Sister Smerilli new Prefect of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development
Pope Leo appoints Sister Alessandra Smerilli as Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, effective 1 September 2026. Cardinal Fabio Baggio named Pro‑Prefect with special responsibility for the Laudato si Higher Education Centre. Monsignor Jozef Barlaš appointed Secretary of the Dicastery. The appointments replace former Prefect Cardinal Michael Czerny and complete a new leadership team for the department overseeing justice, peace, migration, health care, charity, creation care, and human dignity worldwide.
3 months ago
Sister Alessandra Smerilli, a Salesian nun and economist, has been appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, with the change taking effect on 1 September 2026. Pope Leo XIV also named Cardinal Fabio Baggio as pro‑prefect and Monsignor Jozef Barlaš as secretary of the dicastery. 1
The Holy See announced that Sister Alessandra Smerilli will succeed Cardinal Michael Czerny as prefect. Cardinal Fabio Baggio will serve as pro‑prefect, carrying special responsibility for the Laudato si’ Higher Education Centre, while Monsignor Jozef Barlaš will become the new secretary. All three appointments become operative on 1 September 2026. 1 3
Sister Smerilli entered the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco in 1997 and holds doctorates in political economy (La Sapienza, Rome) and economics (University of East Anglia). She is a full professor of political economy at the Auxilium Faculty of Education and has taught at several Catholic universities. She began working with the dicastery in April 2020, served as interim secretary in 2021, and was confirmed as its secretary in 2022. 3
At 51 years old, Smerilli becomes the third woman in history to head a Roman Curia dicastery, following Sister Simona Brambilla (2025) and María Montserrat Alvarado (June 2026). Pope Leo XIV’s decision continues the trend, begun under Pope Francis, of appointing women to senior Vatican roles. 2 3
Cardinal Baggio, a member of the Missionaries of St Charles Borromeo, has been under‑secretary of the dicastery since 2022 and now serves as pro‑prefect, overseeing the Laudato si’ Higher Education Centre. Monsignor Jozef Barlaš, a Slovak priest with a doctorate in canon law and former official in the Secretariat of State, assumes the secretary position. 1 4
The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, created in 2016 by Pope Francis, coordinates the Church’s work on justice and peace, migration, health care, charity, care for creation, and the promotion of human dignity worldwide. Its new leadership is expected to continue advancing these priorities under Pope Leo XIV’s papacy. 1*
Third‑gender leadership in Vatican’s human‑development dicastery
Reports suggesting “third‑gender leadership” in the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development are not substantiated by the Church sources available here. What can be responsibly affirmed from the provided Catholic material is (a) what the Dicastery is charged to do, and (b) who is publicly identified in leadership roles in the available references—namely a male religious superior as Prefect and a woman religious as Secretary—without any reference to a “third‑gender” category in the Dicastery’s governance.
The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development exists to promote the human person and the God-given dignity of all, with explicit focus on human rights, health, justice, peace, and key areas including economy and work, care of creation, migration, and humanitarian emergencies.
It also:
This is important for your question because “leadership” in this Dicastery, as reflected in the texts provided, is described in terms of ecclesial office structures and competence, not in terms of gender identity categories.
From the Catholic directory profile and the Prefect biography included in the references:
The references provided do not mention any “third‑gender” designation for any of these leadership offices.
To substantiate a claim about “third‑gender leadership,” the sources would normally need to show one of the following:
In the set of Catholic sources you provided, there is no authoritative text or appointment announcement supporting that framing. The governance descriptions focus on the Dicastery’s competence and staffing (clerics, religious, and experts) rather than on gender identity categories.
The texts you provided repeatedly ground the Dicastery’s work in the God‑given dignity of all persons and in concrete goods such as justice, peace, and care for creation.
They also describe the Dicastery’s concrete social concerns, including:
However, these passages do not address “third‑gender” categories. So they can support a general principle of dignity in Church social action, but they cannot confirm the specific news claim about “third‑gender leadership.”
Based on the Catholic sources included in your materials, there is no support for the specific proposition that the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development has “third‑gender leadership.” The provided governance texts describe a competence-based Dicastery structure, and the leadership profiles identify a male Prefect and a woman religious Secretary, with no “third‑gender” juridical category referenced.