Vatican City - The decision taken by Leo XIV in recent weeks is, once again, revolutionary in character. Those unfamiliar with the dynamics of this tiny State, however, did not grasp it; for that reason it slipped by, almost unnoticed. Everyone remembers Paolo Gabriele because of the Vatileaks scandal and what that man did to the detriment of Benedict XVI. He did not act alone, clearly; he was used as a scapegoat, but that is another story. Newspapers dubbed him the “butler”. With the reform of St Paul VI, however, the correct title is Assistant of the Chamber.
It is an extremely delicate role: a lay person called to assist the Pope in every aspect of his daily life, almost always at his side. What is needed is someone loyal and, above all, discreet, who does not turn proximity to the Pontiff into an opportunity to go around recounting facts and behind-the-scenes details, parading an alleged “power”. And, above all, someone who does not go home and tell their family what they did during the day. This is an aspect many have overlooked, and someone on these pages wrote about it years ago.
Piergiorgio Zanetti mistreats Deputy Commander Loïc Marc Rossier.
The pontificate of Francis and the overreach of the Gendarmerie
After the Vatileaks scandal, Benedict XVI himself appointed Sandro Mariotti, called to take Gabriele’s place. Pope Francis, once elected, immediately chose to add an extra person, selecting him from the Gendarmerie Corps of the Vatican City State. Some cardinals described it as a “reckless” choice, because the Gendarmerie has long been known in the Vatican as a parking place for many who are recommended by prelates and powerful figures. Access to that role, in fact, does not come through competitive examination or verified merit, but according to who puts someone forward and on criteria “unknown” to most.
In this way, moreover, Francis wanted at his side precisely that corps which, before Bergoglio’s election, could not even enter the Apostolic Palace. Over the years, that choice has produced its results.
We have seen the various scandals that have emerged: from security breaches, to commissioners implicated in scandals involving women with criminal records, to commissioners compiling dossiers on prelates and cardinals, up to the scandal of Domenico Giani and his removal from the State with a posting to the Order of Malta as a “sweetener to keep him quiet”. And many others have not even come to light. Alongside Zanetti, Francis then placed the figure - highly controversial - of Stefano De Santis, often in his service as a driver: and with the convicted Chaoqui we saw what happened. Casa Santa Marta had become a theatre of dossier-building and of money going in and out of the Pope’s safe. An embarrassing spectacle.
More than once in recent years, Silere non possum has sounded its desperate alarm: the Pontifical Swiss Guard is the Pope’s corps, it must be valued, and things need to be restored as they were before, allowing only it to enter the Apostolic Palace. The Gendarmerie, in short, must function as the State’s police force, as it was conceived from the outset. And at the Pope’s side there needed to be a figure far removed from those amoral, familistic Italian dynamics that have also corroded this State which, in the end, is nothing more than an enclave of the Italian peninsula.
Leo XIV and the new Assistant of the Chamber
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