Cardinal Secretary of State

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox official post Template:Politics of Vatican City The secretary of state of His Holiness (Template:Langx; Template:Langx), also known as the cardinal secretary of state or the Vatican secretary of state, presides over the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia.<ref name="profile">Template:Cite web</ref> The Secretariat of State performs all the political and diplomatic functions of the Holy See and Vatican City. The secretary of state is sometimes described as the prime minister of the Holy See, but the head of government of Vatican City is the President of the Governorate of Vatican City State.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Cardinal Pietro Parolin has served as secretary of state since 2013, nominated by Francis and temporarily confirmed also by Leo XIV in May 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Duties

The secretary of state is appointed by the pope, and serves as one of his principal advisors. As one of the senior offices in the Roman Catholic Church, the secretary is required to be a cardinal. If the office is vacant, a someone other than a cardinal may serve as provisional secretary of state, exercising the powers of the secretary of state until a suitable replacement is found or the pro-secretary is made a cardinal in a subsequent consistory.<ref name="auto">Template:Cite web</ref>

The secretary's term ends when the pope who appointed him dies or leaves office. During the sede vacante period, the former secretary acts as a member of a commission with the camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church and the former president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, which exercises some of the functions of the head of state of the Vatican City State until a new pope is elected. Once the new pope is chosen, the former secretary's role in the commission likewise expires, though he can be re-appointed as secretary of state.<ref name="auto"/>

History

The office traces its origins to that of secretarius intimus, created by Pope Leo X in the early 16th century to handle correspondence with the diplomatic missions of the Holy See, which were just beginning to become permanent postings instead of missions sent on particular occasions. At this stage the secretary was a fairly minor functionary, the papal administration being led by the Cardinal Nephew, the pope's confidant usually taken from his family.

The imprudence of Pope Julius III in entrusting the office of cardinal nephew to his alleged lover Innocenzo Ciocchi Del Monte, a teenaged, virtually illiterate street urchin whom his brother had adopted a few years earlier, led to an upgrading of the secretary's job, as the incumbent had to take over the duties the cardinal nephew was unfit for. By the time of Pope Innocent X the secretary of state was always himself a cardinal, and Pope Innocent XII abolished the office of cardinal nephew in 1692. From then onward the secretary of state has been the most important of the officials of the Holy See.

The separate position of Cardinal Secretary for Internal State Affairs was created by Pope Gregory XVI in 1833 at the request of Tommaso Bernetti, then secretary of state, reducing the workload of the secretary of state.<ref>Pope Gregory XVI, Chirografo Avendoci Ella, in Italian, issued on 20 February 1833, accessed on 2 November 2024</ref>

In 1968, Pope Paul VI's apostolic constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae further enhanced the powers of the secretary of state, placing him over all the other departments of the Roman Curia. In 1973 Pope Paul further broadened the secretaryship by abolishing the ancient office of Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and merging its functions into those of the secretary of state.

