Cardinal Secretary of State

Secretary of State of His Holiness
*Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità*
Secretary of State of His Holiness ; Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità
	Coat of arms of the Holy See
	Incumbent; Pietro Parolin; since 15 October 2013
	Secretariat of State
Style	His Eminence
Type	Head of government
Member of	Roman Curia; Council of Cardinals
Reports to	The Pope
Appointer	The Pope
Term length	Appointment of a new Pope
Formation	20 November 1551
First holder	Girolamo Dandini
Unofficial names	Cardinal Secretary of State

The Secretary of State of His Holiness (Italian: Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità), commonly known as the Cardinal Secretary of State, is in charge over the Holy See's Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia.^[1] The Secretariat of State is seen as the prime minister of the Holy See.^[2]

Cardinal Pietro Parolin has served as secretary of state since 2013, nominated by Francis and temporarily confirmed also by Leo XIV in May 2025.^[3]

List

Secretaries of State between 1551 and 1644

Girolamo Dandini (1551–1555)
Carlo Borromeo (1560–1565)
Tolomeo Gallio (1565–1566)
Girolamo Rusticucci (1566–1572)
Tolomeo Gallio (again) (1572–1585)
Decio Azzolini (seniore) (1585–1587)
Alessandro Peretti di Montalto (Cardinal-Nephew) (1587–1590)
Paolo Emilio Sfondrati (Cardinal-Nephew) (1591)
Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti de Nuce (Cardinal-Nephew) (1591)
Pierbenedetto Peretti (1592–1593)
Pietro Aldobrandini (Cardinal-Nephew) and Cinzio Passeri Aldobrandini (Cardinal-Nephew) (1593–1605)
Roberto Ubaldini (1605)
Erminio Valenti (1605)
Lanfranco Margotti (1605–1611)
Porifrio Feliciani (1611–1621)
Giovanni Battista Agucchi (1621–1623)
Lorenzo Magalotti (1623–1628)
Lorenzo Azzolini (1628–1632)
Pietro Benessa (1632–1634)
Francesco Adriano Ceva (1634–1643)
Giovanni Battista Spada (1643–1644)

Cardinal Secretaries of State since 1644

No.^[4]	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	Innocent X
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	Clement X
7	Alderano Cybo-Malaspina (1613–1700)	23 September 1676	12 August 1689	Innocent XI
8	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	Benedict XIII
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	Clement XII
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 †	Benedict XIV
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	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 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	Leo XII
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	Gregory XVI
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	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	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	Benedict XV
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^[5]
50	Domenico Tardini (1888–1961)	15 December 1958	30 July 1961 †	John XXIII
51	Amleto Giovanni Cicognani (1883–1973)	12 August 1961	30 April 1969	John XXIII
52	Jean-Marie Villot (1905–1979)	2 May 1969	9 March 1979 †	Paul VI
53	Agostino Casaroli (1914–1998)	1 July 1979	1 December 1990	John Paul II
54	Angelo Sodano (1927–2022)	29 June 1991	15 September 2006	John Paul II
55	Tarcisio Bertone (b. 1934)	15 September 2006	15 October 2013	Benedict XVI
56	Pietro Parolin (b. 1955)	15 October 2013	Incumbent	Francis

References

↑ "Profile: The Secretariat of State". The Holy See. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
↑ "The Vatican's secretary of state visits Moscow for the first time in 19 years". The Economist. 25 August 2017. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ Catholic Hierarchy
↑ 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.

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[profile-1] "Profile: The Secretariat of State". The Holy See. Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2007.

[2] "The Vatican's secretary of state visits Moscow for the first time in 19 years". The Economist. 25 August 2017. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 26 August 2017.

[3] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[4] Catholic Hierarchy

[5] 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.

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