How Leo XIV Is Consolidating Francis’ Opening to Women in Vatican Leadership
In little more than a year, he has confirmed women appointed by his predecessor, promoted others and named numerous women to positions across the Vatican.
Italian media have noticed. They repeatedly reach for the colour pink: the Vatican “turns pink,” while headlines speak of a “Vaticano in rosa” and “nomine rosa” — “pink appointments.”
Here are the many women Leo XIV has appointed, promoted or confirmed so far.
Raffaella Petrini - Governor of Vatican City
Francis appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini president of the Governorate of Vatican City State and president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State shortly before his death.
Leo XIV did more than simply leave her there. In November 2025, he modified Vatican City’s Fundamental Law so that the presidency of the Pontifical Commission no longer had to be held by a cardinal, helping turn Petrini’s precedent into a structurally sustainable arrangement.
In February 2026, Leo also appointed her a member of the Commission for Reserved Matters, dealing with sensitive juridical, economic and financial acts, and confirmed her membership of the Dicastery for Bishops.
María Montserrat “Montse” Alvarado - Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication
Leo XIV appointed María Montserrat Alvarado prefect of the Dicastery for Communication in June 2026, with her term beginning on 1 November. Alvarado is a divorced laywoman.
Alessandra Smerilli - Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
Sister Alessandra Smerilli, an Italian Salesian sister and economist, was appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development by Leo in June 2026, taking office on 1 September.
Francis had already brought Smerilli into the dicastery’s leadership, first as undersecretary and later as secretary. Leo’s decision to promote her to prefect is therefore one of the clearest examples of the transition between the two pontificates.
Tiziana Merletti - Secretary of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life
Only weeks after his election, in May 2025, Leo appointed Sister Tiziana Merletti secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
Her appointment placed a woman in the number-two executive position of a dicastery already headed by a woman, Simona Brambilla.
Nina Benedikta Krapić - Deputy Director of the Holy See Press Office
In February 2026, Leo XIV appointed Sister Nina Benedikta Krapić deputy director of the Holy See Press Office.
Born in Croatia in 1989, Krapić is a lawyer and Franciscan Sister of Charity who also trained in public relations, worked with victims of domestic violence.
Cristiana Perrella - President of the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts and Letters
In September 2025, Leo XIV named Cristiana Perrella president of the Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts and Letters of the Virtuosi al Pantheon. Her appointment attracted particular attention because Perrella’s curatorial work has included art dealing explicitly with nudity, sexuality, and perversion.
Paola Fanelli - Director for Human Resources of the Holy See
In April 2026, Leo appointed Paola Fanelli director of the Directorate for Human Resources of the Holy See at the Secretariat for the Economy.
Fanelli is a lay manager with extensive experience in consulting, banking, human resources and organisational transformation.
Andreina Rita - Scriptor Latinus of the Vatican Apostolic Library
In April 2026, Leo appointed Andreina Rita Scriptor Latinus of the Vatican Apostolic Library. A specialist in historical collections, she has worked at the Vatican Library since the 1990s and previously headed its Department of Printed Books.
Female Members of Congregation
- Elena Wettstein Principato - Member, Council for the Economy; appointed 11 August 2026. Economist with international experience in finance, asset management and banking.
- Gisela Bergmann - Member, Council for the Economy; appointed 11 August 2026. Trained in engineering and finance; professional background in investment banking, engineering and fiduciary management.
- Susan Lynn Bissell - Member, Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors; appointed 30 March 2026. Social scientist and child-protection specialist; former senior UNICEF official and researcher at Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights.
- Vera Songwe - Ordinary Member, Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences; appointed 9 March 2026. Economist with a PhD in Mathematical Economics; former senior official at the World Bank, IFC and United Nations.
- Linah Siabana - Member, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; appointed 30 March 2026. Religious sister and psychologist, with experience in psychology, formation and religious life.
- Meghan J. Clark - Member, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; appointed 30 March 2026. Theologian with a PhD in Theological Ethics; professor at St John’s University specialising in Catholic social thought, human rights and ethics.
- Léocadie Wabo Lushombo - Member, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; appointed 30 March 2026. Theologian and ethicist with doctoral training in theological ethics; specialises in Catholic social ethics, gender and development.
