Vatican appoints first laywoman to head communications department

The Vatican has appointed Maria Alvarado, a 39-year-old Mexican-American media executive, as the new head of its communications department, making her the first laywoman to occupy the position.

Alvarado is also the first non-Italian to lead the department, which oversees the Vatican’s television, radio, print media and press office.

Her appointment, announced in June by Pope Leo XIV, is expected to mark a shift in the Church’s approach to women in senior leadership positions.

According to analysts, the decision reflects the Pope’s willingness to recognise women’s professional abilities beyond the traditional roles they have occupied within the Vatican.

Alvarado, who is popularly known as Montse, said she was surprised by the appointment, explaining that she did not apply for the position through a conventional recruitment process.

Speaking in an interview with US Catholic media outlet EWTN News, where she served as president and chief operating officer from 2023, she said the appointment came directly from the Pope.

“I didn’t apply; I wasn’t chosen” through a standard application process, she said, describing it as “an appointment from the Holy Father.”

Before her appointment, Alvarado had built an extensive career in communications and religious freedom advocacy.

Born in Mexico, she moved to the United States as a child and grew up in Miami before relocating to Washington for her studies.

She spent 14 years working with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit law firm focused on defending religious freedom.

In 2023, she became head of EWTN News, overseeing international media operations that produced content in seven languages across television, radio, print, digital platforms and social media.

Her appointment is particularly significant given EWTN’s sometimes difficult relationship with the Vatican under the late Pope Francis.

Some programmes on the network had been criticised for their coverage of Francis, who faced opposition from conservative Catholics over his reform-oriented approach to Church leadership.

In 2021, Francis appeared to criticise a major Catholic television network for repeatedly attacking the Pope.

“I may personally deserve attacks and insults because I am a sinner, but the Church does not deserve this; it is the work of the devil,” he said.

Alvarado was working as a presenter for EWTN at the time.

She succeeds Paolo Ruffini, 70, who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2018 and became the first layperson to head a Vatican dicastery.

Commenting on Alvarado’s appointment, Lucetta Scaraffia, founder of the Vatican women’s magazine Women Church World and a history professor at Rome’s La Sapienza University, described her as a highly qualified professional.

“This is a woman who has been chosen for her skills and her qualities,” she told AFP.

Scaraffia said Alvarado’s international background could bring a different perspective to the department, adding that she had established herself as an accomplished communications manager.

She also argued that the appointment reflected Pope Leo’s different attitude towards women, noting that women previously selected for senior Vatican positions were often religious sisters rather than professionals appointed primarily for their expertise.

Alvarado had earlier disclosed that she never initially planned to build a career in media and communications, saying her ambition had been to get married and have children.

She was previously married, but the marriage ended in divorce and was subsequently annulled by the Catholic Church.

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