List

Secretaries of state between 1551 and 1644

Cardinal secretaries of state since 1644

No.<ref>Catholic Hierarchy</ref> Name From Until First appointer
1 File:Giovanni Giacomo Panziroli.jpg Giovanni Giacomo Panciroli
Template:Small 		15 September 1644 3 September 1651 † Innocent X
2 File:Fabio Chigi.PNG Fabio Chigi
Template:Small 		3 December 1652 7 January 1655
3 File:Morandi Giovanni Maria - Ritratto del cardinale Giulio Rospigliosi, 1667, Inventario n. 5059.jpg Giulio Rospigliosi
Template:Small 		7 April 1655 22 May 1667 Alexander VII
4 File:Ritratto del cardinale Decio Azzolino - Voet.jpg Decio Azzolino
Template:Small 		25 June 1667 9 December 1669 Clement IX
5 File:Federico Borromeo il Giovane.jpg Federico Borromeo
Template:Small 		11 May 1670 18 February 1673 † Clement X
6 File:Cardinal Francesco Nerli by Ferdinand Voet.jpg Francesco Nerli
Template:Small 		1 August 1673 22 July 1676
7 File:Carlo Maratta - Portrait of cardinal Alderano Cybo.jpg Alderano Cybo-Malaspina
Template:Small 		23 September 1676 12 August 1689 Innocent XI
8 File:Portret van kardinaal Giambattista Rubini Ioannes Baptista S.R.E. die XIII febrvarii MDCXC (titel op object), RP-P-1909-5583.jpg Giambattista Rubini
Template:Small 		6 October 1689 1 February 1691 Alexander VIII
9 File:Fabrizio Spada.jpg Fabrizio Spada
Template:Small 		14 July 1691 27 September 1700 Innocent XII
10 File:Fabrizio Paolucci.jpg Fabrizio Paolucci
Template:Small 		3 December 1700 19 March 1721 Clement XI
11 File:Giorgio Spinola.jpg Giorgio Spinola
Template:Small 		10 May 1721 7 March 1724 Innocent XIII
12
(10) 		File:Fabrizio Paolucci.jpg Fabrizio Paolucci
Template:Small 		6 June 1724 12 June 1726 † Benedict XIII
13 File:Niccolò Maria Lercari.jpg Niccolò Maria Lercari
Template:Small 		21 June 1726 21 February 1730
14 File:Antonio Banchieri.jpg Antonio Banchieri
Template:Small 		15 July 1730 16 September 1733 † Clement XII
15 File:Giuseppe Firrao il Vecchio.JPG Giuseppe Firrao the Elder
Template:Small 		4 October 1733 6 February 1740
16 File:Subleyras cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga.jpg Silvio Valenti Gonzaga
Template:Small 		20 August 1740 28 August 1756 † Benedict XIV
17 File:Alberico Archinto-Anton Raphael Mengs-MBA Lyon H687-IMG 0448.jpg Alberico Archinto
Template:Small 		20 September 1756 30 September 1758 †
18 File:Ludovico Maria Torrigiani.JPG Ludovico Maria Torriggiani
Template:Small 		8 October 1758 2 February 1769 Clement XIII
19 File:Lazzaro Opizio Pallavicini2.jpg Lazzaro Opizio Pallavicini
Template:Small 		19 May 1769 23 February 1785 † Clement XIV
20 File:Ignazio Boncompagni Ludovisi.jpg Ignazio Gaetano Boncompagni Ludovisi
Template:Small 		29 June 1785 30 September 1789 Pius VI
21 File:Anton Raphael Mengs - Bildnis des Kardinals Zelada (Art Institute of Chicago).jpg Francesco Saverio de Zelada
Template:Small 		14 October 1789 10 February 1796
22 File:Ignazio Busca.jpg Ignazio Busca
Template:Small 		9 August 1796 18 March 1797
23 File:Giuseppe Maria Doria Pamphilj.jpg Giuseppe Maria Doria Pamphilj
Template:Small 		18 March 1797 29 August 1799
24 File:Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - Ercole, Cardinal Consalvi (1757-1824) - RCIN 404940 - Royal Collection.jpg Ercole Consalvi
Template:Small 		11 August 1800 17 June 1806 Pius VII
25 File:Kardinal Filippo Casoni.jpg Filippo Casoni
Template:Small 		17 June 1806 2 February 1808
26 File:Giulio Gabrielli.jpg Giulio Gabrielli the Younger
Template:Small 		26 March 1808 26 July 1814
27
(24) 		File:Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - Ercole, Cardinal Consalvi (1757-1824) - RCIN 404940 - Royal Collection.jpg Ercole Consalvi
Template:Small 		26 July 1814 20 August 1823
28 File:Giulio Maria della Somaglia.JPG Giulio Maria della Somaglia
Template:Small 		28 September 1823 17 January 1828 Leo XII
