This past summer, I was truly blessed to attend two Papal events in Rome: the Corpus Christi Mass and Procession and the Holy Father's General Audience. At both occasions, I also purposely observed Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, the Prefect of the Papal Household and the personal secretary of Pope Benedict. Before, watching televised ceremonies from the Vatican, on EWTN, I came to admire the humble Gaenswein. His purposeful cadence, holy attitude, and graceful attention to sacred details, solidified the possibility, in my mind, of the masculine Catholic priest. For all of my life, the image of the priest, since childhood, was always semi-aged, somewhat asexual, and or distantly indifferent. When I saw him in-person, he is thoughtful and self-contained, but not narcissistic. He is the servant to the Holy Father, but still stands tall. He is a man. Sadly through, while I was researching him, many vicious journalists and commentators hinted at a homosexual identity. The world, can not accept a truly holy man who is also manly; they must make him gay. It is their attempt to disregard and nullify his power. I pray, that he is a model for future religious men; and all men who strive for Godliness.
