Francesca Di Giovanni

Francesca Di Giovanni (born 24 March 1953), is an Italian lawyer who has worked in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See since 1993. In January 2020 she was appointed by Pope Francis to serve as the Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs in the Section for Relations with States, becoming the first woman to hold a managerial position in that branch of the Roman Curia.

Francesca Di Giovanni
Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs of the Roman Curia's Section for Relations with States
Assumed role
January 2020
MonarchFrancis
Personal details
Born24 March 1953
Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Occupationattorney

Biography

Di Giovanni was born on 24 March 1953 in Palermo. She studied law and completed her training as a notary. She then worked in the administration of the international center of the Focolare Movement. On 15 September 1993, she joined the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, where she worked in the field of multilateral relations. Her responsibilities included refugee and migration issues as well as international human rights, communications, private law, the position of women, copyright issues, and tourism.[1][2]

On 15 January 2020, Pope Francis appointed her an Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs in the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State.[3] She is the first woman and the first lay person to hold a managerial position in the Secretariat of State, a position normally reserved for a member of the clergy.[4][5] Her responsibilities include the Holy See's interests in intergovernmental organizations and international treaties, while the bilateral sector is headed by another undersecretary, Mirosław Wachowski, a Polish cleric.[6][lower-alpha 1]

Notes
  1. Both multilateral and bilateral relations were previously the responsibility of a single undersecretary, most recently Antoine Camilleri until his appointment as an Apostolic Nuncio on 31 October 2019.[7]

References
  1. "Vatican appoints first woman to senior role in Church". BBC News. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  2. "In Segreteria di Stato un sottosegretario donna: Francesca Di Giovanni". Vatican News (in Italian). 15 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  3. "Resignation and Appointments, 15.01.2020" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  4. "Pope names 1st Woman Managar in Vatican Secretariat of State". New York Times. Associated Press. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  5. Vecchi, Gian Guido (15 January 2020). "Vaticano, Francesca Di Giovanni è il primo sottosegretario donna nella Segreteria di Stato". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  6. O'Connell, Gerard (15 January 2020). "Pope Francis appoints a woman for the first time to senior role in the Vatican's Secretariat of State". America. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  7. "Resignations and Appointments, 31.10.2019" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
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