Pope Francis names first woman to senior Vatican diplomatic postItalian lay woman Francesca Di Giovanni, who was named by Pope Francis as the first woman to hold a high-ranking post in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, is pictured at the Vatican, December 23, 2013. A Vatican statement confirming Di Giovanni’s appointment said she would oversee multilateral relations in the Secretariat where she has worked since 1993. She told the official Vatican website Vatican News that her appointment was “unprecedented” though “the responsibility is connected to the job, rather than to the fact of being a woman”. Subscribe Now »She added: “A woman may have certain aptitudes for finding commonalities, healing relationships with unity at heart. The two most prominent are Barbara Jatta, head of Vatican Museums, and Cristiane Murray, deputy head of the press office.

Source: Standard Digital January 16, 2020 15:00 UTC