Pope Leo XIV appointed Maria Montserrat Alvarado as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See

Pope Leo XIV appointed Maria Montserrat Alvarado as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See

¨     Pope Leo XIV appointed Maria Montserrat Alvarado as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See.

¨     She will become the first lay woman to lead a dicastery of the Holy See.

¨     She is scheduled to assume office on 1 November 2026.

¨    The Dicastery for Communication was established in 2015 by Pope Francis as part of the reform of the Roman Curia.

It oversees major Vatican media institutions, including:

¨     Vatican News

¨     Vatican Radio

¨     L’Osservatore Romano

¨     Holy See Press Office

The Roman Curia is the administrative body of the Holy See.It assists the Pope in the governance of the Catholic Church.A dicastery is a department of the Roman Curia responsible for specific administrative and pastoral functions.Maria Montserrat Alvarado is a Mexican-American Catholic media executive.She was raised in Miami.Since 2023, she has served as President and Chief Operating Officer of EWTN News.At EWTN News, she supervised global and multilingual news operations.Her appointment marks a significant milestone for women’s leadership within the Vatican administration.