Pope Francis has appointed Simona Brambilla as the Solemnity of the Epiphany, making her the first female Prefect of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
According to the Vatican, her appointment as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life was made on Monday January 6, 2025.
She has served as secretary of the Dicastery since October 7, 2023.
She led the women’s branch of the Consolata Missionaries from 2011 to 2023 before her appointment as secretary.
She became the first female secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life in October 2023, which at the time made her one of the highest-ranking women in the Curia.
Brambilla, an Italian-born religious sister from the Consolata Missionaries,
who will turn 60 on March 27, previously served as the Superior General of the Consolata Missionaries.
Born 27 March 1965, Brambilla is an Italian Roman Catholic nun and missionary, is the first woman to be head a department of the Roman Curia.
Brambilla has a background that includes missionary experience in Mozambique.
She was a professional nurse before joining the Consolata Missionary Sisters Institute, which she led from 2011 to 2023.
On July 8, 2019, the Pope for the first time appointed seven women as members of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
The Vatican disclosed that since the beginning of Pope Francis’s pontificate, the presence of women in the Vatican has increased.
According to overall data covering both the Holy See and Vatican City State from 2013 to 2023, the percentage of women has risen from 19.2 to 23.4 percent.
A pathway outlined by the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium of 2022, the Pope has made it possible for laypeople, including women, to lead a Dicastery and become Prefect, a role previously reserved for Cardinals and Archbishops.
In Vatican City State, Pope Francis has appointed two women to leadership positions during his pontificate.
In 2016, he named Barbara Jatta as director of the Vatican Museums, which has traditionally been led by laypeople.
In 2022, he named Raffaella Petrini, a sister as Secretary General of the Governorate, a role usually held by a bishop.
On December 13, 2024, the Pope appointed Simona 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.
María Lía Zervino had already been appointed as a member of the Dicastery for Bishops in 2022.
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