Who is the highest-ranking female official in the Catholic Church?: "Dear Yahoo!:
Who is the highest-ranking female official in the Catholic Church, and what is her title?
Timothy
San Diego, California
Dear Timothy:
Bishops, archbishops, and cardinals traditionally fill the Vatican's most important roles. Because women can't be ordained priests in the Catholic Church, the hierarchy's top positions aren't available to them. About 400 women work at the Vatican, but the majority of them are in administrative or clerical positions. In the U.S., about 48% of the administrative diocesan jobs are held by women.
So are any women near the top? A few. Mary Ann Glendon has been called 'the highest-ranking woman in the Catholic Church' by one archbishop. Glendon is a Harvard law professor, and in 2004, Pope John Paul II appointed her president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. This group studies economics, sociology, law, and political science to help the pontiff develop the church's social doctrines. Many consider Glendon to be the highest-ranking female adviser in the Catholic Church.
The most senior nun is probably Sister Enrica Rossana. In 2004, she became the third-ranking official in the Vatican office governing men and women in religious orders. No woman had held this post since it was created in the 16th century.
Also in 2004, the first-ever female theologians were appointed to the Vatican's International Theological Commission. Sister Sara Butler and Barbara Hallensleben are members of the most important theology group in Rome, one which former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, presided over for more than two decades."
