Pope names nun Brambilla to head major Vatican office

Pope Francis has appointed Sister Simona Brambilla to lead a Vatican department, naming the first woman head of the office that oversees the world’s Catholic religious orders and congregations.

Francis, who has sought to reform the Catholic Church’s governance, named nun Brambilla as Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in a historic “first”, a Vatican official told AFP on Tuesday.

The 59-year-old Brambilla is a former nurse with missionary experience in Mozambique who was previously the dicastery’s deputy.

Dicastries are the Vatican term for ministries or departments.

Francis has slowly been naming women to more elevated positions within the Holy See since becoming head of the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics in 2013.

The percentage of women working in the Holy See and Vatican City has risen from around 19 percent in 2013 to 23.4 percent in 2023, according to data published by Vatican News.

Francis has also made it possible for laypeople, including women, to lead a dicastery — a role previously reserved for cardinals and archbishops.

In October, a Vatican assembly on the future of the Catholic Church said that more should be done to help women overcome “obstacles” to taking leadership roles within the Church.