Why Pope Francis chose priest who worked with street children as new secretary

Pope Francis has chosen a Uruguayan priest who has worked with street children to be one of his two personal secretaries.

The Vatican said on Sunday that Francis has known Father Gonzalo Aemilius since 2006 when the pontiff was then archbishop of Buenos Aires.

A few days after Francis was elected pontiff in 2013, he recognised Fr Aemilius in a crowd of well-wishers outside a Vatican gate and invited him into the church where the pontiff was about to celebrate his first public Mass as pope.

Fr Aemilius, 40, replaces an Argentinian priest who had been the pope’s secretary since 2013 but who last month returned to his job at the Vatican’s office dealing with bishops.

An Egyptian priest serves as the pope’s other personal secretary.