Pope Francis appoints first woman to lead a Vatican dicastery

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) –– In a groundbreaking move, Pope Francis appointed a nun as head of a Vatican dicastery today, making Sister Simona Brambilla the first woman to lead an office in the Roman Curia.

Announced via the Holy See press bulletin on the feast of the Epiphany, the Pope’s leadership choice for the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life was made public.

Sr. Brambilla of the Consolata Missionaries will now become prefect of the Dicastery, thus taking over from the notoriously anti-traditional Cardinal João Braz de Aviz. With the new position, she will be able to continue her outspoken push for increasing leadership positions held by women in the Church.

Brambilla, 59, has served as secretary of the dicastery since October 2023, being the first woman to hold the role. Indeed, she was one of seven women appointed to the dicastery as consulters – which was itself a groundbreaking move.

Brambilla served two terms as superior general of the Consolata Missionaries between 2011 and 2023, having been a general councillor for six years prior to that.

Also announced today was the appointment of Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime as pro-prefect of the same dicastery. Artime, 64, was created a cardinal in September 2023 and was former head of the the Salesians between 2014 and 2024. The Spaniard had been without a notable position since leaving his role as head of the Salesians last year, prompting much speculation as to where he might be moved, with many assuming Artime would be named as prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life.

With a cardinal now subordinate to a religious woman, Francis’ pick is one which will be noted as a key event by those eager to see the achievement of goals such as female ordination.

Brambilla is the first woman to lead a dicastery in the Roman Curia, although women – such as Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, and Sister Raffaella Petrini, secretary general of the Governorate of the Vatican City State – already serve in notably high-ranking positions in the Vatican, thanks to Francis.

Since the 2022 publication of Francis’ much-anticipated reforms of the Roman Curia in his apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, the placement of women in positions of power has continued to grow. So also has the structure and operation of the Curia been changed to be more in line with Francis’ style of “synodal” governance, which crucially relies on curial figures who will work in accordance with his wishes.

READ: Pope Francis reforms Roman Curia, says any layperson can hold ‘governance’ positions in Vatican

The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (DICLSAL) has competency over religious and secular institutes, orders, congregations, and societies of men and women in the Catholic Church, and as such Brambilla’s role carries significant power.

The office of pro-prefect is a new one to the dicastery as of today, although it is not new to the Roman Curia. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has served as pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization since June 2022.

In recent years, under the leadership of Braz de Aviz, DICLSAL has become infamous for its implementation of Francis’ Cor Orans document, which has issued in tighter Vatican control over religious life and been widely – though often quietly – used against convents and religious orders noted for being too traditional for the liking of Roman officials.

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In addition to restricting already existing groups, a 2022 Rescript via the dicastery prevented diocesan bishops from autonomously establishing any groups of the faithful looking to become religious institutes or societies, in a move which was described as an attempt to prevent any new traditional communities from being formed.

Traditional and contemplative religious communities have been under increasing pressure from the Vatican, particularly since the publication of Cor Orans and the 2016 document Vultum Dei quaerere. Father Maximilian Mary Dean, a former Franciscan Friar of the Immaculate and the chaplain to the discalced Carmelite nuns of Fairfield, Pennsylvania, warned that under Braz de Aviz the dicastery was “just going to destroy the vocations and the way of life.”

Since the 2021 promulgation of Traditionis Custodes, traditional Mass groups like the Fraternity of St. Peter, the Institute of Christ the King, and the Institute of the Good Shepherd have now fallen under the purview of DICLSAL.

With the past summer awash with rumors about a new document set to restrict the traditional Mass, Brambilla’s new role could see her liaise much more closely with Francis in the future of the traditional orders. In early 2023, reports suggested that it was Brambilla’s own dicastery – at that time led by Braz de Aviz – which would publish new restrictions on the traditional Mass, but such rumors never came to fruition.

As Francis forges ahead with a “new-look” curia, involving female governance positions, while still allowing the open discussion on the topic of female deacons, Brambilla is unlikely to remain the only woman appointed to such a leading role while Francis is alive.