The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a
pontifical council of the
Roman CatholicCuria from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the
Pope in his dealings with the laity in
lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their contributions to the Church. Its last Cardinal President from 4 October 2003 to 31 August 2016 was Cardinal
Stanisław Ryłko. Its undersecretary from 1967 to 1976 was Professor
Rosemary Goldie, the first woman to be the Undersecretary of a Pontifical Council and the highest-ranking woman in the Roman Curia at the time. Another layman, Professor
Guzmán Carriquiry Lecour, was undersecretary from 1991 to 2011.