Another woman is taking over a top management job in the Vatican: Sister Raffaella Petrini, an Italian nun, was named Saturday as president of the Vatican City State, making her essentially the governor of the 44-hectare (108-acre) territory in Rome that is home to the Catholic Church.
Petrini had previously been the secretary general of the Vatican administration, which among other things is responsible for the functioning of the Vatican Museums, a major source of revenue for the Holy See. She moves into the top job on March 1 following the retirement of Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, who turns 75 that day.
Pope Francis had previously announced Petrini’s promotion, part of his effort to place women in decision-making roles in the Vatican to serve as models for the rest of the church. The Vatican announced Francis’ appointment Saturday while the pope was hospitalized with a respiratory tract infection.
Last month, Francis named the first woman to head a major Holy See office, appointing another Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the Catholic Church’s religious orders.
While women have been named to No. 2 spots in some Vatican offices, never before have women been named to the top jobs of the Holy See Curia or Vatican City State administration.
Catholic women have long complained of second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men. Francis has upheld the ban on female priests and tamped down hopes that women could be ordained as deacons.
But there has been a marked increase in the percentage of women working in the Vatican during his papacy, including in leadership positions, from 19.3% in 2013 to 23.4% today, according to statistics reported by Vatican News. In the Curia alone, the percentage of women is 26%.
Critics complain that making women managers of the church doesn't compensate for the continued ban on ordaining them as ministers.
In addition to her job running the Vatican City State administration, Petrini also serves as one of three women who are members of the Vatican office that vets bishop nominations. When they were named in 2022 it marked the first time women had had a formal role in the Vatican process of selecting bishops.
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