“For a woman to be appointed as prefect would be great news, if it weren’t for the fact that she has been flanked by someone, it’s like assigning a custodian who can control her,” said Lucetta Scaraffia, a church historian and feminist, who said that in this context, the appointment was “window dressing.”
Sister Brambilla will lead the department — its official title is Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life — that promotes and oversees religious orders of men and women, though the vast majority are for women. According to Vatican statistics published last year, some 128,500 priests — more than 25 percent of the world’s total — belonged to orders like the Jesuits or Franciscans as of 2022, as well as fewer than 50,000 brothers. The number of women in religious orders totaled 599,228 in 2022. The department also oversees many lay movements.
Before 2019, all the members of the Vatican department had been men, but both religious sisters and some bishops had long complained about the absence of women in decision-making positions in an office with operations that could directly affect their lives. In 2019, Francis appointed seven women as members of the department. In 2022, he released a new constitution reforming the Roman Curia that made it possible for laypeople, including women, to become prefects. In 2023, Sister Brambilla was chosen as secretary of the department. She is taking over from Brazilian Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, 77, who was named in 2011.
Sister Brambilla, 59, was born in Monza, near Milan. She was a professional nurse before becoming a Consolata Missionary, and has a doctorate in psychology. She led her religious order as superior from 2011 to 2023.
Critics accuse Francis of dragging his heels when it comes to appointing women to top decision-making positions in the church, but he has done more than his predecessors. Just 10 years ago, only two women held top positions in the Curia. Now there are around a dozen. According to Vatican News, from 2013 to 2023, the percentage of women working at the Vatican rose to 23.4 percent from 19.2 percent.
