The Vatican appoints Pope Benedict's longtime secretary as its envoy to the Baltic states
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Pope Francis has appointed the longtime secretary of the late Pope Benedict XVI, who was sent back to his native Germany without a new assignment last year after he fell out with the current pontiff, as the Vatican's diplomatic representative to the Baltic states. Francis removed Gänswein from his Vatican job last year and ordered him to return to his diocese of origin, Freiburg in southwestern Germany. Speculation about Gänswein’s future swirled following Benedict’s death at the end of 2022, and deepened a week later with the publication of the archbishop’s memoir, “Nothing But the Truth: My Life Beside Pope Benedict XVI.” In the book, Gänswein recounted his life serving Benedict but also acting as prefect of the papal household under Francis.
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