Critics Continue to Question Barriers to Women in the Catholic Church The first woman, Sister Simona Brambilla, has been appointed to oversee a major Vatican office. She was named by Pope Francis ...

Pope Francis warned Wednesday against a "chauvinistic mentality" in the Catholic Church, as he promoted a nun to head the ...

Sister Simona Brambilla will head the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

While women have been named to No. 2 spots in some Vatican offices, never before has a woman been named prefect of a dicastery or congregation of the Holy See Curia, the central governing organ of the ...