Two women appointed to lead roles in Vatican office for laity and life
November 07, 2017
Pope Francis has appointed two women as undersecretaries in the new dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life.
Gabriella Gambino, a professor at the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute, will be the undersecretary for the section on life. Linda Ghisoni, who is now a judge on the marriage tribunal for the Rome diocese, will be undersecretary for the section on the laity.
The appointments, announced by the Vatican on November 7, help to begin filling out the personnel of the new Vatican office, which was formally established more than a year ago. The dicastery is headed by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, with Father Alexandre Awi Mello, a Brazilian priest of the Schönstatt community, as secretary. The office, created at the suggestion of the Council of Cardinals as one of the first major steps in the anticipated reform of the Roman Curia, combines the functions previously filled by the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Council for the Family.
Gabriella Gambino, who will head the section on life, is an expert on bioethics, received her doctorate from the University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. In addition to her work at the John Paul II Institute, she is an adjunct professor of bioethics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. She is married and has five children.
Linda Ghisoni holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University. She has worked in various capacities for tribunals of the Rome diocese and the Roman Rota, and with the Congregation for Divine Worship. She is married and has two children.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
