By Charles Igwe
Pope Francis has announced the upcoming installation of Franciscan nun Raffaella Petrini as the head of the General Secretariat of the Government of the Vatican City State. The appointment, which will take effect in March, marks another significant step in the pontiff’s efforts to elevate women to leadership roles within the Catholic Church.
Sister Petrini, born in Rome on January 15, 1969, holds a degree in political science from the Guido Carli International University of Studies and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, where she currently serves as a professor. She has also contributed to the Vatican Curia as an official in the former Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
This new role will see Sister Petrini succeed Spanish Cardinal Fernando Vérgez, who will retire upon turning 80. Currently serving as secretary in the same department, Petrini’s promotion highlights Pope Francis’s commitment to increasing women’s representation in key positions within the Vatican.
This appointment follows other historic advancements for women under Pope Francis’s leadership. Earlier this month, Sister Simona Brambilla became the first woman to head a Vatican department, the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. She shares her role with Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, who serves as pro-prefect.
Similarly, in 2022, the Holy Father confirmed Sister Alessandra Smerilli as prefect and undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, alongside Cardinal Michael Czerny. Both had been interim leaders of the dicastery following the departure of Cardinal Peter Turkson.
In an interview on the Italian television program Che Tempo Che Fa (What’s the Weather Like?), Pope Francis highlighted the growing role of women in Vatican leadership. “We now have many women. For example, on the commission for selecting new bishops, there are three women. The vice president of the Vatican Governorate, who will be governor in March, is a nun. In the Dicastery for the Economy, the vice president is a nun with two degrees … Women know how to manage things better than us,” he stated.
The pope’s progressive appointments extend beyond the Vatican Governorate. Since 2016, Barbara Jatta has served as the head of the Vatican Museums, and in 2015, Mariella Enoc was named president of the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital.
