ready to open the doors of the Borromeo for him yesterday evening, certain that today at 9 he would be present for the morning mass in the college chapel on Schofer Strasse”.
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