ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, appointing an Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the Catholic Church's religious orders.
The appointment marks a major step in Francis’ aim to give women more leadership roles in governing the church. While women have been named to No. 2 spots in some Vatican offices, never before has a woman been named prefect of a dicastery or congregation of the Holy See Curia, the central governing organ of the Catholic Church.
The historic nature of Brambilla’s appointment was confirmed by Vatican Media, which headlined its report “Sister Simona Brambilla is the first woman prefect in the Vatican.”
The office is one of the most important in the Vatican. Known officially as the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, it is responsible for every religious order, from the Jesuits and Franciscans to the Mercy nuns and smaller newer movements.
The appointment means that a woman is now responsible for the women who do much of the church's work — the world's 600,000 Catholic nuns — as well as the 129,000 Catholic priests who belong to religious orders.
“It should be a woman. Long ago it should have been, but thank God,” said Thomas Groome, a senior professor of theology and religious education at Boston College who has long called for the ordination of women priests. "It’s a small step along the way but symbolically, it shows an openness and a new horizon or possibility.”
Groome noted that nothing theologically would now prevent Francis from naming Brambilla a cardinal, since cardinals don't technically have to be ordained priests.
Naming as a cardinal “would be automatic for the head of a dicastery if she was a man,” he said.
But in an indication of the novelty of the appointment and that perhaps Francis was not ready to go that far, the pope simultaneously named as a co-leader, or “pro-prefect,” a cardinal: Ángel Fernández Artime, a Salesian.
The appointment, announced in the Vatican daily bulletin, lists Brambilla first as “prefect” and Fernández second as her co-leader. Theologically, it appears Francis believed the second appointment was necessary since the head of the office must be able to celebrate Mass and perform other sacramental functions that currently can only be done by men.
Natalia Imperatori-Lee, chair of the religion and philosophy department at Manhattan University, was initially excited by Brambilla’s appointment, only to learn that Francis had named a male co-prefect.
“One day, I pray, the church will see women for the capable leaders they already are,” she said. “It’s ridiculous to think she needs help running a Vatican dicastery. Moreover, for as long as men have been in charge of this division of Vatican governance, they have governed men’s and women’s religious communities.”
Brambilla, 59, is a member of the Consolata Missionaries religious order and had served as the No. 2 in the religious orders department since 2023. She takes over from the retiring Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, 77.
Francis made Brambilla’s appointment possible with his 2022 reform of the Holy See’s founding constitution, which allowed laypeople, including women, to head a dicastery and become prefects.
Brambilla, a nurse, worked as a missionary in Mozambique and led her Consolata order as superior from 2011-2023, when Francis made her secretary of the religious orders department.
One major challenge she will face is the plummeting number of nuns worldwide. It has fallen by around 10,000 a year for the past several years, from around 750,000 in 2010 to 600,000 last year, according to Vatican statistics.
Brambilla's appointment is the latest move by Francis to show by example how women can take leadership roles within the Catholic hierarchy, albeit without allowing them to be ordained as priests.
Catholic women have long complained of second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men.
Francis has upheld the ban on female priests and tamped down hopes that women could be ordained as deacons.
But there has been a marked increase in the percentage of women working in the Vatican during his papacy, including in leadership positions, from 19.3% in 2013 to 23.4% today, according to statistics reported by Vatican News. In the Curia alone, the percentage of women is 26%.
Among the women holding leadership positions are Sister Raffaella Petrini, the first-ever female secretary general of the Vatican City State, responsible for the territory’s health care system, police force and main source of revenue, the Vatican Museums, which are led by a laywoman, Barbara Jatta.
Another nun, Sister Alessandra Smerilli, is the No. 2 in the Vatican development office while several women have been appointed to under-secretary positions, including the French nun, Sister Nathalie Becquart, in the synod of bishops' office.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Pope Francis kisses the baby Jesus as he presides over an Epiphany mass in St.Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Pope Francis waves during the Angelus noon prayer on the occasion of the Epiphany day from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
TORONTO (AP) — Easton Lucas allowed one hit over five scoreless innings in his first major league start, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.
It was hardly baseball weather with snow falling outside Rogers Centre, which had the roof closed for the afternoon game.
Lucas (1-0) struck out three and walked two in a composed 74-pitch outing.
Filling in for the injured Max Scherzer, the 6-foot-4 left-hander was making his 15th appearance in the majors. The 28-year-old from California appeared in two games for the Jays last season. He made 12 other appearances in 2024, split between Oakland and Detroit.
