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Pope names missionary Consolata first woman prefect of dicastery

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis has named Simona Brambilla, Consolata missionary sister, the first woman to head a Vatican dicastery, naming her prefect of the dicastery for institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life.

The 59-year-old Italian sister has been secretary of the dicastery since October 2023.

The announcement of his appointment, on January 6, also indicates that Pope Francis has appointed as pro-prefect of the dicastery the Spanish Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, 64, former rector general of the Salesians.

The Vatican press service did not respond to requests for explanation on why the cardinal was given the title of pro-prefect or how his role would differ from that of a dicastery secretary.

Sister of Mercy Sharon Euart, canon lawyer and executive director of the Resource Center for Religious Institutes in Silver Spring, Maryland, told Catholic News Service: “The appointment of the pro-prefect recognizes that there may be situations that require the exercise of (saints) such as liturgical functions with members of the dicastery and the Curia as well as individual situations involving the internal forum and the sacrament of reconciliation.

“I do not think that the appointment of the pro-prefect diminishes the role or authority of the prefect in exercising the responsibilities” entrusted to the dicastery, she said in an email response to questions.

The dicastery, according to the apostolic constitution of the Roman Curia, is called “to promote, encourage and regulate the practice of the evangelical counsels, the way in which they are lived in the approved forms of consecrated life and all matters concerning life and activity of Societies of Apostolic Life throughout the Latin Church.

According to Vatican statistics, there are nearly 600,000 professed nuns in the Catholic Church. The number of priests of the religious order is approximately 128,500 and the number of religious brothers is close to 50,000.

When a dedicated religious person requests to leave or the community requests it, the decision must be approved by the dicastery.

It approves the creation of new religious orders, approves the drafting or updating of the orders’ constitutions, supervises the merger or suppression of religious orders and the formation of unions of superiors general.

Sister Brambilla succeeds Brazilian Cardinal João Bráz de Aviz, 77, who has led the dicastery since 2011.

She is one of two women named in early December by Pope Francis to be members of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, the committee that oversees the implementation of the last synod and prepares for the next assembly.

Born in Monza, Italy, on March 27, 1965, she earned a nursing degree before entering the Order of the Consolata in 1988. She studied psychology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and, in 1999, after taking her final vows, she went to Mozambique where she did youth ministry before returning to Rome in 2002, where she obtained her doctorate in psychology at the Gregorian University in 2008.

She served two terms as superior of the Consolata Missionary Sisters, leading the congregation from 2011 to May 2023.

Cardinal Fernández Artime has been awaiting a mission from the Pope since August, when his mandate as superior of the Salesians ended.

Born on August 21, 1960 in Gozón-Luanco, Spain, he entered the Salesians at the age of 18 and was ordained priest in 1987. He has a degree in pastoral theology, a degree in philosophy and pedagogy and, as a priest, he worked in Salesian schools both in teaching and administration.

After serving in Spain, he was appointed provincial superior of southern Argentina in 2009. Working in Buenos Aires, Cardinal-designate Fernández Artime became acquainted and worked personally with Jorge Bergoglio, then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who would become Pope Francis four years later. .

In 2014, he was elected major rector of the Salesians and 10th successor of Saint John Bosco; he was re-elected in 2020. Pope Francis named him a cardinal in September 2023 and allowed him to continue as Salesian superior until a chapter meeting and election could take place.

This story was updated at 12:05 p.m.