Barbara Jatta Appointed First Female Director of Vatican Museums

Pope Francis' Tuesday announcement that art historian Barbara Jatta will become the new director of the Vatican Museums, marking the first time that a woman will lead one of the most important art institutions worldwide. Previously, Jatta worked at the Vatican Library, overseeing its collection of prints.

A Rome native, Jatta has worked for the Vatican since 1996 and will now become one of its most powerful administrators. While Pope Francis wants to increase the roles for women in the Catholic Church, he remains firm that the most important Vatican posts are reserved for cardinals and bishops, who are universally male. 

The Vatican Museums represent 54 galleries acrross seven kilometers, receiving six million visitors in 2015. Regularly listed among the top 10 visited museums in the world, the Vatican museums represent one of the Holy See's biggest income sources. Estimates are about $311 million in gross revenues and $41 million in profits are driven by Barbara Jatta's new assignment.

RedTracker | Femen Feminist Arrested At Vatican | Quiet End To American Nun Investigation | Pope Francis Rebuke

RedTracker | Femen Feminist Arrested At Vatican | Quiet End To American Nun Investigation | Pope Francis Rebuke

FEMEN activist Iana Aleksandrovna Azhdanova is chilling out in a Vatican cell, awaiting possible trial for “disturbing the peace, obscene acts in a public place, and theft.” Her crime? Naked from the waist up in traditional Femen fashion, Azhdanova stormed the Vatican’s nativity scene and plucked the baby Jesus statue out of its crèche. The message “God Is Woman” was written on her torso.

Eye | Pope Francis & Dolce & Gabbana Both See Red | Are American Nuns Off The Hook?

The Captivating Beauty of Libraries Around the World My Modern Met

DesignTracker

Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2015 Campaign

Dolce & Gabbana up the ante on family celebrations, embracing mature mamas with a love of Italian/Sicilian glitter. Add bullfighter José Maria Manzanares and models Bianca Balti, Vittoria Ceretti, Irina Sharipova and Blanca Padilla — then let it rip to welcome spring 2015. See the rest of the images at Dolce & Gabbana website.

Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2015 Collection

Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2015 Style.com

Today there was a black net sheath, a black corset paired with thigh-high black stockings, a black jacket and pencil skirt combination that had the sexy severity of the racy widow—all of it adding up to enough Catholic guilt to choke a pope.

RedTracker

Pope Francis Delivers Blistering Rebuke to Roman Curia

Pope Francis delivered a stunning pre-Christmas speech to officials of the Roman Curia, accusing them of succumbing to greed, jealousy, hypocrisy, cowardice and “spiritual Alzheimer’s”.

If the NYPD felt that New York cops were the most beleaguered and unappreciated work force in the world, they had major company among the Roman Curia, after Pope Francis challenged the prelates to make “a real examination of conscience.”

The popular CEO pope basically accused his workforce of a host of deadly “illnesses”, including the fault of feeling “immortal, immune or even indispensable”.  Not stopping there, Pope Francis accused the prelates of pursuing wealth, showing off and leading double lives in a mindset leading to “existential schizophrenia”.

Prior to the papal tongue lashing, Pope Francis gave a speech of gratitude to the lay Vatican staff including gardeners and cleaners — with whom the pope often grabs lunch. In great contrast, he asked “forgiveness for the shortcomings of my colleagues and myself, as well as for some scandals, which do great harm. Forgive me.”

Complete text of Pope Francis’ 2014 Christmas Speech to the Roman Curia via Vatican Radio

Related: Rome’s Scrutiny of American Nuns New York Times

For the past six years, AOC has followed the Vatican’s investigation of American nuns, a report that has ended with a generally positive report under the guidance of Pope Francis and not the more authoritarian Pope Benedict.

Alas for AOC, the report comes at a time when I have not only returned from a difficult 2014 and actual hiatus from writing, but also in the midst of a major move of AOC articles into a much simpler organizational format. All of my RedTracker writing on feminism in America, international feminism, religion and women, the lives of women in Africa and the Middle East, female sexuality, women and philanthropy has been moved — but not properly tagged — into my Sensual Rebel blog.  Therefore, I can’t link to all the tagged writing at AOC about the Catholic Church and the investigation of American nuns. It’s a goal to complete this tagging by Jan. 1.

These moves are a larger part of my own second look at what AnneofCarversville.com should be to readers going forward. I will explain the new (old) strategy in a separate post.