VATICAN: Historic Move: Pope Francis Appoints First Woman-ever Vatican Prefect

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

For the first time in the History of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis on Monday, January 06, appointed an Italian nun Sr. Simona Brambilla the first woman to head a dicastery of the Roman Curia.

The member of the Consolata Missionary Sisters and a former superior general of the same congregation is now the Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and will work together with Ángel Fernández Cardinal Artime as the pro-prefect.

Both Sr. Brambilla and Cardinal Fernández will be assisted by two undersecretaries, Father Aitor Jiménez Echave, CMF, and Sister Carmen Ros Nortes, NSC.

The appointment of yet another woman in the governance of the Church’s top position at the Vatican increases the number of women currently holding such positions in the Church.

Sr. Brambilla has served as Secretary of the same Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life since October 7, 2023.

As reported by the Vatican News, the presence of women in the Vatican has increased since the beginning of Pope Francis’s pontificate, “overall data covering both the Holy See and Vatican City State from 2013 to 2023, shows that the percentage of women has risen from 19.2% to 23.4%.”