March 2025 marks a watershed moment in the history of the Catholic Church. This month, Sr Raffaella Petrini of the Institute of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist has become the first woman to serve as president of the Governorate of Vatican City State.
This unprecedented appointment by Pope Francis signals a significant step toward increasing women’s participation in the church’s highest echelons of power. As the church grapples with balancing its long-held traditions and modern expectations, this milestone raises important questions about its future and its relationship with women.
For two millenniums, women have played pivotal yet often peripheral roles within the church’s institutional framework. Excluded from the all-male priesthood and hierarchical leadership, they have nonetheless shaped Catholicism in profound ways.
Medieval abbesses managed convents as autonomous centres of learning and spirituality, with some commanding authority rivalling that of bishops. Women such as Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), Catherine of Siena (1347–1380), and Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582) wielded spiritual authority, influencing doctrine and policy through their writings and counsel to male leaders.
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All three were later declared Doctors of the Church (Catherine and Teresa in 1970 by Pope Paul VI, and Hildegard in 2012).
[ Meet the two Irish women with voting rights at the Synod of Bishops in RomeOpens in new window ]
Yet, patriarchal structures entrenched over centuries kept women at the margins of formal decision making. While their contributions flourished in religious life, education and charitable works, church governance remained overwhelmingly male. Pope Francis’s recent reforms mark a departure from this systemic exclusion, though they remain incremental rather than revolutionary.
In recent years, Pope Francis has made headlines for his commitment to expanding women’s leadership within the Vatican. In 2021, Sr Nathalie Becquart became the first woman to vote in the Synod of Bishops. Similarly, Sr Simona Brambilla’s appointment as head of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life in January 2025 underscored the Pope’s desire to broaden women’s influence in decision making.
Sr Raffaella Petrini’s new role as president of the Governorate of Vatican City State represents one of the highest-ranking positions ever held by a woman in the church. She will oversee the administrative and operational functions of Vatican City, from its museums to its police force. This appointment not only underscores Pope Francis’s vision for a more inclusive church but also signals a shift in how the Vatican views women’s leadership and their capacity to wield power.
“Women manage things better than we do,” Pope Francis remarked in a recent interview (Vatican News, January 2025). Yet, despite these advancements, deeper systemic issues remain untouched. The all-male priesthood endures, and discussions around women’s ordination remain largely off the table.
The Pope’s progressive measures have not been without controversy. Progressive Catholics argue that the reforms, while significant, do not go far enough. They see the inclusion of women in governance as a step in the right direction but believe the Church must also address the ordination question to achieve true gender equality.
[ Pope Francis is wrong to declare female priests a ‘closed question’Opens in new window ]
Conversely, conservative groups within the Church view these changes as a threat to tradition and doctrine, fearing they could lead to further departures from Catholic theological foundations.
This tension reflects a broader challenge for the Vatican: how to modernise without alienating its conservative base or undermining core teachings. The question remains whether these reforms signify a genuine commitment to inclusivity or are merely symbolic gestures aimed at appeasing critics.
The inclusion of women like Sr Raffaella Petrini in high-ranking roles could have far-reaching implications for the church’s future. As women take on more prominent positions, the church may be better equipped to engage with a world that increasingly promotes gender equality and inclusivity. These changes could inspire younger generations of Catholic women to see themselves as active participants in shaping the church’s future.
However, the pace of change remains slow, and systemic reforms seem distant. While Pope Francis’s efforts mark a turning point, they leave open the question of how far the church is willing to go in dismantling patriarchal structures. Will the inclusion of women in governance lead to deeper transformations, or will it remain a limited series of advancements within a rigid framework?
Sr Raffaella Petrini’s appointment as president of the Governorate of Vatican City State marks a significant step forward for women in the Catholic Church. It reflects Pope Francis’s vision of a more inclusive and representative Church while challenging centuries of male-dominated leadership. Yet, as important as this moment is, it also highlights the long road ahead.
As the church stands at a crossroads, so too does the papacy. Now in the 12th year of his tenure, Pope Francis has overseen an era of reform that has nudged open doors long thought closed.
But with speculation mounting over his health and the possibility of transition in Vatican leadership, the durability of these changes remains uncertain. Whether this moment signals the beginning of a deeper transformation or the closing of a chapter in the Church’s long history is a question only time will answer.
Dr Bronagh Ann McShane is a Research Fellow (VOICES) at the School of Histories and Humanities, Trinity College Dublin
