Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, appointing an Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the Catholic Church’s religious orders.
The interview represents a significant step in Francis ‘ effort to give people more of the leadership positions in the church. While no people have been given the No. Never before has a female been appointed commander of a substituting or church of the Holy See Curia, the Catholic Church’s principal governing body, held two places in some Vatican offices.
Vatican Media’s report,” Sister Simona Brambilla is the first person director in the Vatican,” confirmed Brambilla’s legendary status.
One of the Vatican’s most significant offices is located here. From the Jesuits and Franciscans to the Mercy monks and smaller, younger activities, it is formally known as the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
The interview means that a person is then responsible for the women who do much of the church’s function- the world’s 600, 000 Catholic nuns- as well as the 129, 000 Catholic priests who belong to spiritual orders.
” It should be a girl. Thomas Groome, a mature teacher of religion and religious learning at Boston College, who has much called for the ordination of women monks, said that it should have happened long ago. ” It’s a small step along the way but spiritually, it shows an flexibility and a new horizon or possibility”.
Since cardinal don’t essentially have to be ordained priests, Groome noted that nothing doctrinally would then prevent Francis from naming Brambilla a saint.
If a dicastery’s brain were a woman, the name “would be automated for her” he claimed.
But in an indicator of the novelty of the interview and that perhaps Francis was never willing to go that far, the bishop together named as a co-leader, or “pro-prefect”, a saint: Angel Fernandez Artime, a Salesian.
The visit, announced in the Vatican regular report, names Brambilla initial as “prefect” and Fernandez following as her co-leader. Theology suggests that Francis felt the next appointment was necessary because the office’s head had to be able to celebrate Mass and carry out different sacramental duties that are currently only available to men.
Natalia Imperatori-Lee, head of the religion and philosophy office at Manhattan University, was first excited by Brambilla’s appointment, just to learn that Francis had named a man co-prefect.
” One time, I pray, the chapel may see women for the worthy leaders they presently are”, she said. ” It’s ridiculous to think she needs support running a Vatican grouping. Also, for as long as people have been in charge of this section of Vatican leadership, they have governed people’s and children’s religious areas”.
Brambilla, 59, is a member of the Consolata Missionaries spiritual order and has held the position of No. Since 2023, in the spiritual orders office. She succeeds Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, 77, who is retiring.
Francis made Brambilla’s visit possible with his 2022 transformation of the Holy See’s foundation law, which allowed laymen, including women, to mind a grouping and be prefects.
Brambilla, a nurse, worked as a missionary in Mozambique and led her Consolata order as superior from 2011-2023 when Francis made her secretary of the religious orders department.
The declining number of nuns worldwide will be a major challenge for her. It has fallen by around 10, 000 a year for the past several years, from around 750, 000 in 2010 to 600, 000 last year, according to Vatican statistics.
Francis ‘ most recent example of how women can take leadership positions within the Catholic hierarchy, even if it does not permit them to be ordained as priests, is Brambilla’s appointment.
Catholic women have long complained about being denied a priesthood in a church that gives men access to it.
Francis has backed the denial of the possibility of women becoming deacons and upheld the ban on female priests.
But there has been a marked increase in the percentage of women working in the Vatican during his papacy, including in leadership positions, from 19.3 % in 2013 to 23.4 % today, according to statistics reported by Vatican News. In the Curia alone, the percentage of women is 26 %.
Among the women holding leadership positions are Sister Raffaella Petrini, the first-ever female secretary general of the Vatican City State, responsible for the territory’s health care system, police force ,and main source of revenue, the Vatican Museums, which are led by a laywoman, Barbara Jatta.
Another nun, Sister Alessandra Smerilli, is the No. 2 in the Vatican development office while several women have been appointed to under-secretary positions, including the French nun, Sister Nathalie Becquart, in the synod of bishops ‘ office.
