Pope Francis appointed Sister Simona Brambilla, a 59-year-old Italian nun, as the prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, making her the first woman to head a major Vatican office.
Brambilla will oversee all religious orders and congregations worldwide, including major orders like the Jesuits and Franciscans, as well as smaller, newer movements. She will be assisted by Spanish Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, who was appointed as pro-prefect of the dicastery. It remains unclear how responsibilities will be divided between them.
“She has authority over a cardinal; that has never happened in the Church,” said Michel Kubler, Secretary General of the Augustinians of the Assumption, according to La Croix.
Previously, Brambilla served as the secretary of the same dicastery since 2023, working under her predecessor, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, who led the office from 2011 until his retirement this year at age 77. Her appointment as prefect is seen as an advancement in Pope Francis’s efforts to include more women in leadership roles within the Vatican.
Born in Monza, near Milan, in March 1965, Brambilla joined the Institute of the Consolata Missionary Sisters in 1988 and made her first vows in 1991. Before becoming a nun, she worked as a nurse, having qualified in 1986. She holds a doctorate in psychology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, where she completed her thesis on evangelization and inculturation in Mozambique in 2008.
Brambilla has missionary experience, having worked in Mozambique where she was responsible for youth ministry and pastoral care. From 2011 until May 2023, she led her Consolata order as superior general, having been re-elected in 2017.
Her appointment has been met with both enthusiasm and questions regarding the sharing of responsibilities with Cardinal Fernández Artime. “It just proves that there’s still some kinks to work out and hoops that women have to go through to assume these positions at the Vatican,” said Kate McElwee, the executive director of the Women’s Ordination Conference, according to The New York Times.
Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops’ office, expressed her joy about Brambilla’s appointment, calling it “very good news for the Church, women, and religious,” according to La Croix. “This is very good news. It’s something completely new,” Theologian Anne-Marie Pelletier remarked, according to the same source.
Under Pope Francis’s pontificate, there has been an increase in the percentage of women working in the Vatican, including in leadership positions, rising from 19.2% in 2013 to 23.4% today. The increase is part of a broader initiative by Pope Francis, including the Apostolic Constitution “Praedicate Evangelium” from 2022, which allows laypeople and women to lead dicasteries and hold the title of “prefect.”
Despite these advances, challenges remain. One major challenge Brambilla will face is the declining number of nuns worldwide. According to Vatican statistics, the number of Catholic nuns has decreased from around 750,000 in 2010 to 600,000 last year, declining by about 10,000 a year.
Pope Francis has appointed several women to positions within the Vatican during his pontificate. In 2016, he appointed Barbara Jatta as the first woman to head the Vatican Museums, a position traditionally held by laypersons and a major source of income for the Vatican City State. In 2022, Sister Raffaella Petrini was appointed secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State, a role traditionally held by a bishop.
Women are still excluded from ordination as priests, and discussions about female ordination continue to create divisions within the Church. Pope Francis has upheld the ban on female priests and has tamped down hopes that women could be ordained as deacons.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
