María Lía Zervino (born 1951 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

) is an Argentinian

consecrated virgin In the Catholic Church, a consecrated virgin is a woman who has been consecrated by the church to a life of perpetual virginity as a bride of Christ. Consecrated virgins are consecrated by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical ...

and a sociologist. Being a member of the ''Asociación de Vírgenes Consagradas Servidoras'' ("Association of Consecrated Virgin Servants") she served as President General of th
World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations
from 2018 to 2023, an Association of the Christian faithful which was erected by the Holy See in 2006.

Life

María Lía Zervino studied at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina where she received her PhD in sociology. In the Argentinian Diocese of Mar del Plata she was head of the National Commission for Justice and Peace of the Argentine Bishops' Conference. She is also a consultant to the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and teaches at the Argentine

Theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

Faculty in

. In 2019, she was elected to the World Council of Religions for Peace. In March 2021, she wrote an open letter to Pope Francis in which she – besides thanking him for his statements in ''

Laudato si' ''Laudato si'' (''Praise Be to You'') is the second encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on care for our common home". In it, the Pope criticizes consumerism and irresponsible economic development, laments environmental degradation and gl ...

'', '' Amoris laetitia'' and ''

Fratelli tutti ''Fratelli tutti'' (''All Brothers'') is the third encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on fraternity and social friendship"; it was released in 2020. In the document, Francis states that the way the COVID-19 pandemic was managed by world co ...

'' – expressed her concern that "not enough progress has been made in taking advantage of the wealth of women who make up a large part of the

People of God ''People of God'' () is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to refer to the Israelites and used in Christianity to refer to Christians. In the Bible Hebrew Bible and Old Testament In the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the Israelites are referred ...

". Zervino also wrote about her "dream of a Church that has suitable women as judges in all the courts in which matrimonial cases are processed, in the formation teams of each

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

and for exercising ministries such as listening, spiritual direction, pastoral health care, care for the planet, defence of

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, etc., for which, by our nature, women are equally or sometimes better prepared than men." On 13 July 2022,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

elected her as a member of the Vatican's

Dicastery for Bishops The Dicastery for Bishops, formerly named Congregation for Bishops (), is the congregation (Roman Curia), department of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church that oversees the selection of most new bishops. Its proposals require pope, papal app ...

. Alongside with two religious sisters,

Raffaella Petrini Raffaella Petrini (born 15 January 1969) is an Italian Catholic religious sister who has served as president of the Pontifical Commission and Governorate of Vatican City State since March 2025. She was Secretary General of the Governorate of V ...

and

Yvonne Reungoat Yvonne Reungoat (born 14 January 1945 in Plouénan, France) is a French religious sister, who is a former Superior General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. In July 2022, she has been appointed as a member in the Vatican's Dicastery f ...

, Zervino belongs to the first three women to be elected as members of the dicastery, which is responsible for identifying new, future bishops. On December 13, 2024, Pope Francis appointed her a member of the XVI Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, making her one of four members he appointed and, along with Sr. Simona Brambilla, one of the first two women appointed to that role.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zervino, María Lía 1951 births Living people People from Buenos Aires Women officials of the Roman Curia