Via CNS:
The Vatican downplayed the absence of Archbishop Georg Ganswein from several papal audiences after an article claimed he was placed on an indefinite leave.
“No leave, we have no information in that sense,” the Vatican press office said in an email to Catholic News Service Feb. 5.
Earlier in the day, the German newspaper Die Tagespost reported that Pope Francis placed Archbishop Ganswein, prefect of the papal household, on an “indefinite leave” due to the fallout from the recent publication of a book defending priestly celibacy that was promoted as being co-authored by Cardinal Robert Sarah and retired Pope Benedict XVI.
Archbishop Ganswein, who also serves as personal secretary to Pope Benedict, phoned several German news agencies and spoke with the Reuters news agency Jan. 14, saying the retired pope had requested that his name be removed as co-author of the book, its introduction and its conclusion.
