Raffaella Petrini, FSE (born 15 January 1969) is an Italian Catholic religious sister who has served as Secretary General of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State since 2021. She is the first woman to hold the position and one of the highest-ranking officials at the Vatican. She is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist.

She was born in Rome on 15 January 1969^[1] and graduated with a degree in Political Science from the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli of Rome. She received a doctorate from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), where she was later appointed professor of Welfare Economics and Sociology of Economic Processes.^[2][3] She also studied organizational behavior at the University of Hartford (Connecticut), receiving a masters degree in 2001.^[4]

From 2005 to 2021 she has worked on the staff of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.^[2]

On 4 November 2021, Pope Francis appointed her to be the first woman to hold the office of Secretary General of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.^[5] He noted that since she held the number two position in the governorship of Vatican City, Petrini had become the highest-ranking woman in the world's smallest state.^[6]

On 13 July 2022, Pope Francis appointed women as members of the Dicastery for Bishops for the first time, including Petrini, Yvonne Reungoat, and María Lía Zervino.^[7][8]

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