María Lía Zervino studied at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina where she received her PhD in sociology.
In the Argentinian Diocese of Mar del Plata she was head of the National Commission for Justice and Peace of the Argentine Bishops' Conference.
[3] In March 2021, she wrote an open letter to Pope Francis in which she – besides thanking him for his statements in Laudato si', Amoris laetitia and Fratelli tutti – expressed her concern that "not enough progress has been made in taking advantage of the wealth of women who make up a large part of the People of God".
Zervino also wrote about her "dream of a Church that has suitable women as judges in all the courts in which matrimonial cases are processed, in the formation teams of each seminary and for exercising ministries such as listening, spiritual direction, pastoral health care, care for the planet, defence of human rights, etc., for which, by our nature, women are equally or sometimes better prepared than men.
Alongside with two religious sisters, Raffaella Petrini and Yvonne Reungoat, Zervino belongs to the first three women to be elected as members of the dicastery, which is responsible for identifying new, future bishops.