| The secretary of state of His Holiness | |
|---|---|
| Secretarius Status Sanctitatis Suae Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità | |
 | |
| Secretariat of State | |
| Style | His Eminence |
| Member of | Roman Curia Council of Cardinals |
| Reports to | The pope |
| Appointer | The pope |
| Term length | No term length |
| Formation | 20 November 1551 |
| First holder | Girolamo Dandini |
| Unofficial names | Cardinal Secretary of State |
Thesecretary of state of His Holiness (Latin:Secretarius Status Sanctitatis Suae;Italian:Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità), also known as thecardinal secretary of state or theVatican secretary of state, presides over theSecretariat of State of theHoly See, the oldest and most importantdicastery of theRoman Curia.[1] The Secretariat of State performs all the political and diplomatic functions of the Holy See andVatican City. The secretary of state is sometimes described as theprime minister of the Holy See, but thehead of government of Vatican City is thePresident of the Governorate of Vatican City State.[2]
CardinalPietro Parolin has served as secretary of state since 2013, nominated byFrancis and temporarily confirmed also byLeo XIV in May 2025.[3]
The secretary of state is appointed by thepope, and serves as one of his principal advisors. As one of the senior offices in theRoman Catholic Church, the secretary is required to be acardinal. If the office is vacant, a someone other than a cardinal may serve asprovisional 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 subsequentconsistory.[4]
The secretary's term ends when the pope who appointed him dies or leaves office. During thesede vacante period, the former secretary acts as a member of a commission with thecamerlengo of the Holy Roman Church and the formerpresident of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, which exercises some of the functions of thehead 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.[4]
The office traces its origins to that ofsecretarius intimus, created byPope Leo X in the early 16th century to handle correspondence with thediplomatic 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 theCardinal Nephew, the pope's confidant usually taken from his family.
The imprudence ofPope Julius III in entrusting the office of cardinal nephew to his alleged loverInnocenzo 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 ofPope Innocent X the secretary of state was always himself a cardinal, andPope 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 byPope Gregory XVI in 1833 at the request ofTommaso Bernetti, then secretary of state, reducing the workload of the secretary of state.[5]
In 1968,Pope Paul VI's apostolic constitutionRegimini Ecclesiae Universae further enhanced the powers of the secretary of state, placing him over all the other departments of theRoman Curia. In 1973 Pope Paul further broadened the secretaryship by abolishing the ancient office ofChancellor of the Holy Roman Church and merging its functions into those of the secretary of state.
| No.[6] | Name | From | Until | First appointer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Giovanni Giacomo Panciroli (1587–1651) | 15 September 1644 | 3 September 1651 † | Innocent X |
| 2 |  | Fabio Chigi (1599–1667) | 3 December 1652 | 7 January 1655 | |
| 3 |  | Giulio Rospigliosi (1600–1669) | 7 April 1655 | 22 May 1667 | Alexander VII |
| 4 |  | Decio Azzolino (1623–1689) | 25 June 1667 | 9 December 1669 | Clement IX |
| 5 |  | Federico Borromeo (1617–1673) | 11 May 1670 | 18 February 1673 † | Clement X |
| 6 |  | Francesco Nerli (1636–1708) | 1 August 1673 | 22 July 1676 | |
| 7 |  | Alderano Cybo-Malaspina (1613–1700) | 23 September 1676 | 12 August 1689 | Innocent XI |
| 8 | %2c_RP-P-1909-5583.jpg) | Giambattista Rubini (1642–1707) | 6 October 1689 | 1 February 1691 | Alexander VIII |
| 9 |  | Fabrizio Spada (1643–1717) | 14 July 1691 | 27 September 1700 | Innocent XII |
| 10 |  | Fabrizio Paolucci (1651–1726) | 3 December 1700 | 19 March 1721 | Clement XI |
| 11 |  | Giorgio Spinola (1667–1739) | 10 May 1721 | 7 March 1724 | Innocent XIII |
