Government offices Vatican also open for women
Pope Francis and Franciscan sister Raffaella Petrini in November 2021. Petrini is the first femal secretary general of the governorate. Photo AFP
Southern Europe
Women are now allowed to head Ministeries in the Vatican. That is written in a reformed form of the Vatican Constitution, the so-called Curia, which Pope Francis presented recently.
According to the new constitution, called Praedicate Evangelium (preaching of the Gospel), every baptised Roman Catholic believer can lead a department of the Vatican. That means that every layperson can do so if the pope thinks he or she is suited for the office, Dutch daily Nederlands Dagblad reports.
The pope has been working on the reformed constitution since his installation in 2013. The new constitution replaces the one from 1988, written by St. John Paul II.
The participation of laypeople is indispensable, Catholic News cites the document. "They cooperate for the good of the whole church", the document says. According to the new constitution, the leadership of the Vatican should reflect the Roman Catholic Church in its entirety. Therefore, the personnel of the offices should come from different regions of the world.
According to Pope Francis, the reform of the Curia reflects part of the missionary conversion of the church. This is a renewal movement that aims at reflecting more of the "image of Christ's mission of love."
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