Pope names Irish sister to lead Pontifical Mission Societies
Pope Leo XIV appointed Irish Sister Mary Teresa Barron adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization and president of the Pontifical Mission Societies. Barron will be the first woman to lead the Holy See’s global evangelization network; she is expected to take office in January 2027. She previously led the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles and served as president of the International Union of Superiors General. Barron has missionary experience in Nigeria and Tanzania and has served in Vatican roles since 2024.
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Sister Mary Teresa Barron, an Irish missionary sister and current head of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, has been appointed to lead the Pontifical Mission Societies. She will be the first woman to hold the role and is due to take office on January 4, 2027.
Pope Leo XIV appointed Barron adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, in its Section for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches, with the office of president of the Pontifical Mission Societies. The Vatican announced the appointment on October 8, 2026.
The Pontifical Mission Societies are the Holy See’s global evangelization network. The leadership post had been vacant since January 2023, when Archbishop Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso became apostolic nuncio to Jordan.
Born in Donegal in 1968, Barron holds master’s degrees in public healthcare administration and international development. She entered religious life and served as a missionary in Africa, particularly in Nigeria and Tanzania.
She has been superior general of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles since 2018. In 2019, she joined the council of the International Union of Superiors General, later serving as its vice president and then president from 2023 to 2025.
Barron has been a member of the Dicastery for Evangelization since 2024 and was appointed a consultor to the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue in January 2026. She also participated in both assemblies of the Synod on Synodality, held in 2023 and 2024.
Barron thanked the Pope for his trust and said she was following generations of sisters from her congregation, which marks its 150th anniversary this year. She also praised Ireland’s tradition of missionary service.
Although Leo XIV formally heads the Dicastery for Evangelization, Barron’s direct superiors will be Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of her section, and Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, its secretary.
Women’s leadership in the Church’s missionary evangelization
Women’s leadership in missionary evangelization is not peripheral or merely supportive: the Church’s teaching recognizes women as essential evangelizers whose gifts should shape pastoral work, catechesis, mission planning, theological reflection, and appropriate consultation and decision-making. This leadership is exercised in varied forms and does not require that every ecclesial role be identical.
The Church’s missionary work belongs to the whole People of God, and the laity have a specific contribution to make to evangelization. John Paul II pointed to Pauline Jaricot, whose missionary initiative helped inspire cooperation between local Churches and the formation of missionary co-workers. He stressed that such cooperation depends on prayer, sacrifice, and holiness as well as practical activity.
Women’s participation is rooted in the Gospel and the Church’s earliest history. Christifideles Laici notes that Jesus’ first followers included women who served the mission, and that St Paul named many women for their service in early Christian communities. Their contribution has often taken the form of hidden, lowly work, yet has been decisive for the Church’s growth and holiness.
The Gospel gives striking examples of women as witnesses and heralds. Mary Magdalene was the first witness to the risen Christ and announced the Resurrection to the apostles; the Samaritan woman likewise carried the good news to others after encountering Jesus. These examples show that women’s evangelizing authority can arise directly from their encounter with Christ and faithful testimony to him.
The Church’s teaching calls not only for appreciation of women’s existing service, but for the recognition and practical use of their gifts. Christifideles Laici says the Church should draw on the gifts, experience, and talents of both women and men to make her mission effective. It specifically calls for women’s participation in pastoral councils, diocesan synods, and other consultative settings, and for their involvement in preparing pastoral and missionary documents.
This has direct implications for missionary planning. Women should not be treated merely as recipients of evangelization or as volunteers who carry out decisions made by others. Their experience should help shape decisions, particularly where those decisions concern family life, education, catechesis, and the communities in which women serve. The teaching calls for women to participate without discrimination in consultation and decision-making, and to be recognized as co-workers in the Church’s mission in family, professional, and civic life.
Women’s missionary leadership also includes transmitting the faith. John Paul II highlights women’s work in the family and in educational settings, as well as their contribution to communicating, studying, researching, and teaching the Word of God. Evangelization and catechesis, therefore, are not narrow or secondary fields of service; they are central places where women’s gifts should be fostered.
Consecrated women have a particular role in this mission. A text published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis calls for expanded opportunities for their participation at every level, including where deliberation and decisions take place. It also urges formation suited to new pastoral needs, including theological-pastoral and professional preparation. Such formation can equip women religious not only for service but also for significant contributions to theological, cultural, and spiritual reflection.
Recognizing women’s leadership does not mean claiming that every ecclesial ministry is interchangeable. A 1975 Holy See text distinguishes women’s call as disciples and collaborators from the apostolic call of the Twelve and the ordained ministries, while insisting that women’s role in evangelization and community life must be recognized and promoted.
That distinction should not be used to minimize women’s authority, initiative, or responsibility in the mission. The same teaching tradition calls for their meaningful participation in pastoral reflection and decisions, for their gifts to be put into practice, and for their missionary contribution to be more fully developed.
The sources also present Mary Magdalene as the first herald of the risen Christ, and recall Phoebe, whom Paul commends for her service to the Church at Cenchreae and her assistance to many. Together these examples make clear that the Church’s missionary life has always depended on women’s witness, service, and initiative.
Missionary leadership is not simply a question of assigning positions. It grows from discipleship: receiving the Gospel, living it, and communicating it faithfully. John Paul II describes women religious as partners in evangelization through their attentive reception of Christ’s word and fidelity to his message, and identifies prayer, sacrifice, and the pursuit of holiness as foundations for missionary cooperation.
The Church’s teaching also insists that evangelizers themselves need continuing evangelization. Women who serve the mission are not only teachers or witnesses; like every disciple, they must continually receive and discern the Gospel. That ongoing formation helps ensure that missionary work expresses the dignity of every person and remains faithful to the values of the Gospel.
In practical terms, the Church’s teaching points toward a missionary community in which women are formed, listened to, entrusted with responsibility, and included in shaping pastoral and missionary priorities. Their leadership is not an optional enhancement to evangelization. It belongs to the Church’s effort to recognize and put into practice the gifts God gives for the life and mission of his people.