29 File:Cardinale Bernetti.jpg Tommaso Bernetti
Template:Small 		17 January 1828 10 February 1829
30 File:Cardinale Giuseppe Albani.jpg Giuseppe Albani
Template:Small 		31 March 1829 30 November 1830 Pius VIII
31
(29) 		File:Cardinale Bernetti.jpg Tommaso Bernetti
Template:Small 		21 February 1831 12 January 1836 Gregory XVI
32 File:Luigi Cradinal Lambruschini.jpg Luigi Lambruschini
Template:Small 		12 January 1836 1 June 1846
33 File:Pasquale Gizzi.jpg Tommaso Pasquale Gizzi
Template:Small 		8 August 1846 5 July 1847 Pius IX
34 File:Podesti Ritratto del cardinal Ferretti.JPG Gabriele Ferretti
Template:Small 		17 July 1847 1 February 1848
35 File:Cardinale Giuseppe Bofondi.jpg Giuseppe Bofondi
Template:Small 		1 February 1848 10 March 1848
36 File:Italy in the nineteenth century and the making of Austria-Hungary and Germany (1898) (14782675065).jpg Giacomo Antonelli
Template:Small 		10 March 1848 4 May 1848
37 File:Antonio Francesco Orioli.jpg Antonio Francesco Orioli
Template:Small 		4 May 1848 2 June 1848
38 File:Giovanni Soglia Ceroni.jpg Giovanni Soglia Ceroni
Template:Small 		4 June 1848 29 November 1848
39
(36) 		File:Italy in the nineteenth century and the making of Austria-Hungary and Germany (1898) (14782675065).jpg Giacomo Antonelli
Template:Small 		29 November 1848 6 November 1876 †
40 File:Kardinal Giovanni Simeoni, 1878.jpg Giovanni Simeoni
Template:Small 		18 December 1876 5 March 1878
41 File:Alessandro Franchi (cropped).jpg Alessandro Franchi
Template:Small 		5 March 1878 31 July 1878 † Leo XIII
42 File:Lorenzo Nina.jpg Lorenzo Nina
Template:Small 		9 August 1878 16 December 1880
43 File:Lodovico Jacobini.jpg Luigi Jacobini
Template:Small 		16 December 1880 28 February 1887 †
44 File:Laszlo - Cardinal Mariano Rampolla.jpg Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro
Template:Small 		2 July 1887 20 July 1903
45 File:Rafael Merry del Val3.jpg Rafael Merry del Val
Template:Small 		12 November 1903 20 August 1914 Pius X
46 File:Domenico Ferrata2.jpg Domenico Ferrata
Template:Small 		4 September 1914 10 October 1914 † Benedict XV
47 File:Pietro Gasparri.jpg Pietro Gasparri
Template:Small 		13 October 1914 7 February 1930
48 File:Mgr. Pacelli, Papal Nuncio LCCN2014716384.jpg Eugenio Pacelli
Template:Small 		9 February 1930 10 February 1939 Pius XI
49 File:Cardinal Maglione.JPG Luigi Maglione
Template:Small 		10 March 1939 22 August 1944 † Pius XII
Office vacant<ref>Pope Pius XII, having been the Secretary of State under Pope Pius XI, did not name a Secretary after the death of Cardinal Maglione in 1944. Beneath his direct supervision, the duties were divided between two protonotaries apostolic, Domenico Tardini and Giovanni Battista Montini, who in 1952 were both named Pro-Secretary of State, for Extraordinary and Ordinary affairs respectively. In 1954 Montini (the future Pope Paul VI) was appointed Archbishop of Milan, thus leaving the Roman Curia.</ref>
50 File:Monsignor Domenico Tardini.jpg Domenico Tardini
Template:Small 		15 December 1958 30 July 1961 † John XXIII
51 File:CICOGNANI AMLETO GIOVANNI (+1973).jpg Amleto Giovanni Cicognani
Template:Small 		12 August 1961 30 April 1969
52 File:Jean-Marie Villot 1978.jpg Jean-Marie Villot
Template:Small 		2 May 1969 9 March 1979 † Paul VI
53 File:Agostino Casaroli - S M de Medellin (cropped).jpg Agostino Casaroli
Template:Small 		1 July 1979 1 December 1990 John Paul II
54 File:Angelo Cardinal Sodano.jpg Angelo Sodano
Template:Small 		29 June 1991 15 September 2006
55 File:Tarcisio Bertone.jpg Tarcisio Bertone
Template:Small 		15 September 2006 15 October 2013 Benedict XVI
56 File:Ināra Mūrniece tiekas ar Svētā Krēsla Valsts sekretāru (26363562894)-1(cropped).jpg Pietro Parolin
Template:Small 		15 October 2013 Incumbent Francis

See also

References

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