Church must stand up to agnostics, warns Pope Benedict XVI

The Pope has urged Roman Catholic leaders to stand up to attacks by "intolerant agnosticism" prevalent in many countries. The message on Sunday during the Pope's celebration of Epiphany is the latest in a series of remarks largely seen to be rebukes to David Cameron and other world leaders attempting to introduce same-sex marriage.

Under increasing attack because of outspoken opposition to homosexual marriage, the 85-year-old pontiff said that church leaders must resist efforts to change just to suit public pressure. "Today's regnant agnosticism has its own dogmas and is extremely intolerant regarding anything that would question it and the criteria it employs," the Pope told a gathering of 10,000, which included the outgoing Italian prime minister, Mario Monti, who has avoided expressing an opinion on gay marriage.

The Pope anointed four new archbishops, urging them to "have courage" in the face of public pressure. Among them was his newly appointed prefect and longtime chief private secretary, Georg Ganswein. The promotion of "bel Giorgio" or "beautiful George" as the Italians call him, is the latest sign that the 56-year-old German has become one of the Pope's closest, most trusted advisers.

It was Archbishop Ganswein who last year confronted Paolo Gabriele, the papal butler, about missing documents leaked to journalists, provoking the "Vatileaks" scandal. Gabriele was later convicted of stealing the sensitive documents, but was given a Christmas pardon by the Pope last month.

Archbishop Ganswein, who has been dubbed "the George Clooney of the Vatican", was promoted in December to Prefect of the Pontifical Household. As both prefect and chief private secretary, he has high-level access to the Pope, setting his appointments, audiences and schedule. He became personal secretary for the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2003, six years after joining his Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. After Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope in 2005, Archbishop Ganswein was appointed private secretary and moved into the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, where they walk, talk and eat together.

His popularity soared in recent years, and paparazzi often trail him to photograph him playing tennis or straightening the Pope's cloaks. As the Munich daily newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung wrote in December, there is a "hardly a photo of the Pope where Ganswein's face doesn't also appear".