Francis names the first woman to head a major Vatican office. Then gives her a male co-leader

But in an indication of the novelty of the appointment and that perhaps Francis was not ready to go that far, the pope simultaneously named as a co-leader, or “pro-prefect”, a cardinal: Angel Fernandez Artime, a Salesian.
The appointment, announced in the Vatican daily bulletin, lists Brambilla first as “prefect” and Fernandez second as her co-leader. Theologically, it appears Francis believed the second appointment was necessary since the head of the office must be able to celebrate Mass and perform other sacramental functions that currently can only be done by men.
Pope Francis is greeted by a group of nuns.Credit: AP
Natalia Imperatori-Lee, chair of the religion and philosophy department at Manhattan University, was initially excited by Brambilla’s appointment, only to learn that Francis had named a male co-prefect.
“One day, I pray, the church will see women for the capable leaders they already are,” she said. “It’s ridiculous to think she needs help running a Vatican dicastery. Moreover, for as long as men have been in charge of this division of Vatican governance, they have governed men’s and women’s religious communities.”
Brambilla, 59, is a member of the Consolata Missionaries religious order and had served as the No. 2 in the religious orders department since 2023. She takes over from the retiring Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, 77.
Pope Francis aims give women more leadership roles in governing the church.Credit: AP
Francis made Brambilla’s appointment possible with his 2022 reform of the Holy See’s founding constitution, which allowed laypeople, including women, to head a dicastery and become prefects.
Brambilla, a nurse, worked as a missionary in Mozambique and led her Consolata order as superior from 2011 to 2023, when Francis made her secretary of the religious orders department.
One major challenge she will face is the plummeting number of nuns worldwide. It has fallen by around 10,000 a year for the past several years, from about 750,000 in 2010 to 600,000 last year, according to Vatican statistics.
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Brambilla’s appointment is the latest move by Francis to show by example how women can take leadership roles within the Catholic hierarchy, albeit without allowing them to be ordained as priests.
Catholic women have long complained of second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men.
Francis has upheld the ban on female priests and tamped down hopes that women could be ordained as deacons.
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 per cent in 2013 to 23.4 per cent today, according to statistics reported by Vatican News. In the Curia alone, the percentage of women is 26 per cent.
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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 healthcare 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.
AP
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