RANGERS 1, REDS 0
CINCINNATI (AP) — Jack Leiter shut Cincinnati down for the second game in a row as Texas won to take the three-game series.
The Rangers were outscored 14-5 in the three games but still won the series.
Leiter (2-0) retired the first 11 Reds batters until Elly De La Cruz doubled. He left after the fifth inning with a blister on his pitching hand but still tied his career-high with six strikeouts.
PIRATES 4, RAYS 2
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Paul Skenes needed nearly three innings to warm up, then struck out six over seven innings and Pittsburgh beat Tampa Bay at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
Oneil Cruz hit his second home run of the season and drove in another to give Skenes, the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year, his first win of 2025.
The 22-year-old right-hander did not walk a batter and was on the mound when the Rays scored an unearned run in the sixth. Isaiah Kiner-Falefa’s throwing error on Jonn DeLuca’s ground ball allowed the Rays their only runner in scoring position against Skenes. He scored on Brandon Lowe’s groundout.
BREWERS 3, ROYALS 2 FINAL/11 INNINGS
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brice Turang dropped a perfect bunt to score Oliver Dunn in the 11th inning and Milwaukee beat Kansas City.
Pinch-runner Dunn advanced from second base on Garett Mitchell’s groundout off Sam Long (0-2). Joey Ortiz walked. Turang, who was 0 for 5 for the game, laid down a bunt in front of the plate and raced to first as Dunn scored.
Jared Koenig (1-0) picked up the win with a scoreless 11th.
CARDINALS 12, ANGELS 5
STT. LOUIS (AP) — Iván Herrera hit three home runs to help St. Louis beat Los Angeles.
Herrera hit his third home run of the game, and of the season, off Sean Burke to cap a seven-run eighth inning for the Cardinals. Herrera hit a two-run homer in the sixth, and a solo shot in the fourth off Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi to give him his first career multi-home run game.
Willson Contreras drew a bases-loaded walk off Burke to break a 5-5 tie after Ian Anderson (0-1) allowed three straight hits to open the bottom of the eighth inning.
TWINS 6, WHITE SOX 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Harrison Bader and Byron Buxton hit home runs to back Pablo López’s solid start and Minnesota beat Chicago after rain delayed the start by nearly 3 1/2 hours.
Buxton, Carlos Correa and Ty France had two hits apiece for the Twins, who took the rubber match of the three-game series.
López (1-1) pitched seven innings, giving up four hits and one run with a walk and five strikeouts. Jhoan Duran and Danny Coulombe each threw a scoreless inning to complete the win.
CUBS 10, ATHLETICS 2
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Seiya Suzuki homered twice and drove in five runs as Chicago beat the Athletics to complete a three-game sweep.
Matt Shaw added two RBI singles for the Cubs, who outscored the A’s 35-9 in the first major league series played at Sutter Health Park, the club’s planned home for the next three years before a proposed relocation to Las Vegas.
Suzuki hit an early three-run homer for the second consecutive game when he connected in the second inning off Jeffrey Springs (1-1). Suzuki went deep again leading off the fourth before adding a late RBI single.
It was Suzuki’s fourth career multi-homer game. He has at least two hits in each of his last four games, with four home runs and 11 RBIs during that span.
Jacob Wilson had three of the A’s five hits and Brent Rooker hit a two-run homer against Jameson Taillon (1-1) as the hosts lost their fourth straight game. Taillon struck out seven over six innings.
PADRES 5, GUARDIANS 2
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jackson Merrill hit a two-run homer a few hours after finalizing a $135 million, nine-year contract and San Diego started 7-0 for the first time in their 57-season history by beating Cleveland.
Fernando Tatis Jr. raced home on the back end of a double steal to start the scoring in the four-run third inning for the Padres, whose previous best start was 4-0 in 1984, when they went to their first World Series.
The Padres’ hot start includes sweeping playoff teams from last year. Before taking three from the Guardians, the Padres swept a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves in a rematch of their NL Division Series, which San Diego won in two games.
Merrill homered in his second straight game, driving the first pitch he saw from Ben Lively (0-1) onto the party deck atop the right field wall. He began his trot, tossed his bat and gestured with his right arm.
MARINERS 3, TIGERS 2
SEATTLE (AP) — Victor Robles hit a two-RBI double, Dylan Moore homered and Seattle beat Detroit and American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.
