Doctor Silvia Monica Correale is an Argentine-Italian lawyer from

Rosario, Santa Fe Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most p ...

, Argentina. She is the first ever woman

Postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

in the Vatican City, having worked there since graduating from university.

Education

Corrale studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and then worked there as a professor of theology for three years. In 1988, she moved to Rome, Italy, to study for a degree in canon law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas and became a doctor in canon law after graduating from the Pontifical Lateran University "''

Summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

''". She has used her qualifications to speak to the media on behalf of the Vatican in relation to canon law.

Career

Corrale started working for the Holy See in 1992 as the Deputy Commissioner for the Defense of the Link in the Special Commission of Super Rato causes. She later came to be referred to as the "Decana de los Argentinos en Roma" (English: Dean of the Argentines in Rome) as she was the longest serving Argentine working in the Vatican City. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed her as the first female Postulator for the beatification department and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. One of her first cases involved the beatification of Vietnamese Cardinal, François-Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân. As Postulator, she has focused her attention on the beatification of potential Argentine saints, becoming recognised as the specialist Postulator for Argentine cases. Since her appointment, there have been a number of additional female Postulators appointed to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Correale, Silvia Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina alumni Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Pontifical Lateran University alumni Argentine expatriates in Italy Argentine women lawyers 20th-century Argentine lawyers Canon law jurists 20th-century women lawyers