Overview
- Vatican officials announced Tuesday that Sister Alessandra Smerilli will replace Cardinal Michael Czerny as prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, with her term beginning on September 1, 2026.
- Cardinal Fabio Baggio was named pro-prefect with special responsibility for the Centro de Alta Formación 'Laudato Si'' and Monsignor Jozef Barlaš was appointed secretary, with both roles also effective September 1.
- Smerilli, 51, is a Salesian nun and an economist who in 2021 became the first woman to serve as a dicastery secretary, giving her institutional experience running the same office she will now lead.
- Observers and Vatican reports frame the appointments as part of a steady effort to elevate women in senior Curia roles and as an example of the Curia's recurring 'tandem' model that pairs female heads with male co-leaders.
- The dicastery, created to centralize Vatican work on social justice, peace, care for creation and human rights, will keep oversight of environmental training through the Laudato Si' center, a role that could shape the Holy See's outreach and policy work on climate and development.