A silent life behind three popes: Farewell to Angelo Gugel, the iconic papal butler

Five cardinals bid their farewell Jan. 17 to Angelo Gugel, the pontifical butler and witness to modern papal history, who stood silently behind St. John Paul II for nearly three decades, and contributed to saving the pope on the day of the assasination attempt.

Known for his quiet authority and absolute loyalty, Gugel died Jan. 14 at the age of 90. He served three popes, remaining both indispensable and invisible to the public eye.

“Keeping my work confidential even within my family was normal. When we went out with the Holy Father in private, even my family would find out from the newspapers,” Gugel noted in a rare interview for L’Osservatore Romano on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the pope from Poland.

His role in the pope’s life was probably most visibly marked in the iconic picture of him holding Pope John Paul as the bullet of Mehmet Ali Agca tore through the pontiff’s body at St. Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981.

The butler’s funeral Mass was celebrated in Rome’s Santa Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci Church on Jan. 17, drawing almost 40 priests, including cardinals and bishops, among them Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state; Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity; Cardinal James Harvey, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls; and Cardinal Beniamino Stella, retired prefect of the then-Congregation for the Clergy. Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the longtime personal secretary of Pope John Paul, concelebrated the Mass.

“What truly shows the greatness of this quiet man is who came to his funeral,” Cardinal Dziwisz told OSV News. “Seeing so many priests, bishops and cardinals — people from every corner of the Vatican, who had worked closely with the popes — it became clear how deeply Angelo Gugel was valued. His presence shaped the life of the papal household, yet he never sought attention.”

Recalling the words used by Cardinal Parolin in his homily, Cardinal Dziwisz described Gugel as a “faithful servant of the popes.”

“He felt like family to us,” he said. “He was a man of exceptional kindness, wisdom and determination. He was with the Holy Father in moments that were beautiful and joyful, but also painful,” the cardinal said, recalling the 27 years Gugel served in the papal household.

Born on April 27, 1935, in Miane, in Italy’s Treviso region, Gugel was asked to join the papal household by Blessed John Paul I, who called his fellow Venetian to join his lay collaborators, Vatican News reported. Seeking service as the Vatican gendarme in 1955, he fell ill with tuberculosis and after undergoing a long convalescence, he was transferred to the Governorate of Vatican City State. He married Maria Luisa Dall’Arche in 1964.

“Always impeccably dressed, with a sober elegance that never sought attention, Angelo Gugel preserved the discretion required by his delicate role even after retirement. He rarely gave interviews,” Vatican News said.

Although Gugel’s official job title was papal chamber assistant, or butler, Cardinal Dziwisz said the term does not fully reflect the scope of his role. “I don’t like that word,” the cardinal told OSV News. “It sounds too narrow,” he said, describing the layman as “well prepared, disciplined and trustworthy. He knew languages, understood people and situations, and served with great intelligence.”

Gugel worked in the papal apartments during audiences, apostolic trips and through the daily routine — always close to the pope.

“In countless photographs you see John Paul II, and just behind him, Angelo,” veteran Vatican journalist Wlodzimierz Redzioch of Niedziela, or Sunday Polish weekly, told OSV News. “He stood there ready, always at the pope’s disposal, never in front. Looking at them together, I always felt they understood each other without words.”

Gugel’s presence proved crucial on many occasions, especially as the pontificate was picking up speed. He was the only Italian working in the papal apartments, which were otherwise staffed by Polish secretaries and the Albertine Sisters.

“He helped the pope linguistically,” Redzioch said. “John Paul II knew Italian well, but it had not been his daily language before the election.”

Redzioch said that on the morning of Oct. 22, 1978 — the day of the inauguration Mass — the newly elected pope summoned Gugel to his study and read him the homily he was about to deliver. That homily made history with the papal appeal: “Do not be afraid” — “Non abbiate paura!” in Italian.

“He asked Angelo to mark where the accents should fall and where the pronunciation might be incorrect,” Redzioch said. “Later, the pope joked publicly that if he ever misplaced an accent, 50% of the blame belonged to Angelo.”

On a daily basis, Gugel’s responsibilities ranged from the ordinary to the symbolic: organizing the papal apartments, occasionally serving at table, managing luggage during apostolic trips, accompanying audiences, holding the tray of rosaries distributed by the pope and receiving gifts brought by visitors.

During papal holidays in the mountains, he remained constantly at Pope John Paul’s side, and continued to do so throughout the trials of the pope’s final years as he struggled with deteriorating health.

It was Gugel who held the pope as he fell under Agca’s bullet on May 13, 1981, the day of the assassination attempt in St. Peter’s Square.

“We were in the jeep,” Cardinal Dziwisz recalled. The pope’s butler “was sitting in front, as the pope was greeting the people, and I was in the back. The pope was hit, but neither Angelo nor I were wounded. The bullets passed by us. Perhaps the Lord foresaw that we were needed to help save the Holy Father.”

Redzioch emphasized that Gugel had previously served in the Vatican gendarmerie, which allowed him to remain calm in moments of crisis. “He knew how to act,” he told OSV News.

Gugel is survived by his wife and four children: Raffaella, Flaviana, Guido and Carla Luciana Maria.

Cardinal Dziwisz said that family life gave him balance and was an important source of strength in his service to the Church.

“He had a beautiful family,” the cardinal said. “It was important to him. And that, too, shaped the way he served — quietly, faithfully and with great humanity.”

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