Pope Francis has named a woman to the number two position of the Vatican City governorship for the first time, making her the highest-ranking woman in the world’s smallest state.
Thursday’s appointment of 52-year-old Italian nun, Sister Raffaella Petrini, is the latest in which the 84-year-old pope has placed a woman in a leadership role.
Petrini’s new position of Secretary General of the Governance of the Vatican City State can be compared to that of deputy governor of a state or deputy mayor of a city. Housed in a large palace in the heart of Vatican City, the Governorate oversees more than 2,000 employees.
The appointment of Petrini, who holds a degree from LUISS, a prestigious Italian business university, marks the latest attempt by the pope to deliver on promises to improve the gender balance made years ago, but women’s groups have said they need to realize I was done very slowly.
The Governorate oversees the daily operations of Vatican City, which includes departments such as the police, firefighters, healthcare, museums, maintenance, and office workers.
The previous holder of the post of Secretary General is the Bishop. He is now in the presidency, at the top.
Many other women already hold number two positions in Vatican departments, but they deal with religious and social issues and have a much smaller staff level.
In August, the Pope nominated Italian nun Sister Alessandra Semirelli to the interim position of secretary of the Vatican’s Office of Development, which deals with issues of justice and peace.
In February he named Nathalie Bequart, a French member of the Xavier Missionary Sisters, as co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, a department that prepares major meetings of world dioceses every few years.
Also in February, she named Italian magistrate Catia Sumaria as the first female promoter of justice at the Vatican Court of Appeals.
She has also appointed six women to senior roles on the council that governs the Vatican’s finances and women to the positions of deputy foreign minister, director of the Vatican Museums, and deputy head of the Vatican Press Office.
Francis has said that she sees no reason why a woman should not hold the top post, except that it is open only to appointed priests for doctrinal reasons.
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