Luis Castillo (1-1) went seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Gabe Spier pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Andres Munoz survived a rocky ninth for his third save and prevent a Tigers’ sweep of the three-game series.
Robles’ second-inning drive to the left-center went over the glove of Ryan Kreidler to bring home Moore and J.P. Crawford. Moore hit his first homer of the season for a 3-0 lead in the fourth.
Skubal (0-2) left with two outs in the fifth after giving up six hits and three walks while striking out eight.
GIANTS 6, ASTROS 3
HOUSTON (AP) — Wilmer Flores homered again and Luis Matos and LaMonte Wade Jr. also went deep to lead San Francisco to a win over Houston to complete a three-game sweep.
It’s the fourth home run this season for Flores, who hit just four in 71 games last season. His four homers were tied with Aaron Judge, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki for second-most in the majors entering Wednesday night’s games.
Flores got things going with his two-run shot to the seats in left field off Framber Valdez (1-1) with one out in the first. Matos made it 3-0 with his shot to center field to start the second.
Heliot Ramos doubled with one out in the inning to extend his streak with an extra-base hit to six games to start the season, tying Felipe Alou (1963) for the longest such streak in franchise history. The double drove in two runs to push the lead to 5-0.
METS 6, MARLINS 5, 11 INNINGS
MIAMI (AP) — Pete Alonso launched a three-run homer that tied the score with two outs in the eighth inning and New York scored twice in the 11th to beat Miami.
Alonso also doubled twice and finished with four RBIs. All three of his hits came off the bat at 113 mph or more.
Juan Soto scored three times for the Mets, who used eight pitchers and took two of three in the series to finish 3-3 on their season-opening trip. They play their home opener Friday against Toronto.
RED SOX 3, ORIOLES 0
BALTIMORE (AP — Garrett Crochet pitched eight outstanding innings in his first start with his big new contract, and Boston blanked Baltimore.
Trevor Story homered for the Red Sox, and Kristian Campbell — who also got a sizeable new deal from the Red Sox — had two hits. And Rafael Devers finally broke through with his first two hits of the season, including an RBI double in the fifth.
Crochet, who agreed to a $170 million, six-year contract earlier this week, followed that up with the longest outing of his career. He allowed four hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.
Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth for his first save.
PHILLIES 5, ROCKIES 1
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zack Wheeler struck out 10 in seven sharp innings and Trea Turner had three hits in his return to the starting lineup as Philadelphia defeated Colorado.
Wheeler (1-0) allowed just one run and three hits. He reached double digits in strikeouts for the 26th time in his career by striking out three batters in the seventh.
Turner, who missed two games last weekend with lower back spasms, entered as a pinch hitter late in Philadelphia’s home opener Monday against Colorado. Back in the leadoff spot Wednesday, he delivered an RBI single in the seventh.
Kyle Schwarber had a run-scoring double and scored on an RBI groundout by J.T. Realmuto. Schwarber has at least one hit in each of the Phillies’ five games this season.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, YANKEES 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Zac Gallen tied his career high with 13 strikeouts while extending his scoreless streak over New York to 18 2/3 innings, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a two-run homer in the first off Carlos Rodón that started Arizona to a win.
Gallen (1-1) rebounded from an opening day loss to the Chicago Cubs by allowing three hits with no walks. He got 10 strikeouts on his knuckle-curve and improved to 3-0 against the Yankees.
He also fanned 13 at the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sept. 22, 2022.
A.J. Puk allowed Anthony Volpe’s opposite-field three-run homer in the ninth, then retired Austin Wells on a foulout and struck out Jasson Domínguez for his second save in two nights.
DODGERS 6, BRAVES 5
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a tiebreaking home run in the ninth inning on his bobblehead night, lifting unbeaten Los Angeles over winless Atlanta.
The Dodgers improved to 8-0, the best start ever by a defending World Series champion.
Max Muncy tied the game with a two-run double in the eighth off Atlanta reliever Raisel Iglesias (0-1) after the third baseman’s two errors led to five unearned runs for the Braves early.
Atlanta is 0-7 for the first time since opening 0-9 in 2016.
Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr (27) slides safely into second base with a double ahead of a tag by Washington Nationals shortstop C.J. Abrams (5) in fifth inning MLB action in Toronto on Wednesday April 2, 2025. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)
