{"id":8592,"date":"2021-11-06T06:01:14","date_gmt":"2021-11-06T06:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hamslivenews.com\/?p=8592"},"modified":"2021-11-06T06:01:14","modified_gmt":"2021-11-06T06:01:14","slug":"italian-nun-raffaella-petrini-becomes-highest-ranking-woman-in-vatican","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hamslive.com\/news\/2021\/11\/italian-nun-raffaella-petrini-becomes-highest-ranking-woman-in-vatican\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian nun Raffaella Petrini becomes highest ranking woman in Vatican"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Pope Francis has taken another big decision to strengthen gender equality with the appointment of Franciscan sister Raffaella Petrini.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
The Italian nun Raffaella Petrini was made the new secretary-general of the governorate, making her the first woman to ever hold the post, an appointment by Pope Francis\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

The appointment of the 52-year-old nun is\u00a0comparable to being deputy governor of a state or deputy mayor of a city. The Governorate, based in a large palace in the middle of Vatican City, oversees more than 2,000 employees.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis appoints Franciscan Sr. Raffaella Petrini as the new Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi as Deputy Secretary-General Italian lawyer. https:\/\/t.co\/JzevTQZk9W<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Vatican News (@VaticanNews) November 4, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, who exactly is Raffaella Petrini, and is this selection so important to the church?<\/h3>\n
\n
\u00a0Who is Raffaella Petrini<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Vatican News<\/em> details facts about Sister Raffaella Petrini stating she is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, has been serving as an official at the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples since 2005.<\/p>\n

The nun, who was born in Rome on 15 January 1969, holds a degree from LUISS \u2014 a prestigious business university.<\/p>\n

She also holds a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum), where she is currently a professor.<\/p>\n

Her new job has been traditionally handled by a bishop and what does this new position entail?<\/p>\n

She will be in charge of overseeing administrative operations, including the Vatican museums, the post office, and the police.<\/p>\n

Pope Francis<\/a> has regularly sought to elevate women emphasizing that he wants women to operate a far huger role in the Church.<\/p>\n

In August, the Pope appointed another nun, Sister Alessandra Smerilli, as the interim Secretary of the Vatican’s development office, which deals with justice and peace issues.<\/p>\n

He named Nathalie Becquart, a French member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters, as co-undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, a department that prepares major meetings of world bishops held every few years in February.<\/p>\n

Also in February, he named Italian magistrate Catia Summaria as the first woman Promoter of Justice in the Vatican’s Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n

Bible Scholars’ Controversies about Women’s Role In the Church<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the Bible, women have been powerful contributors, right from the Book of Genesis and there is no indication of the negation of women, but rather more in interpretation and representation by scholars who wish to present their views.<\/p>\n

According to the Book of Judges, Deborah was a prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, a great female judge mentioned in the Bible.\u00a0 While much may not have been recorded or emphasized, women have contributed much to the ministry of the Church throughout its history.<\/p>\n

Over the ages, much controversy has emerged on the role of women primarily set off by m Bible scholars. While the New Testament says comparatively little about ordination, it distinctly reveals that the early church had a diverse and dedicated ministry arising from the fact that all of God\u2019s people were \u201cgifted\u201d by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of building up one another (see, for example, 1 Corinthians 12:4\u201331; 14:1\u201319; Romans 12:3\u20138; Ephesians 4:7\u201316; 1 Peter 4:8\u201311). Any person could exercise ministry (which means, remember, service) who was called and gifted by God and affirmed by the Church.<\/p>\n

Some were set apart in leadership positions and some were assigned specific tasks to accomplish, but the differences among ministries were not elevated on pedestals and each role was given great dignity.\u00a0 There was never supposed to be a hierarchy as it is today.<\/p>\n

Apostle Paul said in Galatians 3:28:\u00a0 28 “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”<\/em> clearly signifying the equality of all with no hierarchy.<\/p>\n

No person, called and gifted by God, should be denied any role of ministry or leadership in the Church because of one\u2019s gender.<\/p>\n

There was Equality in Creation<\/strong><\/h3>\n

First, man (‘adam), a generic term meaning the \u201chuman person,\u201d is created in God\u2019s very own image (Genesis 1:26\u201327; 5:1\u20132). This creation in God\u2019s image includes the identification of persons as male and female. This exchange of women and men provides no suggestion of male headship or female submission.<\/p>\n

Second, this exchange is established by the fact that both the man and the woman together, without distinction, are energized and given great responsibility for all of God\u2019s creation (Genesis 1:26, 28). This equal partnership between man and woman is also present in the retelling of the creation story in Genesis 2.<\/p>\n

Earlier, man is found in need of a companion, but none of the creatures God has created qualify (Genesis 2:18\u201320). Thus, God differentiates man (‘adam) into man (‘ish) and woman (‘ishshah), persons of separate male and female gender identity. The point of such a provision of companionship is to relate the male and female persons as equals, indicated by the common designations (‘ish\/’ishshah; the same word root) and the common identity of bone and flesh (Genesis 2:23). This is completed with the concept of mutuality expressed in the \u201cone flesh\u201d language (Genesis 2:24).<\/p>\n

Some have interpreted Genesis 2:23, in which the man (‘ish) calls the \u201cbones of my bones and flesh of my flesh\u201d woman (‘ishshah), as an act of naming that demonstrates the headship or authority of man over woman. However, that type of description does not happen until after the Fall when \u201cAdam named his wife Eve\u201d(Genesis 3:20).<\/p>\n

Genesis 2 also indicates that the woman partner with the man will be an appropriate \u201chelper\u201d (Genesis 2:18). The word \u201chelper\u201d (‘ezer), when used of a person in the Old Testament, always refers to God (in 29 places) apart from one reference to David. The word \u201chelper,\u201d then, is not to be understood as an expression of submission and service to man; rather, the woman as helper serves God with man.<\/p>\n

The woman and man sin together (Genesis 3:1\u20137).\u00a0 \u00a0The serpent speaks to the woman using the plural \u201cyou.\u201d Genesis 3:6 states that the woman \u201cgave some [of the fruit] to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.\u201d The fact that the man was with her (a phrase sometimes omitted from English translations!) indicates that both partners are mutually together involved in disobedience to God. This is also seen by the fact that it is after both ate that it is said: \u201cThen the eyes of both of them were opened\u201d (Genesis 3:7).<\/p>\n

The statements of judgment for disobedience (Genesis 3:14\u201319) are descriptive ones of future realities, which involved a supremacy\/subjection relationship between man and woman. These statements are not creation mandates; rather, the relationship of mutuality, partnership, and equality portrayed in Genesis 1:1\u20133:7 is now sadly marred by sin.<\/p>\n

In understanding the concepts of equality of women, women need to be given a greater role in the church, and Pope Francis’ decisions in this direction are highly praiseworthy.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t <\/div><\/div>\n\t\t