Pope Francis has for the first time named a woman to the number two position in the governorship of Vatican City, making her the highest-ranking woman in the world’s smallest state.
The appoint-ment on Thursday of Sister Raffaella Petrini, a 52-year-old Italian nun, is the latest in which the 84-year-old pope has placed a woman in a leadership role.
Petrini’s new position of secretary general of the Governatorate of the State of Vatican City is comparable to being deputy governor of a state or deputy mayor of a city.
The Governatorate, based in a large palace in the middle of Vatican City, over-sees more than 2,000 employees.
The appointment of Petrini, who has a degree from LUISS, a prestig-ious Italian business university, marks the latest attempt by the pope to keep promises to improve gender balance made years ago but which women’s groups have said were too slow in being realised.—Agencies
