Vatican life is returning to normal under Pope leo XIV, according to Archbishop georg Gänswein, Pope Benedict XVI’s former secretary. Gänswein, currently the Vatican’s nuncio to the Baltic states, described a “whole new positive dimension” in the Vatican since the change of popes last year.
Speaking with EWTN News’ Rudolf Gehrig in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Jan. 20, Gänswein said the atmosphere has improved considerably under Pope Leo XIV. he met with the Pope twice in 2025, most recently in mid-December.
“Both meetings went vrey, very well,” Gänswein said. ”And the intervening period has made it very clear to me that - to put it somewhat idiosyncratically – normality is slowly returning.” He views this as evidence that “faith and the Holy Spirit are indeed at work.”
Gänswein explained that Pope leo XIV is refocusing on established principles that had been neglected in recent years. “I used the term normalization. For me, it is significant to see that Pope Leo has simply emphasized some matters that are not new, but wich have been completely overlooked in recent years.”
Appointed nuncio to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in 2024, Gänswein previously served for 17 years as personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI and 11 years as prefect of the papal Household.
