Baptised Catholic women can head Vatican depts: pope

Published March 20, 2022
Italian lay woman Francesca Di Giovanni, who was named by Pope Francis as the first woman to hold a high-ranking post in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, is pictured at the Vatican, December 23, 2013. — Reuters/File
Italian lay woman Francesca Di Giovanni, who was named by Pope Francis as the first woman to hold a high-ranking post in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, is pictured at the Vatican, December 23, 2013. — Reuters/File

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis on Saturday issued a new constitution for the Vatican’s central administration, known as the Curia, stating that any baptized lay Catholic, including women, can head Vatican departments.

Most Vatican departments have been headed by male clerics, usually cardinals.

The new, 54-page constitution, called Praedicate Evangelium (Preach the Gospel), took more than nine years to complete. It will take effect on June 5, replacing the one approved in 1988 by Pope John Paul II.

One part of the preamble of the constitution says: “The pope, bishops and other ordained ministers are not the only evangelizers in the Church,” adding that lay men and women “should have roles of government and responsibility”.

The principles section of the constitution says “any member of the faithful can head a dicastery (Curia department) or organism” if the pope decides they are qualified and appoints them. It makes no distinction between lay men and lay women.

The 1988 constitution stated that departments were to be headed a cardinal or a bishop and assisted by a secretary, experts and administrators.

In an interview with Reuters in 2018, the pope disclosed he had shortlisted a woman to head a Vatican economic department but she could not take the job for personal reasons.

Last year, Francis for the first time named a woman to the number two position in the governorship of Vatican City, making Sister Raffaella Petrini the highest-ranking woman in the world’s smallest state.

Also last year, he named Italian nun Sister Alessandra Smerilli to the interim position of secretary of the Vatican’s development office, which deals with justice and peace issues.

In addition, Francis named Nathalie Becquart, a French member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters, as co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, a department that prepares major meetings of world bishops held every few years.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2022

Opinion

Editorial

Islamabad march
Updated 27 Nov, 2024

Islamabad march

WITH emotions running high, chaos closes in. As these words were being written, rumours and speculation were all...
Policing the internet
27 Nov, 2024

Policing the internet

IT is chilling to witness how Pakistan — a nation that embraced the freedoms of modern democracy, and the tech ...
Correcting sports priorities
27 Nov, 2024

Correcting sports priorities

IT has been a lingering battle that has cast a shadow over sports in Pakistan: who are the national sports...
Kurram ceasefire
Updated 26 Nov, 2024

Kurram ceasefire

DESPITE efforts by the KP government to bring about a ceasefire in Kurram tribal district, the bloodletting has...
Hollow victory
26 Nov, 2024

Hollow victory

THE conclusion of COP29 in Baku has left developing nations — struggling with the mounting costs of climate...
Infrastructure schemes
26 Nov, 2024

Infrastructure schemes

THE government’s decision to finance priority PSDP schemes on a three-year rolling basis is a significant step...