The Vatican Press Office announced on Saturday, October 7th, that Pope Francis has appointed Sister Simona Brambilla as the new Secretary of the dicastery responsible for governing religious worldwide. Sister Simona Brambilla, formerly the Superior General of the Missionaries of the Consolata, had already been a member of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in the Vatican since 2019. In her new role as secretary, she will be second in command of the dicastery, working under the leadership of its prefect, Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz.

Sister Simona Brambilla, born in Monza, Italy, on March 27, 1965, is 58 years old. By pontifical appointment, she is currently participating in the Synod on Synodality taking place in the Vatican this October. Her educational background includes obtaining a professional nursing diploma in 1986. In 1988, she entered the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Consolata, where she made her first religious profession in 1991. She earned a degree in Psychology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1998.

In 1999, she made her perpetual profession and later traveled to Mozambique, where she engaged in youth ministry at the Macua Xirima Study Center in Maua. Between 2002 and 2006, she served as a teacher at the Institute of Psychology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. From 2005 to 2011, she held the position of general councilor within her congregation. In 2008, she earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from the Pontifical Gregorian University.

In 2011, Sister Simona Brambilla was elected as the Superior General of the Missionary Sisters of the Consolata and was subsequently reelected in 2017. She served in this capacity until May 2023.

This article was originally published on ACI Prensa.