Segoloni leads Italian female theologians

Simona Segoloni wrote the following on the Il Regno [The Kingdom] blog after being elected president of the Italian Women Theologians Coordination for the 2025–2029 term.  “We will continue to walk in the wake of what has been done in recent years (many collaborations, events, meetings, publications, and conferences) so that women’s theology is no longer considered ‘another’ theology. Instead, that it is recognized as an indispensable dimension of theological thinking today and tomorrow -’in the time that remains’”.  Alongside her, the new Council will be guided by Secretary Federica Cacciavillani, an Ursuline Sister of the Sacred Heart of Mary and Italian teacher, and Councillors Alice Bianchi (religion teacher), Maria Bianco (history and philosophy professor), Donata Horak (canon law professor), Milena Mariani (systematic theology and twentieth-century theology historian), and Silvia Zanconato (biblical scholar). This diverse and authoritative group will carry forward the Coordination’s commitment to promoting women’s theological thought in Italy.

Simona Segoloni is 52 years old, born in Perugia, and married with four children.  She earned her doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Central Italy Theological Faculty in Florence, and taught systematic theology at the Assisi Theological Institute for fifteen years (seven of them as a tenured faculty member) and focused especially on ecclesiology, Mariology, and Trinitarian theology. She is currently a lecturer in ecclesiology at the John Paul II Institute for the Sciences of Marriage and the Family and in dogmatic theology at LUMSA (Libera Università Maria Ss. Assunta) in Rome, and has contributed to Women Church World on several occasions.

Segoloni is frank, direct, and passionate both when she speaks and when she writes. Upon her appointment, she expressed gratitude and determination, while emphasizing continuity with the path already underway. However, one senses that alongside her rigor and expertise she will bring her own verve; and, if you will allow a slight jest, her humor (“The human attitude closest to the grace of God is humor”. as Francis put it). She offers an original vision that weaves together academic research, ecclesial experience, and a feminine sensibility in an inclusive and generative perspective. This is a new step for the Italian Women Theologians Coordination, which over twenty years has constructed a network of women scholars and given visibility to their work. Italian women theologians, who are still too rarely listened to in the Church’s decision-making arenas, are crafting a grammar of faith that integrates body and spirit, history and revelation, experience and doctrine. At a time when the Church is called to renew itself, women’s theological thought is a precious and vital resource.