The Holy Father's two private secretaries are in the news today... First, Mons. Georg Gaesnwein, who presented his new book on the Pope, at the Munich Press Club yesterday afternoon; and his colleague, Mons. Alfred Xuereb, who spoke about the Pope to some young people in a parish near Turin where he came to celebrate a commemorative Mass for a fellow Maltese priest who died five years ago.
Prominent Germans speak
about their encounters
with Benedict XVI
Translated from
ROME, March 15 - Mons. Georg Gänswein, private secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, has published a new book in which prominent Germans recount their encounters and personal experiences with the Holy Father and his work in the Church and the world.
Mons. Ganeswein presetned the new book at a news conference in Munich's Presseclub, along with former Bavarian Minister President Edmund Stoiber.
The 188-page book is a unique reading experience, with many surprising impressions and statements from Germans prominent in various social sectors, such as Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne and Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich-Freising, Federal Finance Minister Walter Schaeuble, football great Franz Beckenbauer, etc.
[Gaenswein said the book was his birthday gift to the Holy Father who turns 85 on April 16. It was commissioned by the German Catholic publishing house Media Maria.
For the fifth anniversary of Benedict XVI's election to the Papacy in 2010, he published a book of photographs and his personal commentaries on Benedict XVI's most important activities in Rome, Italy, and around the world. This was commissioned by Herder. Earlier, he wrote a couple of children's books for Sankt Benno publishers in which he answers children's questions about the Pope and the papacy.]
Pope's second secretary:
Benedict is serene because
of his great and simple faith
by Salvatore Izzo
VATICAN CITY, March 15 (Translated from AGI) - "Benedict XVI is serene because he is supported by his very great faith. He is a man who lives the Gospel in a very simple way".
These are words from Mons. Alfred Xuereb, the second secretary to Papa Ratzinger, as reported in Nichelino online, from a recent visit made by the monsignor to a parish in Nichelino which is near Turin.
"Was it difficult for Benedict XVI to deal with the 'legacy' of Papa Wojtyla and his great charism?" he was asked by young people whom he spoke to in Nichelino.
"The Lord asks something special from everyone. Papa Ratzinger has had the courage and the ability to just be himself, and I admire him for this," Don Alfred answered.
"My work with him begins at six in the morning and ends around nine at night," he also tells them. "Almost every day, the Pontiff meets with persons or groups privately. And on Wednesdays, there is always a crowd for the General Audience".
"Don Georg (Gaenswein) and I prepare the necessary documentation [briefing papers and background material] for the various audiences. And there is always a great deal of correspondence sent on from the Secretariat of State".
"One of my particular duties," he adds, "is to compile all the requests for prayers that arrive for the Pope - mostly from people who are sick or in great difficulty and suffering. I place the list of requests by the prie-Dieu in his private chapel where he goes for recollection and prayer.
"What impresses me most is that among the thousand things he has to do, he remembers names and persons. Days after he first reads their names, he will follow up and ask about their particular circumstances," he observes.
He says that the Pope has a 'very human and paternal' dealing with his closest co-workers, "even in small details".
"For example, the other day, after lunch, we were going down to the Gardens to pray the rosary. It was rather cold so I helped him put on a windbreaker. Later, as we emerged from the elevator, it was his turn to help me on with my raincoat".
"And whenever he knows that I have just called home
[to Malta], he always asks me how my mother is doing. When I had to come to Nichelino, I explained to him why - and he remembered about Don Joe [the priest whose commemorative Mass Don Alfred celebrated], and about Don Joshua and a new book by Don Paolo
[other priest friends of Mons. Alfred]. And I am sure when I get back, he will ask all about my trip."