Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. Bishop | Archdiocese of Louisville

St. Peter’s Basilica has hired two women to its team of “sanpietrini,” the church’s specialized artisans and workers, for the first time since the basilica’s maintenance office was established 500 years ago.

The Fabbrica di San Pietro, responsible for the upkeep of the basilica, maintains a team of about 80 people who handle cleaning, maintenance, surveillance, and reception services at the world’s largest Christian church. Approximately 60,000 visitors pass through the basilica daily, according to the Fabbrica's website.

The “sanpietrini” include carpenters, masons, electricians, plumbers, blacksmiths, plasterers, decorators, sculptors, stone cutters, scaffolders and general laborers.

The two new female hires are recent graduates from Italy of the basilica’s recently relaunched School of Fine Arts and Traditional Trades. They specialized in masonry and decorative and ornamental plastering. Vatican News reported their hiring on July 11.

This marks the first time in 500 years that women have been hired as sanpietrini. However, it is not unprecedented for women to be involved with St. Peter's Basilica. Archival documents from the 1500s and 1600s indicate that women worked as masons, woodworkers, glaziers, mortar makers and cart drivers transporting materials to St. Peter‘s Basilica.

Pietro Zander, who oversees necropolises and artistic heritage for the Fabbrica di San Pietro told Catholic News Service in 2023: "Archival documents show we had masons... bringing in materials by wagon to St. Peter‘s who were women."

Women have also been employed at the Vatican’s mosaic studio adjacent to the Fabbrica offices.

The new School of Fine Arts and Traditional Trades was launched in 2022 and is modeled after historical artisan schools run by the basilica centuries ago. Enrollment is free and includes room and board. The school offers six-month programs in woodworking, masonry and plastering; stonework and carving; mosaics; and metalworking. Nearly half of its annual intake of 20 students are women.