Vatican Appoints Female Personnel Chief, Advancing Reform Initiated by Cardinal Marx

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Paola Fanelli on April 1 as Director of the Directorate for Personnel of the Holy See, a role within the Secretariat for the Economy. She takes over responsibility for personnel policy across Vatican dicasteries.

There is no public record of her expressing views on Catholic teaching.

She brings a background in organizational change and human resources. Her institutional background is rooted within BNL BNP Paribas (banking). Notably, she took part, as a BNL representative, in a closed-door think tank in 2018 organized by UNICEF Italy.

Fanelli's position has, because of its unique weight, a somewhat unusual history.

On March 6, 2020, the Holy See Press Office announced that such an office had been established, in a reform effort backed by Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich.

But the next day, the same office clarified that it remained merely a proposal under consideration.

The idea stalled at the time, amid internal resistance and broader reform turbulence.

With the 2022 document 'Praedicate Evangelium', a Directorate for Personnel was formally established within the Secretariat for the Economy. In September 2022, Francis appointed Luis Herrera Tejedor as the first director of the newly created directorate.

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