VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sr. Alessandra Smerilli as the new prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development while establishing a new pro-prefect position for an autonomous section within the same dicastery.

On June 30, Pope Leo XIV announced a new leadership team for the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, appointing Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, FMA, as prefect; Cardinal Fabio Baggio, C.S., as pro-prefect with autonomous responsibility for the Laudato si’ Higher Education Centre; and Father Jozef Barlaš as secretary.

According to the Holy See Press Office, all three appointments will take effect on September 1, 2026.

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Smerilli served as secretary of the same dicastery and succeeds Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., as prefect. Baggio and Barlaš were previously under-secretaries of the same dicastery.

The appointments introduce a functional change within the dicastery to justify the appointment of a woman as the new leader. Baggio’s office as pro-prefect is not that of a deputy to the prefect; rather, the title of pro-prefect identifies the head of a distinct autonomous section entrusted with a specific area of responsibility. In this case, Pope Leo XIV has assigned Baggio autonomous responsibility for the Laudato si’ Higher Education Centre. Consequently, the prefect and the pro-prefect exercise parallel leadership within their respective spheres rather than standing in a relationship of superior and subordinate.

However, the new office also represents a departure from the structure as established by the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium. That constitution provides for a prefect and secretary in the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development but does not envisage a pro-prefect for the department. During Czerny’s tenure as prefect, no such office existed.

Pope Francis established the Laudato si’ Higher Education Centre on February 2, 2023. Connected to the Governorate of Vatican City State, it functions as a scientific, educational, and social institution dedicated to forming participants – particularly young people and those “on the margins” – in “ecological training,” environmental sustainability, and the “sustainable economy,” drawing its inspiration from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’.

Smerilli’s appointment also continues a broader pattern of appointments initiated under Pope Francis that places women in senior positions within the Roman Curia. She now becomes one of several women serving in leading Vatican offices.

Among them are Sr. Simona Brambilla, prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; María Montserrat Alvarado, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication; Raffaella Petrini, governor of Vatican City State; Sister Nathalie Becquart, under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops.

Sr. Smerilli is an Italian economist and member of the Salesians. Since 2020, she has become a prominent figure in the Vatican, initially coordinating the economic task force of the Vatican COVID-19 Commission and later serving as under-secretary, interim secretary, and finally secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, appointed by Pope Francis in April 2022. In 2023 she was also named to the board of the Laudato si’ Higher Education Center.

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Cardinal Baggio is an Italian Scalabrinian missionary and academic whose entire career has revolved around migration and ecology, two issues he considers inseparably linked. Shaped by theologians such as Rahner, von Balthasar, and Ladaria, he worked in Chile and Argentina, where he collaborated closely with Jorge Mario Bergoglio and developed a lasting friendship.

Most notably, Baggio was part of the Vatican’s COVID-19 Commission, which promoted the idea that taking the anti-COVID jabs was an “act of love.” His strong alignment with Pope Francis’s ecological agenda, including framing climate‑driven environmental degradation as a major driver of future migration flows, also places him firmly within the progressive wing of the Roman Curia.

Baggio prepared a report for the extraordinary consistory held in January 2026 on the implementation of the curial reform already initiated by Francis. In the end, however, it was never presented, as the cardinals decided to exclude the topic, preferring instead to focus on mission and synodality.