Pope Francis’s Gozitan private secretary, Mgr Alfred Xuereb, has been appointed prelate secretary general of the Vatican’s new Secretariat for the Economy.

The decree was signed by Pope Francis yesterday together with that appointing Cardinal George Pell prefect of the same secretariat.

The new secretariat is responsible for handling all economic and administrative affairs of the Holy See and the Vatican State. It will have the same responsibilities and duties as that of a State Secretariat.

The secretariat will be answerable directly to the Pope, who is to be assisted by a council for the economy made up of 15 people – eight cardinals and seven lay experts selected in a way which reflects the universality of the Catholic Church.

After Pope Francis was elected in 2013, Mgr Xuereb became the new Pope’s first private secretary

Another development expected to be announced in the coming days is the setting up of an Auditor General’s office, with the competence to refer directly to the Pope and the Economic Council to launch a study on the Holy See’s economic and administrative structures.

Mgr Xuereb studied philosophy and Roman Catholic theology in Malta. From 1995, he worked at the State Secretariat of the Roman Curia in the Vatican. Since 2000, he has served in the Prefecture of the Papal Household.

In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Mgr Xuereb as successor to secretary Mieczysław Mokrzycki as his second private secretary.

After Pope Francis was elected in 2013, Mgr Xuereb became the new Pope’s first private secretary.

In November, the Pope appointed Mgr Xuereb as his representative on two commissions he set up to reform the Holy See’s administration.

He was tasked with updating the Pope on the workings of the commissions responsible for the Vatican Bank and for the organisation of the Holy See’s economic and administrative structure.