Undersecretary

Flaminia Giovanelli was born in Rome on 24 May 1948.

She has attended l’Ecole Européenne de Bruxelles (1964/65) and earned a degree in Political Science from  the Università degli Studi of Rome in 1969. Subsequently, she earned degrees in Library Science from the Scuola di Biblioteconomia of theVatican Library (1972/1973), and in Religious Studies from the Pontificia Università Gregoriana (1985/86).

She is fluent in Italian, French, Spanish, English.

Since 1974 she has worked at the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, first as an Official, and then, since 1993, as Aiutante di Studio, following the themes related to development, poverty, and labour, in the context of the social doctrine of the Church. Since 2006, she has been a member of the Joint Working Group (the contact group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches).

In her many years in the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Dr. Giovanelli has followed the activities of international organizations, such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Council of Europe, on the themes related to poverty and social cohesion, the European Union, the Economic and Social Committee of the United Nations, and the Economic Commission for Europe. She has participated and followed closely the activities of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe, of the Bishops’ Social Commissions, and the National Commissions of Justice and Peace of Europe and of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE).

She has organized various conferences on behalf of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, including most recently: The University and the Social Doctrine of the Church, in collaboration with the Congregation for Catholic Education (November 2006); The Second World Congress of Ecclesial Organizations Working for Justice and Peace (November 2007); the Seminar entitled Politics: a demanding form of charity (June 2008); the Seminar of Experts prior to the Doha Conference on Financing for Development (November 2008). Dr. Giovanelli also oversaw the publication of the Informative Note following that Seminary, entitled A New International Pact (18 November 2009); finally, the Conference entitled Life, Family, and Development: The Role of Women in the Promotion of Human Rights (March 2009).

Flaminia Giovanelli is particularly known for welcoming the many individuals and groups, primarily from Europe, who visit the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

 Her numerous publications can be found in La Società, the Bulletin of the Cardinal Van Thuân International Observatory on the Social Doctrine of the Church, as well as in L’ Osservatore Romano. She presented numerous works, during Congresses and Conferences around the world, and has most recently published a work entitled La stella racconta. Una storia d’amore, in rima e colore (Edizioni Cantagalli, 2009), illustrated by Paola Bevicini, a collection of short stories for children explaining the mystery of Christmas.