Political Leaders: Holy See

Leaders of the Vatican City
(State of the Vatican City)

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Look for biographies of the leaders (in Spanish) at CIDOB website.

Sovereigns (Popes)

Pius XII (Eugenio Maria Pacelli) 2 Mar 1939 - 9 Oct 1958 (†1958) Italian Ioannes XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli) 28 Oct 1958 - 3 Jun 1963 (†1963) Italian Paulus VI (Giovanni Battista Montini) 21 Jun 1963 - 6 Aug 1978 (†1978) Italian Ioannes Paulus I (Albino Luciani) 26 Aug 1978 - 28 Sep 1978 (†1978) Italian Ioannes Paulus II (Karol Józef Wojtyla) 16 Oct 1978 - 2 Apr 2005 (†2005) Polish Benedictus XVI (Joseph Alois Ratzinger) 19 Apr 2005 - 28 Feb 2013 (†2022) German (*) Franciscus (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) 13 Mar 2013 - 21 Apr 2025 (†2025) Argentinian Leo XIV (Robert Francis Prevost) 8 May 2025 - United States-Peruvian

Benedictus XVI was Pope Emeritus from his resignation as Pope on 28 Feb 2013 until his death on 31 Dec 2022.

Cardinals Secretaries of State

Domenico Cardinal Tardini                29 Nov 1952 - 30 Jul 1961 (†1961) Italian (acting to 14 Dec 1958) 
Amleto Giovanni Cardinal Cicognani       14 Aug 1961 -  2 May 1969 (†1973) Italian
Jean-Marie Cardinal Villot                2 May 1969 -  9 Mar 1979 (†1979) French   
Agostino Cardinal Casaroli               30 Apr 1979 -  1 Dec 1990 (†1998) Italian (acting to 1 Jul 1979)
Angelo Cardinal Sodano                    1 Dec 1990 - 15 Sep 2006 (†2022) Italian (acting to 29 Jun 1991)
Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone                15 Sep 2006 - 15 Oct 2013         Italian
Pietro Cardinal Parolin                  15 Oct 2013 -                     Italian

Camerlengos of the Holy Roman Church

Benedetto Cardinal Aloisi Masella        10 Oct 1958 - 30 Sep 1970 (†1970) Italian
Jean-Marie Cardinal Villot               16 Oct 1970 -  9 Mar 1979 (†1979) French
Paolo Cardinal Bertoli                    5 May 1979 - 25 Mar 1985 (†2001) Italian
Sebastino Cardinal Baggio                25 Mar 1985 - 21 Mar 1993 (†1993) Italian
Eduardo Cardinal Martínez Somalo          5 Apr 1993 -  4 Apr 2007 (†2021) Spanish
Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone                 4 Apr 2007 - 20 Dec 2014         Italian
Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran               20 Dec 2014 -  5 Jul 2018 (†2018) French
Kevin Cardinal Farrell                   14 Feb 2019 -                     United States

During a vacancy of the Papacy, the Roman Curia, and with it the Vatican City State, is governed nominally by the College of Cardinals, with the Chamberlain, or Cardinal-Camerlengo, of the Holy Roman Church serving as "managing director".

Deans of the College of Cardinals

Gennaro Cardinal Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte    9 Jul 1930 – 16 Feb 1948 (†1948) Italian
Francesco Cardinal Marchetti Selvaggiani          21 Jun 1948 – 13 Jan 1951 (†1951) Italian
Eugène-Gabriel-Gervais-Laurent Cardinal Tisserant 13 Jan 1951 – 21 Feb 1972 (†1972) French
Amleto Giovanni Cardinal Cicognani                24 Mar 1972 – 17 Dec 1973 (†1973) Italian
Luigi Cardinal Traglia                             7 Jan 1974 – 22 Nov 1977 (†1977) Italian
Carlo Cardinal Confalonieri                       12 Dec 1977 –  1 Aug 1986 (†1986) Italian
Agnelo Cardinal Rossi                             19 Dec 1986 – 31 May 1993 (†1995) Brazilian
Bernardin Cardinal Gantin                          5 Jun 1993 – 30 Nov 2002 (†2008) Beninese
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger                         30 Nov 2002 - 19 Apr 2005 (†2022) German  
Angelo Cardinal Sodano                            27 Apr 2005 - 21 Dec 2019 (†2022) Italian
Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re                     18 Jan 2020 -                     Italian

Prefects of the Congregation/Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani                9 Feb 1966 -  8 Jan 1968 (†1979) Italian
Franjo Cardinal Seper                     8 Jan 1968 - 25 Nov 1981 (†1981) Croatian
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger                25 Nov 1981 -  2 Apr 2005 (†2022) German  
William Joseph Cardinal Levada           13 May 2005 -  2 Jul 2012 (†2019) United States  
Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller            2 Jul 2012 -  1 Jul 2017         German
Luis Francisco Cardinal Ladaria Ferrer    1 Jul 2017 -  1 Jul 2023         Spanish
Víctor Manuel Cardinal Fernández          1 Jul 2023 -                     Argentinian

Secretaries of the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church and Secretaries for Relations with States

Antonio Cardinal Samorè                   7 Feb 1953 – 26 Jun 1967 (†1983) Italian
Agostino Cardinal Casaroli               15 Aug 1967 – 28 Apr 1979 (†1998) Italian
Achille Cardinal Silvestrini              4 May 1979 –  1 Mar 1988 (†2019) Italian
Angelo Cardinal Sodano                    1 Mar 1986 –  1 Dec 1990 (†2022) Italian
Jean-Louis Pierre Cardinal Tauran         1 Dec 1990 –  6 Oct 2003 (†2018) French
Giovanni Cardinal Lajolo                  7 Oct 2003 – 15 Sep 2006         Italian
Archbishop Dominique F. J. Mamberti      15 Sep 2006 –  8 Nov 2014         French
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher         8 Nov 2014 -                     British

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Presidents of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and Presidents of the Governorate of Vatican City State

Nicola Cardinal Canali                   20 Mar 1939 -  3 Aug 1961 (†1961) Italian
Amleto Giovanni Cardinal Cicognani       12 Aug 1961 - 30 Apr 1969 (†1973) Italian
Jean-Marie Cardinal Villot                2 May 1969 -  9 Mar 1979 (†1979) French
Agostino Cardinal Casaroli               28 Apr 1979 -  8 Apr 1984 (†1998) Italian 
Sebastino Cardinal Baggio                 8 Apr 1984 - 31 Oct 1990 (†1993) Italian
Rosalio José Cardinal Castillo Lara      31 Oct 1990 - 15 Oct 1997 (†2007) Venezuelan
Edmund Cardinal Szoka                    15 Oct 1997 - 15 Sep 2006 (†2014) United States
Giovanni Cardinal Lajolo                 15 Sep 2006 -  1 Oct 2011         Italian
Giuseppe Cardinal Bertello                1 Oct 2011 -  1 Oct 2021         Italian
Fernando Cardinal Vérgez Alzaga           1 Oct 2021 -  1 Mar 2025         Spanish
Raffaella Petrini                         1 Mar 2025 -                     Italian