Sister Raffaella Petrini, the first woman to head the Vatican governorship
An appointment that marks a turning point within the Vatican and a change of direction for a Church that is opening up to women’s leadership
It’s official, as of March 1 it will be – for the first time – a woman who will hold the position of president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and the Governorate of Vatican City State. This is a very important role, uniting the legislative and executive bodies.
It had already been announced by Pope Francis on January 19 during Fabio Fazio’s broadcast, but these days Sister Raffaella Petrini’s appointment is a reality. Already deputy governor since 2021, she will succeed Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, who has reached the age of 80.
Born in 1969, she belongs to the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist and has an extensive academic background, with degrees and doctorates in political and social sciences. She has taught in academia and participated in international events, such as the Global Standard Symposium in New Delhi, where she proposed the idea of an international agency to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in a peaceful manner.
Her appointment, while giving a message of continuity, is a novelty with a deep symbolic value and is part of a context of a growing female presence in the Vatican leadership. In fact, let us recall that since January 6 of this year, at the head of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, there is another woman and religious: sister Simona Brambilla, former superior general in Italy of the Institute of the Missionaries of the Consolata.
The Pope, speaking about this appointment during Fabio Fazio’s broadcast, had said, “Women know how to do better than we do.” A phrase that confirms the esteem and respect he has always had for the female gender and that increasingly highlights a process of inclusiveness of women now manifestly underway in the Vatican.
Sister Petrini will be in charge of coordinating the team that manages the seven major operational areas (called directorates) of the Vatican State structure: Infrastructure and Services, Economy, Telecommunications and Information Systems, Security Services and Civil Defense, Health and Hygiene, Museums and Cultural Heritage, and Papal Villas.
It will be an onerous task, but a respectable cursus honorum, his previous experiences and his human qualities are all plus points. And toward those who repeat the term “power” (especially with respect to the news of her appointment) she raises with two more words: service and mission.
As with Sister Brambilla, spazio + spadoni calls the Pope’s decision “a tangible sign of the Church’s commitment to greater female participation in its governance structures.” For Luigi Spadoni, it is a strong and clear message that “women, who have always been the beating heart of consecrated life, are called to contribute their voice and vision even at the highest levels of decision-making and leadership”.
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- Vatican News