Pope Leo has appointed Maria Montserrat Alvarado as the new prefect of the Vatican's communications department, making her the first lay woman to hold a top position in the governance of the Roman Catholic Church.
Alvarado, currently president of the US-based Catholic media outlet EWTN News, will oversee the Vatican's news site, radio station, newspaper, press office, publishing house and film library. She replaces Paolo Ruffini, who is retiring, and begins her role on 1 November.
According to Vatican News, Alvarado is 'the first nonreligious woman to be appointed prefect of a dicastery of the Holy See'. In a statement, she described the appointment as 'unexpected' but accepted it 'with a sincere desire to serve the Holy Father as he begins his pontificate'.
Alvarado's appointment signals that Pope Leo, the first US-born pontiff elected in May last year, is continuing the path of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who boosted the female workforce in the Vatican and appointed several lay women to top roles. Francis also modernised Vatican communications, making its style less formal and more accessible.
Pope Leo has indicated he wants to further changes, summoning cardinals in June for a meeting to reassess ecclesial communication from a more missionary perspective. Alvarado, a Mexican-born US citizen, joined EWTN as a news anchor and has been president and chief operating officer since 2023.
