Pope Francis appoints first woman to head major Vatican office

Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, naming an Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, as prefect of the department responsible for all religious orders in the Catholic Church.

The appointment marks a major step in Francis’ goal to give women more leadership roles in church governance. While women have been named to second positions in some Vatican offices, never before has a woman been named prefect of a dicastery or congregation of the Holy See Curia, the central governing body of the Catholic Church.

The historic nature of Brambilla’s appointment was confirmed by Vatican media, which headlined its report: “Sister Simona Brambilla is the first female prefect of the Vatican.”

In a sign of the novelty of the appointment and the theological implications involved, Francis simultaneously appointed as co-responsible, or “pro-prefect,” a cardinal: Ángel Fernández Artime, a Salesian.

But the appointment, announced in the Vatican’s daily bulletin, designates Brambilla first as “prefect” and Fernández second as his co-responsible, which is theologically necessary since the prefect must be able to celebrate Mass and perform other sacramental functions which currently cannot be done by men.

This office, officially known as the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, is one of the most important in the Vatican. He is responsible for all religious orders, from the Jesuits and Franciscans to more recent smaller movements.

Brambilla, 59, is a member of the Consolata Missionaries religious order and had been No. 2 in the religious order’s department since last year.

She succeeds outgoing Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, 77 years old.