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Pope Leo Names Maria Montserrat Alvarado Prefect of Vatican Communications

The Mexico-born EWTN executive will take charge on November 1, 2026, continuing the Vatican’s shift to lay and female leadership and signaling a broader review of its media strategy.

Pope Leo XIV delivers the Angelus noon prayer in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Overview

  • The Holy See announced on Tuesday that Maria Montserrat Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, will become prefect of the Dicastery for Communication effective November 1, 2026.
  • Alvarado is the first non-religious woman appointed to lead a Vatican dicastery, a move the Vatican frames as a continuation of curial reforms begun under Pope Francis.
  • Paolo Ruffini, the current prefect who was named in 2018 as the first lay head of the dicastery, will retire at the Vatican age threshold and has begun a planned handover with Alvarado over the coming months.
  • The Dicastery for Communication runs Vatican News, Vatican Radio, L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican Media and the Holy See Press Office and manages one of the Holy See’s largest media budgets.
  • Observers note Alvarado’s background at EWTN and the Becket Fund could shape Vatican messaging and that Pope Leo XIV has summoned cardinals to reassess how the Church communicates, so changes to strategy and tone are likely to follow.