Pope Francis appoints Sister Simona Brambilla as Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The Vatican Press Office announced this historic appointment on Monday. Sister Brambilla is the first woman to serve as a prefect in the Catholic Church.
Born in Monza on March 27, 1965, Sister Simona Brambilla began her career as a professional nurse after earning her diploma in 1986. She entered the Consolata Missionary Sisters in 1988 and made her first religious profession in 1991.
In 1998, she earned a Licentiate in Psychology from the Pontifical Gregorian University. She moved to Mozambique in 1999, where she worked in youth ministry at the Macua Xirima Study Center in Maua. Between 2002 and 2006, she taught psychology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
In 2011, Sister Brambilla became Superior General of the Consolata Missionary Sisters. She was re-elected in 2017, serving until May 2023. Since 2019, she has been a member of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. In May 2023, she became the dicastery’s secretary, and now she is its prefect.
Pope’s efforts to increase female representation
Vatican News highlighted Sister Brambilla’s promotion as part of Pope Francis’s ongoing efforts to increase female representation in the Vatican. On July 8, 2019, he appointed seven women to the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life for the first time.
The Vatican’s data shows an increase in women’s representation from 19.2% in 2013 to 23.4% in 2023. The Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium of 2022 allowed laypeople, including women, to lead dicasteries and serve as prefects.
Pope Francis has also appointed women to leadership positions in Vatican City State. In 2016, Barbara Jatta became Director of the Vatican Museums, traditionally led by laypeople. In 2022, Sister Raffaella Petrini was appointed Secretary General of the Governorate, a role previously held by bishops.
Several women also serve as undersecretaries. Gabriella Gambino and Lina Ghisoni work at the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, while Sister Carmen Ros Nortes serves at the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Emilce Cuda is Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Nataša Govekar leads the theological-pastoral department of the Dicastery for Communication. Cristiane Murray is Deputy Director of the Holy See Press Office, and Charlotte Kreuter-Kirchof is Deputy Coordinator of the Council for the Economy. The Synod’s General Secretariat also includes French-born Sister Nathalie Becquart as an undersecretary.
On December 13, 2024, the Pope named Sister Brambilla and María Lía Zervino, former president of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO), as members of the 16th Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat. Zervino joined the Dicastery for Bishops in 2022.
