As stated in the Bulletin, the Holy Father has therefore, arranged that the management team of the Vatican Covid-19 Commission be composed of Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery, Sister Alessandra Smerilli, and Father Fabio Baggio, the Undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section.
Born in 1974 in the town of Vasto, Abruzzo, Sister Smerilli has been the Under-secretary of the Dicastery since March 2021 and coordinator of the Economics Taskforce of the Vatican Commission Covid-19.
The nun, as secretary, therefore, takes the place of Monsignor Bruno-Marie Duffé, who left the Dicastery in July, while as a delegate of the Taskforce she replaces Father Augusto Zampini. The latter also left the Dicastery and returned to serve in his diocese of origin in Argentina.
“I am grateful to the Holy Father,” said Sister Smerilli, “for the challenging task he has called me to take on, and I pray the Lord will help me honor this call in a spirit of obedience to the Church, with the humility, passion, creativity and the listening skills that it requires. My desire and commitment are to be able to better serve the mission of the Church for the time that the Pope deems appropriate."
The nun, after thanking her superiors, said she was confident that she could “count on the spirit of communion and collaboration of the whole Dicastery, as well as of the many international partners who collaborate with the Covid Commission, for the integral promotion of the person and care of creation by promoting and developing those principles of the social doctrine of the Church to which Pope Francis constantly reminds us for the construction of a better world.”
Source: Vatican News
