Pope appoints first woman prefect to lead major Vatican department

POPE Francis made history by appointing the first-ever female prefect to lead a major Vatican department, the Vatican Press Office said on Monday. 

Consolata Missionary Sister Simona Brambilla, a 59-year-old Italian nun and the current secretary of the same institution, will serve as the prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. 

Born in Monza on March 27, 1965, Sister Brambilla obtained a diploma as a professional nurse in 1986. She also holds a doctorate in Psychology from Rome’s Gregorian University. 

In 1988, she entered the institute of the Consolata Missionary Sisters, and in 1991, she made her first religious profession. 

In 2023, she was first appointed as the department’s secretary, becoming the first woman in Vatican history to rank second in the Curia. 

The office she now holds is one of the most important in the Vatican. They are responsible for every religious order, from the Jesuits, Franciscans, to the Mercy nuns and other smaller movements. 

She is now the highest-ranking woman in Roman Curia. 

Women leaders in Catholic Church

The appointment of Sister Brambilla is a continuing trend in the Catholic Church under Pope Francis, where they aim to place more women in leadership in the Church. 

Her appointment concludes the Pope’s global synod process— a convention in the Catholic Church that enables dialogue and discernment about the key issues facing the church— which aims to include women in various aspects of the church’s life. 

Since the beginning of Pope Francis’ papacy, the Vatican noted an increased presence of women there. 

In fact, according to the data that monitors the Holy See and the Vatican City State, the percentage of women residing in the Vatican has risen from 19.2% to 23.4%. 

The Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, promulgated by Pope Francis in 2022, introduced significant reforms in the structure of the Roman Curia. Among these are the groundbreaking provision that allows laypeople, including women, to assume leadership roles including serving as Prefects of Dicasteries. 

This provision enabled Pope Francis to appoint two women during his pontificate, which includes Barbara Jatta as Director of the Vatican Museums in 2016, and Sister Raffaella Petrini as Secretary General of the Governorate in 2022.