Pope Francis named Sister Simona Brambilla, to jointly head the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life with Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime.
Sister Brambilla (former superior general of the Consolata Missionary Sisters) has been secretary of that dicastery since October 2023. She is the first female head — technically a joint head — of any Vatican dicastery.
Concerns have been voiced about her appointment breaching Canon Law, but apparently the appointment of an ordained bishop as pro-prefect circumvents that issue. It is unclear how they will divide responsibilities — Sister Brambilla will even oversee Cardinals.
Brambilla, originally trained as a nurse. Later she entering religious life, became a missionary in Mozambique and achieved an advanced degree in psychology. She was head of the institute of Consolata Missionary Sisters from 2011 until May 2023.
Pope Francis has increased the numbers of women working in the Vatican and under his 2022 Apostolic Constitution "Praedicate Evangelium," laypeople and women are allowed to co-lead dicasteries and hold the title of "prefect." I suspect she’ll need that degree in psychology to survive the job!
Please keep Sister/Prefect Brambilla in your prayers.
Kevin Hay
Kevin is on 𝕏 — formerly Twitter — @ kevinhay77
Title photo: Pope Francis greeting Sister Simona Brambilla, 2017 | Credit: L’Osservatore Romano