Francesca Di Giovanni (born 24 March 1953), is an

Italia Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

n lawyer who has worked in the Secretariat of State of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

since 1993. In January 2020 she was appointed by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

to serve as the Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs in the

Section for Relations with States The Section for Relations with States or Second Section of the Secretariat of State is the body within the Roman Curia charged with dealing with matters that involve relations with civil governments. It has been part of the Vatican Secretariat o ...

, becoming the first woman to hold a managerial position in that branch of the Roman Curia.

Biography

Di Giovanni was born on 24 March 1953 in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. She studied law and completed her training as a notary. She then worked in the administration of the international center of the

Focolare Movement The Focolare Movement is an international organization that promotes the ideals of unity and universal brotherhood. Founded in Trent, northern Italy, in 1943 by Chiara Lubich as a Catholic movement, it remains largely Roman Catholic but has ...

. On 15 September 1993, she joined the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, where she worked in the field of multilateral relations. Her responsibilities included refugee and migration issues as well as international human rights, communications, private law, the position of women, copyright issues, and tourism. On 15 January 2020,

appointed her an Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs in the

of the Secretariat of State. She is the first woman and the first lay person to hold a managerial position in the Secretariat of State, a position normally reserved for a member of the clergy. Her responsibilities include the Holy See's interests in intergovernmental organizations and international treaties, while the bilateral sector is headed by another undersecretary, Mirosław Wachowski, a Polish cleric.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Giovanni, Francesca Di Living people 1953 births 20th-century Italian lawyers 20th-century women lawyers 21st-century Italian lawyers 21st-century women lawyers Italian Roman Catholics Italian women lawyers Jurists from Palermo Women officials of the Roman Curia