Advertisement

Pope Francis names Franciscan sister to No. 2 position in Vatican City State

Sr. Raffaella Petrini meets Pope Francis. | Vatican Media.
Hannah Brockhaus

By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican, 04 November, 2021 / 8:00 pm (ACI Africa).

Pope Francis on Thursday appointed Franciscan Sister Raffaella Petrini to the second-ranking position in the government of the Vatican City State.

Petrini is the first woman and non-clergy member to be secretary general of the Vatican’s governorate.

The appointment makes her one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican, alongside Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, “ad interim” secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Sr. Natalie Becquart, an under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops.

Petrini replaces Bishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, who was promoted to president, effective Oct. 1.

The governorate is the office of executive power of the state of Vatican City. It is led by a president, secretary general, and vice secretary general.

Advertisement

Pope Francis also appointed Nov. 4 the vice secretary general of Vatican City, layman Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, who was at one point also in the running for the number two position.

Puglisi-Alibrandi, 55, is a lawyer who has worked in the Vatican City governorate since 2014. In 2017, he was made head of the legal office.

Petrini, 52, is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist. Since 2005, she has been an official in the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

The religious sister, who is from Rome, is also a professor of the economy of welfare and sociology at Rome’s Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum), where she received a doctorate in social sciences.

She also has a master’s degree in organization behavior from the University of Hartford in Connecticut.

More in Africa

CSW

Christian Human Rights Foundation Condemns Attack on Sudanese Mosque that Killed Seven

Read the article
Hannah Brockhaus

Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.

Trending

You may also like

Pope Francis arrives at Luxembourg Airport on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, the first stop in a four-day tour of Luxembourg and Belgium, two historically Christian countries in Europe, both of which are experiencing steep declines in religious adherence amid the spread of secularization. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

In a Secularized Luxembourg, Pope Francis Tells Catholics to Evangelize Europe

Before flying to the neighboring country of Belgium on the afternoon of Sept. 26, the 87-year-old pope spent one day...

Young people lead a procession in Protomartyrs Square at the Vatican for an ecumenical prayer service on Oct. 11, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Francis, Synod Pray Where First Christian Martyrs of Rome Were Killed

The ecumenical prayer vigil Oct. 11 was held in Roman Protomartyrs Square inside Vatican City.

Pope Francis gazes up at the bronze statue of Mary atop the 39.4-foot column at Rome's Spanish Steps, Dec. 8, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Pope Francis Marks Immaculate Conception Solemnity in Rome with Prayer, Surprise art Visit: PHOTOS

Pope Francis marked the Immaculate Conception by visiting to two of Rome's most important Marian sites, followed by an unexpected...