Sister Smerilli Becomes Third Woman to Lead Dicastery

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sister Alessandra Smerilli as the new Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, marking a major step forward for women's leadership within the Roman Curia. The appointment will come into effect on September 1, 2026, as announced by the Holy See Press Office.

Sister Smerilli follows Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, who has been in charge of the dicastery since 2022, and will be 80 years old on July 18, which is the typical retirement age for cardinals holding high-ranking posts in the Vatican.

The 51-year-old Italian nun is a member of the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, and has been the Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development since 2021. An economist by profession, Smerilli has long had an interest in the Vatican's social justice, sustainable development, economic ethics, migration, environmental protection and humanitarian work.

Key Highlights:

• Pope Leo XIV appoints Sister Alessandra Smerilli to lead a Vatican dicastery from September 1, 2026
• Smerilli becomes the third woman to head a Vatican dicastery
• She will oversee the Church's global work on justice, peace, migration, and human dignity

Her appointment brings her to become the third female to lead a Vatican dicastery and she is the 10th woman to lead a dicastery of the Holy See. Her appointment makes her the third woman to head a Vatican dicastery and the 10th woman to oversee a Vatican dicastery.

The Vatican also announced the appointment of Cardinal Fabio Baggio, head of the Secretariat for the Relief of the Church in Ukraine and the current under-secretary of the dicastery, who will now be appointed Pro-Prefect, beginning September 1.

As Cardinal Baggio's new assignment, he will take on a special role with the Laudato si' Higher Education Centre, which aims to promote research and teaching based on Pope Francis' environmental encyclical Laudato si'. In addition, Monsignor Jozef Barlaš has been appointed as Secretary of the dicastery.

Pope Francis created the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in 2017 by amalgamating some of the Pontifical Councils. It is in charge of the coordination of the Catholic Church's work globally in the areas of justice and peace, migration, health care, charitable work, and care for creation, human rights and promotion of human dignity. The department also is responsible for coordinating the Church's humanitarian response to crises around the world, and for promoting sustainable and inclusive development.

Sister Smerilli's name was chosen after a series of unprecedented moves that have made the Vatican administration more female. María Montserrat Alvarado, a Mexican-American, was named Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, one of the few women to hold the top position in a major Vatican office, earlier this month by Pope Leo XIV.

The first woman to head a dicastery was Italian nun Sister Simona Brambilla, who was appointed in January 2025 as Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Her selection was a historic achievement in a bid to ensure more women are included in the highest decisions of the Vatican.

The Vatican has made more progress in its efforts to increase the presence of women in the Church's leadership roles and to enhance the Church's worldwide mission of protecting justice, peace, the environment and human dignity by appointing Sister Alessandra Smerilli to lead three of the Vatican's 16 dicasteries.