The most powerful woman in the Catholic Church

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It is a historic decision by the Pope: on Monday, the Vatican announced that Sister Simona Brambilla will head the Dicastery of the Order as Prefect. She is now the first woman ever to head one of the Vatican authorities, which is comparable to a ministry. By appointing the first female "minister", the Pope is driving forward the reform of the Curia, which passed a significant milestone in 2022 with "Praedicate Evangelium". In it, Francis made it possible for women to move up to the front row in the Vatican - to positions that are very often held by men with cardinal's purple. This is where Brambilla now finds herself, who is currently the most powerful woman in the Catholic Church.

Her appointment as prefect is a personnel matter that has been well prepared: Brambilla has been a member of the dicastery for religious orders since 2019, and in October 2023 the Pope appointed her secretary, making her the second most powerful person in the Vatican authority. As the former Superior General of her congregation, the nun also knows what the numerous religious communities expect from the work of the dicastery. She was the perfect choice to add another historic milestone in church history to Francis' pontificate after the reform of the Curia and the rediscovery of synodality in the church: the beginning of something like equal rights for women at the administrative level of the Vatican - if there can be such a thing in the church at all.

However, as is so often the case with the Pope's decisions, some questions remain unanswered: as a woman religious, is she above Cardinal Ángel Fernández, who was appointed Pro-Prefect at the same time? Why was the religious man not appointed Secretary of the Dicastery, which would have clearly strengthened the position of his female superiors? In any case, the first female prefect will give women religious all over the world great self-confidence. And perhaps there will be more appointments of female heads of curia in the coming years! One candidate is certainly Sister Alessandra Smerilli, who has held the post of Secretary of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development since 2021. The term of office of her boss, Prefect Cardinal Michael Czerny, ends in January 2027.