Pope Leo has appointed Sister Smerilli as Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The appointment will take effect on 1 September 2026.
Born in Vasto, Italy, she entered the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco in 1997, where she continued her studies in economics. In June 2006, she obtained a doctorate in political economy from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”.
She joined the Roman Curia during the pontificate of Pope Francis when, in 2021, she was appointed Under-Secretary for the Faith and Development Sector of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. She was then named interim Secretary on 26 August 2021, which made her the first woman to hold the second-ranking position in a dicastery of the Roman Curia, and the highest-ranking woman in the Curia at the time. In April 2022, her role as Secretary was made permanent.
In 2021, she received the Order of the Star of Italy, one of Italy’s national honours, in recognition of her academic work and contribution to ethical business and finance.
Women have been appointed to positions in the Roman Curia for more than twenty years. The first was in 2004, when Pope Saint John Paul II appointed Sr Enrica Rosanna, also a Salesian Sister of Don Bosco, as an Under-Secretary of a Roman Curia dicastery at the then Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Flaminia Giovanelli as Under-Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, making her the first laywoman to hold a senior leadership post in a dicastery. In 2011, Sr Nicla Spezzati was appointed Under-Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
During the latter part of his pontificate, Pope Francis took the cautious work of his predecessors considerably further. In 2021, he appointed Sister Nathalie Becquart as Under-Secretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, making her the first woman to hold the post. In 2022, he appointed Raffaella Petrini, Sister Yvonne Reungoat and María Lía Zervino as the first women to become members of the Dicastery for Bishops. In 2023, he appointed Sister Simona Brambilla as Secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, before promoting her to Prefect in 2025, making her the first woman to lead a Roman Curia dicastery.
The Pope has also made a number of other appointments within the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Alongside Sister Alessandra Smerilli as Prefect, he has named Cardinal Fabio Baggio as Pro-Prefect with special responsibility for the Laudato si’ Higher Education Centre, and Monsignor Jozef Barlaš as Secretary.
