Overview
- Vatican News confirmed on Tuesday that Pope León XIV appointed María Montserrat Alvarado as prefect of the Dicastery for Communication with formal assumption set for November 1, 2026.
- Alvarado will replace Paolo Ruffini, who will remain to manage a handover as he reaches the Vatican retirement age of 70 and steps down later this year.
- The Dicastery oversees Vatican News, Radio Vaticana, L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican Media, the Holy See press office and other core media units, giving its prefect control of the Holy See’s global messaging apparatus.
- Alvarado is president and COO of EWTN News and spent 2009–2023 at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, experience that combines international Catholic media management with legal advocacy on religious-liberty issues.
- Observers say the choice could professionalize Vatican communications and help bridge relations with conservative U.S. Catholic media after earlier tensions tied to EWTN and to controversies that affected Ruffini’s final years in office.