The Pope has appointed his top assistant – Gozitan Mgr Alfred Xuereb – as his representative on two commissions he set up to reform the Holy See’s administration.

Mgr Xuereb, 55, will keep Pope Francis updated on the workings of the commissions responsible for the Vatican Bank and for the organisation of the Holy See’s economic and administrative structure, which is headed by another Maltese, Joseph F.X. Zahra.

Mr Zahra, a former Bank of Valletta chairman, was last summer appointed chairman of the commission set up to look into the Vatican’s finances.

The aim is to reform the Holy See’s administration and finances in a bid to move away from a series of scandals that emerged under Pope Benedict XVI.

Mgr Xuereb was assistant secretary to Pope Benedict XVI and, in March, he became the newly-elected Pope’s first private secretary.

Holidaying in Gozo last August, Mgr Xuereb presented the new museum Il-Ħaġar – Heart of Gozo with the cassock and accessories that Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio wore when he entered the conclave that elected him as Pope Benedict’s successor.

Mgr Xuereb had also served with Pope John Paul II for about two years, handling his audiences and reading the Holy Father’s speeches when he became unable to complete the task himself.