Pope Promotes Italian Nun to Top Migrant Role in His First Major Appointment of a Woman to Holy See
The appointment makes her the latest woman to lead a major Vatican office as the pope continues expanding female leadership in church governance.
- On Tuesday, June 30, 2026, Pope Leo XIV named Italian Sister Alessandra Smerilli prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, making her the latest woman elevated to lead a major Vatican office.
- Sister Smerilli succeeds the retiring Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, who turns 80 this month, after serving as the dicastery's secretary since 2021, the first woman appointed to that position.
- Pope Leo XIV simultaneously appointed Cardinal Fabio Baggio as pro-prefect, mirroring Pope Francis's leadership approach and tasking him with overseeing the Borgo Laudato Si' environmental educational center near Rome.
- This appointment continues a Vatican trend toward including women in governance begun under Pope Francis and sustained by Pope Leo XIV, following the June naming of Montse Alvarado as prefect of the Dicastery for Communication.
- Sister Smerilli and Cardinal Baggio will assume their roles on September 1, 2026, as Smerilli emphasized that "financial transparency is fundamental for the credibility of the Church as a missionary institution.
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71 Articles
Pope Leo Gives Nun a Big Promotion
Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday made his first major appointment of a woman to the Holy See hierarchy, promoting Italian Sister Alessandra Smerilli to head the Vatican office responsible for migrants, the environment and development. Smerilli, an economist, is currently the No. 2 in the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human...
Leo makes curia staff changes
Pope Leo XIV announced on Tuesday a series of major Vatican appointments, one of the largest curial shakeups of his pontificate to date. Sister Alessandra Smerilli. Credit: Dicastery for Human Development.Changes at the top of four dicasteries, include the appointment of Sister Alessandra Smerilli, FMA, as prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and Cardinal Fabio Baggio, CS as pro-prefect, along with new changes to the…
Pope Leon XIV appointed Tuesday another woman, the third, to lead a dicaster from the Vatican, the equivalent of a government ministry. Sister Alessandra Smerilli will lead the Dicaster for the Promotion of Comprehensive Human Development as of September 1, announced Tuesday the Vatican press office, quoted by the DPA agencies and ...
Pope appoints woman to head development dicastery
Pope Leo XIV named an Italian religious sister to head the Dicastery for Integral Human Development on Tuesday, the first woman the pontiff has appointed to a top leadership role in the Church’s central administrative and governing apparatus. Sister Alessandra Smerilli was second-in-command in the office under the outgoing Cardinal Michael Czerny, a Jesuit appointed by Pope Francis, who will turn 80 in July. Czerny had served in the dicastery fi…
Pope Leon XIV appointed on Tuesday another woman, the third, to lead a dicaster from the Vatican, the equivalent of a government ministry.
The religious Alessandra Smerilli will be prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development
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