Overview
- Vatican and Italian media reported that Gugel died in Rome on the evening of January 15, with news disseminated on January 16.
- He served as aiutante di camera to John Paul I, John Paul II for 27 years, and Benedict XVI, earning a reputation for fidelity and reserve.
- He stood beside John Paul II during the May 13, 1981 shooting in St. Peter’s Square, helping lay the wounded pope down before the rush to Policlinico Gemelli with Stanislao Dziwisz and Renato Buzzonetti.
- Corriere della Sera reports contemporaneous carabinieri files and testimonies indicating Gugel’s daughters were followed before Emanuela Orlandi’s 1983 disappearance, a detail noted as relevant to the ongoing parliamentary inquiry.
- His funeral is scheduled for Saturday, February 17 at 16:00 at the parish of Santa Maria delle Grazie alle Fornaci in Rome.