Pope Francis has appointed the former private secretary of Pope Benedict XVI Georg Genswein to the position of nuncio, reported Reuters, quoted by BTA.
An official announcement from the Vatican states that Archbishop Genswein has been appointed ambassador of the Holy See to Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
In June 2023, Pope Francis ordered Genswein to leave the Vatican and return to Germany without being assigned a new position, which many took as an insult.
In a book published this year, Francis confirmed that he had a difficult relationship with Genswein while the German was an aide to Pope Benedict XVI.
He mentions in particular the memoirs that the archbishop published immediately after the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI in January 2023, which contain strong criticisms of Francis.
„To publish a book that criticizes me on the day of the funeral, telling things that are not true, is very sad,", Francis said.
Francis and Benedict XVI coexisted in the Vatican during the so-called “two popes" period, which began in 2013 when Benedict XVI resigned. He was the first pontiff to step down in about 600 years.