Pope appoints another woman to important Vatican-position

Vatikanstadt - The Pope has done it again: With the nun Silvana Piro, Francis has appointed another woman to a leading position in the Vatican. In future, she will be number three in the powerful Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.

Published on 14.10.2023 at 14:48 –

Once again, Pope Francis has appointed a woman to an important position in the Vatican. The Italian nun Silvana Piro ( 50) has been appointed to the position of "Sotto-Segretario" (Under-Secretary; number three in the hierarchy of authorities) in the powerful Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA). This was announced by the Vatican press room (Saturday).

The studied economist had previously managed the finances and real estate of her religious community for eleven years. The order of the "Francescane Missionarie di Gesu Bambino" (Franciscan Sisters of the Child Jesus), which is mainly active in the field of education, has more than 700 sisters; they work on four continents.

New APSA President since the beginning of October

APSA is the third pillar of the Holy See's asset management alongside the Vatican Bank and the Governatorate of Vatican City. It manages the assets that the Kingdom of Italy handed over to the Holy See as compensation for spoliations under the Lateran Treaties in 1929. In addition, APSA is a kind of Vatican central bank and thus responsible for issuing the papal euro coins.

At the beginning of October, the Pope had appointed the Salesian Giordano Piccinotti (48) as APSA president; he was previously undersecretary there. Piccinotti, too, was initially responsible for many years for the goods and financial management of various institutions and foundations of his order.

In October 2021, the Pope had appointed the Italian religious Alessandra Smerilli as undersecretary of the dicastery for integral human development. In August 2021, she was first provisionally appointed secretary of the dicastery and was confirmed in this position in April 2022. She was the first woman to hold such a Vatican post. Other women in senior positions in the Papal States include the undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, French religious Nathalie Becquart, and Italian social scientist and religious Raffaella Petrini as secretary general of the Vatican governorate. (cbr/KNA)