Pope Francis Appoints 1st Woman to Head Key Vatican Body

On Monday, Pope Francis hired the first woman to head a major Vatican office. He appointed the Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to head the department responsible for all the Catholic Church’s religious orders.

The appointment is a major step in Francis’ aim to empower women by giving them more leadership roles in the governing body of the Vatican.

It is also the first time for a woman to be named prefect of a dicastery or congregation of the Holy See Curia, the central governing body of the Catholic Church.

The appointment of Brambilla was confirmed by Vatican Media, captioning the report “Sister Simona Brambilla is the first woman prefect in the Vatican.”

The office is one of the most important bodies in the Vatican and it is officially known as the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.