Catia Summaria (born 1947) is an Italian lawyer, jurist and magistrate, who is Promoter of Justice in the

Court of Appeals An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...

of the

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

. She is the first woman to hold the position.

Career

Summaria is a lawyer, jurist and magistrate. From 1980 to 1989 she was a judicial auditor; she was subsequently appointed to the District Prosecutor's Office of Rome as deputy. In 2000 she was appointed deputy prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Ordinary Court of Rome, a role she held until 2011. She then was appointed deputy prosecutor of Rome's Court of Appeal, holding the position until 2017. In 2015 she was a member of the commission that reviewed reform of the Italian judicial system. On 5 February 2021 Summaria was appointed Promoter of Justice in the Vatican's Court of Appeals of the Vatican City. She is the first woman ever to hold the position. Her predecessor was

Raffaele Coppola Raffaele () is an Italian given name and surname, variant of the English Raphael (given name), Raphael. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Raffaele Amato (born 1965), Italian mobster *Raffaele Cutolo (1941–2021), Italian mobster * ...

( it), who left the role in April 2019. Her appointment was described by '' Crux Now'' as

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

' "ultimate sign of isseriousness about

women’s empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several method, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, equal status in society, ...

Personal life

Born in 1947 in

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, she is married with two daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summaria, Catia 1947 births Living people 21st-century Italian women lawyers 21st-century Italian lawyers 21st-century Italian jurists Italian magistrates Vatican City lawyers Vatican City women