Pope assigns papal household job to his secretary

December 07, 2012 - Pope Benedict XVI on Friday appointed his personal secretary the Prefect of the Papal Household. While continuing as the Pope’s secretary, Msgr. Georg Gänswein will also head the Prefecture of the Papal Household, a job that was held by American Archbishop James Harvey, who the Pope appointed Archpriest of the Roman Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Archbishop was made cardinal on Nov. 24 along with five others. With this appointment Pope Benedict has also elevated Msgr. Ganswein to the rank of archbishop. Born in Waldshut, Germania, July 30, 1956, Msgr. Georg Gänswein was ordained preist in 1984 for Freiburg Archdiocese. Holder of a degree in canon law he had been a judge of the diocesan tribunal. In 1995 he was called to serve the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The following year he was transferred to the Congregatiion for the Doctrine of the Faith where he became secretary to Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, the present Pope. Msgr. Ganswein knows, Italian, Latin, French, English and Spanish besides his native German.
The Prefecture of the Papal Household looks after the internal organization of the papal household, and supervises everything concerning the conduct and service of all clerics and laypersons who make up the papal chapel and family. The department is also in charge of the Pope’s weekly general audience on Wednesdays. The Prefecture runs the Apostolic Palace, which includes the Papal Apartments and the Papal Palace in Vatican City, and also the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, just south-east of Rome.