Pope Francis on Wednesday named the first woman to hold a high-ranking post in the Secretariat of State, the male-dominated Vatican's diplomatic and administrative nerve center.
Italian lay woman Francesca Di Giovanni, 66, will assume a newly created post in a division known as the Section for Relations with States where she takes the rank of under-secretary, effectively one of two deputy foreign ministers.
The Roman Catholic Church allows only men to be ordained as priests and women have traditionally been consigned to the shadows of its administration.