Who Is Sister Simona Brambilla? First Woman To Lead A Vatican Office

Pope Francis appointed Sister Simona Brambilla as the first woman to lead a major department in the Vatican. She will serve as Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the office that works with religious orders and their members. Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime was appointed as Pro-Prefect. Before the recent promotion, Sr. Brambilla served as the Secretary of the same Dicastery since October 2023.

Who Is Sr. Simona Brambilla?

Born on March 27, 1965, in Monza, Lombardy, Sr. Brambilla started her career as a nurse. She entered the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of Consolata in 1988 and made her first religious profession in 1991. She then received a licentiate in psychology from the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1998.

Sr. Brambilla taught at the Gregorian Institute of Psychology from 2002 to 2006 and earned a doctorate in psychology there in 2008. She served as general councillor from 2005 to 2011. She served as Superior General of the women's branch of the Consolata Missionaries from 2011 to 2016 and then from 2017 to 2023. 

In July 2019, Sr. Brambilla became one of the seven first women members of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. In October 2023, she was appointed the first female secretary of the Dicastery. That month, Pope Francis also chose her to participate in the 2023 Synod of Bishops on Synodality.

On December 16, 2024, she and María Lía Zervino, former president of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations, became the first women appointed to the 16th Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod. In January 2025, she made history once again as the first female Prefect in the Vatican.

MENAGERIE: Italian Sr. Simona Brambilla is the first woman to head a major Vatican office as Prefect of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which oversees all religious orders issued by the Catholic Church.

Photo Credits: L’Osservatore Romano pic.twitter.com/favo9oH7G7

— The LaSallian (@TheLaSallian) January 7, 2025

Sr. Brambilla's appointment as Prefect comes three years after Pope Francis formally overhauled the Vatican's constitution allowing for women and laity to offices of the Roman Curia. According to Vatican News, the representation of women in leadership in the Vatican surged from 19.2% to 23.4% between 2013 and 2023.