January 6, 2025, marks a notable step in the recent history of the Catholic Church: for the first time, a woman has been appointed to lead the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Pope Francis has entrusted this responsibility to Sister Simona Brambilla, a member of the Consolata Missionaries.
Aged 59, Sister Simona trained as a nurse before embracing religious life. A missionary in Africa, she served in Mozambique in the late 1990s, demonstrating a commitment to serving the most vulnerable populations. Subsequently, she returned to Italy where she completed a degree in psychology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. She later taught there at the Institute of Psychology.
In 2011, she became Superior General of the Consolata Missionaries, a responsibility she held until May 2023. In October of the same year, the Vatican appointed her Secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Now, she ascends to the role of Prefect, co-leading this dicastery with Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, the former Superior General of the Salesians.
This appointment is not an isolated case, but part of a series of initiatives by Pope Francis aimed at giving greater responsibility to women within the Church. Sister Simona thus joins a growing list of religious sisters and laywomen holding key positions in the Vatican, among whom are:
Sister Raffaella Petrini, who holds the second-highest post in the governance of the Vatican City State.
Sister Nathalie Becquart, Undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops.
Gabriella Gambino and Linda Ghisoni, both Undersecretaries of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life.
Last month, Pope Francis also appointed Brambilla as a member of the 16th Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, alongside Argentine laywoman María Lía Zervino. They are the only women and non-bishops among the 17 council members. At the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Brambilla and Fernández are assisted by two Undersecretaries, Father Aitor Jiménez Echave CMF and Sister Carmen Ros Nortes NSC.