Sister Simona Brambilla was appointed as the prefect of a Vatican office that oversees religious orders, but she may not be alone at the top.

He is appointing Sister Simona Brambilla, an Italian nun, to become prefect of the Vatican department responsible for all the church's religious orders.

Pope Francis on Monday named Sister Simona Brambilla the first female prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to lead a major Vatican department, appointing an Italian sister to take charge of the office that oversees the world's Catholic religious orders.

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The move marks a major step in Pope Francis’ aim to give women more leadership roles in the church, while standing firm on not allowing them to be ordained as priests.View on euronews

Pope Francis has appointed Simona Brambilla, an Italian nun, as the first woman prefect in the Vatican City. The 59-year old nun, who takes over from the retiring cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, is a member of the Consolata Missionaries religious order and served as the number two in the religious orders department since 2024.

While women have been in secondary positions in the church, no woman has held the role of a prefect. The office now headed by Brambilla is one of the most important in the Vatican.