Pope appoints Sr. Barron as Adjunct Secretary of Dicastery for Evangelization
Pope Leo XIV appointed Sister Mary Teresa Barron, N.S.A., Adjunct Secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s Section for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches. Barron will also serve as President of the Pontifical Mission Societies, beginning January 4, 2027. Barron, an Irish religious sister, has led the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles since 2018 and previously held leadership roles in SEDOS and the International Union of Superiors General.
about 18 hours ago
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Irish Sister Mary Teresa Barron as adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, and as president of the Pontifical Mission Societies. She is due to take up both responsibilities on January 4, 2027. 1 3
As president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, Barron will lead an organization that promotes missionary cooperation among local Churches worldwide, particularly in places where the Church is growing and facing pastoral challenges. The network operates in more than 120 countries, according to EWTN News. 3
Barron was born in Donegal, Ireland, on November 7, 1968. She has master’s degrees in public health administration and international development, and has been superior general of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles since 2018. 1 3
She served as president of the Service of Documentation and Study on Global Mission from 2022 to 2025, and as president of the International Union of Superiors General from 2023 to 2025. 1 3
At a 2024 press conference following Synod on Synodality discussions, Barron said some women sense a call to priesthood or diaconate and urged continued discussion, including consideration of what the Spirit may be calling women to do. She also said women’s opportunities for Church leadership vary across cultural contexts. 3
EWTN News described Barron as one of the highest-ranking women in the Roman Curia and the first woman to lead the Pontifical Mission Societies. The report situated her appointment among other women appointed by Leo XIV to senior Vatican roles, including positions in consecrated life, communications, and human development. 3*
Women’s leadership in missionary governance reflects baptismal participation
Women’s leadership in missionary governance is not an exception to baptismal participation; it is one way that participation can serve the Church’s mission. By Baptism, women and men share equal dignity in the People of God, and the missionary task belongs to the whole Church—not only to ordained ministers. The Church therefore recognizes women’s contributions in evangelization, formation, community life, and positions of responsibility.
This participation has practical consequences for governance. Christifideles Laici calls for women’s involvement in pastoral councils and synods, consultation and decision-making, and the preparation of pastoral and missionary documents. Praedicate Evangelium likewise says that lay women and men should be involved in roles of government and responsibility in the Roman Curia, because their participation contributes to the good of the whole Church.
“Leadership” here should not be confused with ordained ministry. The Church distinguishes baptismal mission and lay responsibility from the sacramental ministry of the ordained; recognizing women’s leadership does not, by itself, settle questions about access to ordained ministries. The Synod’s 2024 final document says that women’s access to the diaconate remains an open question for continued discernment, while urging fuller use of opportunities already provided in canon law.
The theological point is that missionary governance should help the whole baptized people discern and carry out the Church’s mission. Women’s gifts and leadership are not merely a means of making existing structures more efficient: they express the shared responsibility grounded in baptismal dignity.