| 12 (10) | | Fabrizio Paolucci (1651–1726) | 6 June 1724 | 12 June 1726 † | Benedict XIII |
| 13 |  | Niccolò Maria Lercari (1675–1757) | 21 June 1726 | 21 February 1730 | |
| 14 |  | Antonio Banchieri (1667–1733) | 15 July 1730 | 16 September 1733 † | Clement XII |
| 15 |  | Giuseppe Firrao the Elder (1670–1744) | 4 October 1733 | 6 February 1740 | |
| 16 |  | Silvio Valenti Gonzaga (1690–1756) | 20 August 1740 | 28 August 1756 † | Benedict XIV |
| 17 |  | Alberico Archinto (1698–1758) | 20 September 1756 | 30 September 1758 † | |
| 18 |  | Ludovico Maria Torriggiani (1697–1777) | 8 October 1758 | 2 February 1769 | Clement XIII |
| 19 |  | Lazzaro Opizio Pallavicini (1719–1785) | 19 May 1769 | 23 February 1785 † | Clement XIV |
| 20 |  | Ignazio Gaetano Boncompagni Ludovisi (1743–1790) | 29 June 1785 | 30 September 1789 | Pius VI |
| 21 | .jpg) | Francesco Saverio de Zelada (1717–1801) | 14 October 1789 | 10 February 1796 | |
| 22 |  | Ignazio Busca (1731–1803) | 9 August 1796 | 18 March 1797 | |
| 23 |  | Giuseppe Maria Doria Pamphilj (1751–1816) | 18 March 1797 | 29 August 1799 | |
| 24 | _-_Ercole%2c_Cardinal_Consalvi_(1757-1824)_-_RCIN_404940_-_Royal_Collection.jpg) | Ercole Consalvi (1757–1824) | 11 August 1800 | 17 June 1806 | Pius VII |
| 25 |  | Filippo Casoni (1733–1811) | 17 June 1806 | 2 February 1808 | |
| 26 |  | Giulio Gabrielli the Younger (1748–1822) | 26 March 1808 | 26 July 1814 | |
| 27 (24) | | Ercole Consalvi (1757–1824) | 26 July 1814 | 20 August 1823 | |
| 28 |  | Giulio Maria della Somaglia (1744–1830) | 28 September 1823 | 17 January 1828 | Leo XII |
| 29 |  | Tommaso Bernetti (1779–1852) | 17 January 1828 | 10 February 1829 | |
| 30 |  | Giuseppe Albani (1750–1834) | 31 March 1829 | 30 November 1830 | Pius VIII |
| 31 (29) | | Tommaso Bernetti (1779–1852) | 21 February 1831 | 12 January 1836 | Gregory XVI |
| 32 |  | Luigi Lambruschini (1776–1854) | 12 January 1836 | 1 June 1846 | |
| 33 |  | Tommaso Pasquale Gizzi (1787–1849) | 8 August 1846 | 5 July 1847 | Pius IX |
| 34 |  | Gabriele Ferretti (1795–1860) | 17 July 1847 | 1 February 1848 | |
| 35 |  | Giuseppe Bofondi (1795–1867) | 1 February 1848 | 10 March 1848 | |
| 36 | _(14782675065).jpg) | Giacomo Antonelli (1806–1876) | 10 March 1848 | 4 May 1848 | |
| 37 |  | Antonio Francesco Orioli (1778–1852) | 4 May 1848 | 2 June 1848 | |
| 38 |  | Giovanni Soglia Ceroni (1779–1856) | 4 June 1848 | 29 November 1848 | |
| 39 (36) | | Giacomo Antonelli (1806–1876) | 29 November 1848 | 6 November 1876 † | |
| 40 |  | Giovanni Simeoni (1816–1892) | 18 December 1876 | 5 March 1878 | |
| 41 | .jpg) | Alessandro Franchi (1819–1878) | 5 March 1878 | 31 July 1878 † | Leo XIII |
| 42 |  | Lorenzo Nina (1812–1885) | 9 August 1878 | 16 December 1880 | |
| 43 |  | Luigi Jacobini (1832–1887) | 16 December 1880 | 28 February 1887 † | |
| 44 |  | Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro (1843–1913) | 2 July 1887 | 20 July 1903 | |
| 45 |  | Rafael Merry del Val (1865–1930) | 12 November 1903 | 20 August 1914 | Pius X |
| 46 |  | Domenico Ferrata (1847–1914) | 4 September 1914 | 10 October 1914 † | Benedict XV |
| 47 |  | Pietro Gasparri (1852–1934) | 13 October 1914 | 7 February 1930 | |
| 48 |  | Eugenio Pacelli (1876–1958) | 9 February 1930 | 10 February 1939 | Pius XI |
| 49 |  | Luigi Maglione (1877–1944) | 10 March 1939 | 22 August 1944 † | Pius XII |
| Office vacant[7] | |||||
| 50 |  | Domenico Tardini (1888–1961) | 15 December 1958 | 30 July 1961 † | John XXIII |
| 51 | .jpg) | Amleto Giovanni Cicognani (1883–1973) | 12 August 1961 | 30 April 1969 | |
| 52 |  | Jean-Marie Villot (1905–1979) | 2 May 1969 | 9 March 1979 † | Paul VI |
| 53 | .jpg) | Agostino Casaroli (1914–1998) | 1 July 1979 | 1 December 1990 | John Paul II |
| 54 |  | Angelo Sodano (1927–2022) | 29 June 1991 | 15 September 2006 | |
| 55 |  | Tarcisio Bertone (b. 1934) | 15 September 2006 | 15 October 2013 | Benedict XVI |
| 56 | -1(cropped).jpg) | Pietro Parolin (b. 1955) | 15 October 2013 | Incumbent | Francis |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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