Pope Francis sends Benedict XVI's ex-aide back to Germany.
Pope Francis has asked Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the longtime private secretary of Pope Benedict XVI, to return to his home diocese of Freiburg in southwest Germany "for the time being" as of July 1. The Vatican also confirmed that Gänswein's role as prefect of the Papal Household concluded on Feb. 28 and did not indicate that he had been given any new assignment. The future role of the late Benedict's secretary has been the subject of rumor and gossip across Rome and the Church in Germany for months.
