Don’t be rude at Mass
It is no surprise Pope Francis has been an advocate for advancing the role of women in leadership positions of the Church. The recent move by the pope to appoint the first ever female to lead one major Vatican department should not come as a surprise to many Catholics.
Although the pope had to make an adjustment to ensure she had a male counterpart, since the position required a priest, Francis ensured that Sr. Simona Brambilla was able to hold the position.
Consolata Missionary Sr. Simona Brambilla will serve as prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life after the appointment by Pope Francis. For those unfamiliar with the departments of the Vatican, simply put it means she will lead that department that overseas all religious orders under the Vatican. The position also includes leading over a quarter of the Church’s priest worldwide.
Brambilla, having been named as the first woman to obtain the top position in an office in the Holy See, is a 59-year old nun that holds a doctorate in psychology and has served as a missionary and nurse. The Italian nun has served in Mozambique and has made history previously in the church when she was named the number two official of the curia in 2023 when she was appointed as the department’s secretary.
Brambilla will now be responsible for the Church’s 600,000 nuns and 129,000 Catholic priests who belong to a religious order. However, since the head of the department should be able to celebrate Mass and perform other sacramental functions, Francis named a co-leader to work alongside Brambilla. Cardinal Angel Fernandez Artime, a Salesian, will serve as co-leader with Brambilla to ensure all the Vatican’s I’s are dotted and t’s are crossed.
Brambilla was born in Monza, in Lombardy. She entered the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of Consolata in 1988 and made her first religious profession in 1991. She has led youth ministry as a missionary in Mozambique, taught classes at the Gregorian’s Institute of Psychology, and served as superior general of the woman’s branch of the Consolata Missionaries in 2011. She was also a participate hand selected by Pope Francis to participate in the 2023 Synod of Bishops on Synodality, perhaps indicating then that he had plans for her to hold a higher role.