Vatican announces leadership changes in 3 dicasteries; Sister Smerilli named a prefect
June 30, 2026
The Holy See Press Office this morning announced leadership changes in three of the Vatican’s 16 dicasteries.
Pope Leo today appointed Sister Alessandra Smerilli, F.M.A., secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, as the dicastery’s new prefect. On September 1, she will succeed Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., 79, the dicastery’s prefect since 2022.
Pope Leo also appointed Cardinal Fabio Baggio, C.S., an undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, as the dicastery’s new pro-prefect. In doing so, Pope Leo followed the example of Pope Francis’s January 2025 appointments of a religious sister as prefect of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, with a cardinal as pro-prefect.
In dicasteries without a pro-prefect, the secretary is the second-ranking official; in dicasteries with a pro-prefect, the secretary is the third-ranking official. Pope Leo today appointed three new secetaries:
- Msgr. Jozef Barlaš, an undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development since last November, is the dicastery’s new secretary. His appointment, like the other appointments to the dicastery, takes effect on September 1.
- Bishop Marco Mellino, adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts since last November, is the dicastery’s new secretary. He succeeds Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, 75, the Opus Dei prelate who has served as secretary since 2007.
- Msgr. Lucio Adrian Ruiz, secretary of the Dicastery for Communication since 2015, is the new secretary of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, which has lacked a secretary since its establishment in 2022. The prelate’s transfer from the Dicastery for Communication clears the way for the appointment of a new secretary under Maria Montserrat Alvarado, the dicastery’s new prefect.
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