I've been watching the Pope's travels in the UK these days and been struck by how excellent the Pope's personal secretary is. He's always near the pope when he's needed, and seems to disappear when he's not.
AP
Whenever the Pope has to read something, he subtly holds the Pope's pair of spectacles near the Pope's hand. The texts of the speeches are brought to the podium with such smoothness. It is Monsignor Gänsweinwho directs the traffic of people waiting to meet the Pope. He takes charge of the gifts given to the Pope. He knows exactly when to take a gift from the Pope's hand leaving the Pope free to go on with meeting and greeting people: if the gift is of some interest or significance, he waits, and watches, smiling as the Pope discusses the gift (usually a book) with the presenter. He helps the Pope climb steps, reminds the pope about what's next on the agenda. Yesterday he even directed the photo-taking at Oscott College.
(Starting at 3:00)
Getty
He usually looks very serious, but last evening, as the papal party was preparing to leave England, he was beaming (and the Pope was smiling too) probably very relieved that this trip had proceeded flawlessly and they were heading home again.
Reuters
Getty
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