Pope Francis appoints first female head of dicastery in Catholic Church
- Pope Francis has advocated for women's inclusion in Church roles, increasing women's participation in the Roman Curia from 19.3% to 26.1%.
- Simona Brambilla's appointment as prefect in January 2025 establishes her as the first female leader of a dicastery.
- Despite progress, the Catholic Church still restricts women from ordination and top ecclesiastical positions.
In January 2025, Simona Brambilla, an Italian nun, made history by being appointed the prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. This role marks a significant milestone as she becomes the first woman to lead a dicastery, which functions similarly to a ministry within the governance of the Catholic Church. Since Pope Francis assumed the papacy in 2013, there have been rising numbers of women placed in influential roles, although many believe there is still a considerable distance to travel toward equality. The percentage of women working in the Roman Curia has shown an increase from 19.3% to 26.1%, signaling gradual progress in terms of gender representation in ecclesiastical leadership. Despite these advancements, the Catholic Church still maintains a patriarchal structure where women cannot be ordained as priests or deacons, effectively barring them from becoming bishops, cardinals, or even the pope himself. Pope Francis has openly criticized this masculine dominance within the Church and has called for a 'demasculinization,' emphasizing the need for greater inclusion of women in Church responsibilities. Acknowledging that women’s roles, while appreciated, still hold secondary status, he remarked that women are 'the strawberries on the cake,' underlining the necessity for more substantial involvement and recognition of women within the Church hierarchy, fitting into his broader agenda of reforming the Vatican's administrative framework to include diverse voices and perspectives.