Pope names laywoman undersecretary of Vatican’s justice and peace council

(January 22, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI has named an Italian laywoman as undersecretary of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, marking the first time in more than 20 years that a woman has served as undersecretary of a pontifical council. The appointment of Flaminia Giovanelli was announced in the Vatican on Thursday accompanied by a statement from Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson and Bishop Mario Toso, respectively president and secretary of the Justice and Peace council. They said the appointment “confirms the great trust the Church and Pope Benedict XVI place in women.” The undersecretary’s post at the Justice and Peace Council has been vacant since 2006 after Fr. Frank Dewane became the Bishop of Venice, Florida, in the United States. The 61-year old Giovanelli is a political scientist, who has been working at the council since 1974. She had been dealing with development, poverty and labour issues from the point of view of Catholic social teaching. The last laywoman to serve as undersecretary of a Vatican’s pontifical council was Rosemary Goldie, an Australian, who held the position from 1966-76 at the Pontifical Council for the Laity. Giovanelli, however, is not the highest-ranking woman at the Vatican. Salesian Sister Rosanna Enrica serves as undersecretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.