- Christine Nathan - Member, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; appointed 30 March 2026. Specialist in labour, migration and social justice, with long experience in international Catholic and labour organisations.
- Chiara Cazzuola - Member, Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; appointed 24 June 2025. Salesian sister and educator; Superior General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
- Françoise Petit - Member, Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; appointed 24 June 2025. Daughter of Charity with a background in education, formation and international religious leadership.
- Maria Goretti Lee - Member, Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; appointed 24 June 2025. Korean religious sister with theological formation and extensive experience in congregational leadership.
- Idilia Maria Moreira Gonçalves Carneiro - Member, Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; appointed 24 June 2025. Hospitaller sister with experience in healthcare, formation and religious leadership; Superior General of her congregation.
- Luisa Muston - Member, Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; appointed 24 June 2025. Lay consecrated woman; President-General of the secular institute Missionaries of the Sick “Christ Hope.”
- Alfonsina Russo - Member, Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology; appointed 25 March 2026. Archaeologist and specialist in classical archaeology; senior Italian cultural-heritage administrator.
- Lucrezia Spera - Member, Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology; appointed 25 March 2026. Professor of Christian and Medieval Archaeology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
- Francesca Romana Stasolla - Member, Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology; appointed 25 March 2026. Professor of Christian and Medieval Archaeology at Sapienza University of Rome.
- Simona Brambilla - Member, Dicastery for Bishops; appointed by Leo XIV on 14 February 2026. Consolata Missionary Sister, nurse and psychologist; also Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, to which Francis appointed her in January 2025.
- María Lía Zervino - Member, Dicastery for Bishops; originally appointed by Francis in 2022 and confirmed by Leo XIV on 14 February 2026. Argentine sociologist and former President of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations.
- Charlotte Kreuter-Kirchhof - Member, Council for the Economy; originally appointed by Francis in 2020 and retained in Leo XIV’s renewed council on 11 August 2026. German professor of public, international and European law.
- Leslie Jane Ferrar - Member, Council for the Economy; originally appointed by Francis in 2020 and retained in Leo XIV’s renewed council on 11 August 2026. Chartered accountant and former Treasurer to the then Prince Charles.
Female Consultors of Dicasteries
- Lucy Afandi Esipila - Consultor, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; appointed 18 August 2026. Kenyan development specialist and Regional Executive Secretary of Caritas Africa.
- Kathryn A. Koch - Consultor, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; appointed 18 August 2026. American investment executive with a background in economics and finance; President and CEO of Trust Company of the West.
- Jacqueline Remond - Consultor, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; appointed 18 August 2026. Australian academic and sustainability specialist working on ecology, theology and Catholic social teaching.
- Caren Rodrigues - Consultor, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; appointed 18 August 2026. Management academic and Associate Professor at Saint Joseph’s Institute of Management in Bangalore.
- Patricia Murray - Consultor, Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; appointed 6 August 2026. Irish religious sister educated in theology and education; former Executive Secretary of the International Union of Superiors General.
- Maria Nirmalini - Consultor, Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; appointed 6 August 2026. Indian Apostolic Carmel sister and educator with extensive experience in leadership of women religious.
- Mary Makamatine Lembo - Consultor, Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; appointed 6 August 2026. Togolese religious sister and psychologist; professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University and researcher on abuse of women religious.
- María Rosaura González Casas - Consultor, Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; appointed 6 August 2026. Mexican religious sister and psychologist; academic at the Pontifical Gregorian University specialising in psychology and formation.
- Maria do Disterro Rocha Santos - Consultor, Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; appointed 6 August 2026. Brazilian religious sister with experience in formation and national leadership of religious life.
- Chiara Lorenzato - Consultor, Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; appointed 6 August 2026. Italian religious sister with extensive formation and leadership experience in the Franciscan/Clarissan tradition.
- Chiara Codazzi - Theological Consultor, Dicastery for the Causes of Saints; appointed 21 June 2025. Italian religious sister and theologian associated with the Pontifical University Antonianum.
- Emma Caroleo Bonfatti - Theological Consultor, Dicastery for the Causes of Saints; appointed 21 June 2025. Italian lay theologian and academic associated with the Pontifical Gregorian University.
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