{"id":6528,"date":"2026-11-02T13:31:39","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T13:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/02\/vatican-names-first-laywoman-to-head-communications\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T13:31:39","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T13:31:39","slug":"vatican-names-first-laywoman-to-head-communications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/02\/vatican-names-first-laywoman-to-head-communications\/","title":{"rendered":"Vatican names first laywoman to head communications"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Vatican<\/p>\n

The Vatican has appointed 39-year-old Mexican-American media executive, Maria Alvarado, as its new head of communications, making her the first laywoman and first non-Italian to lead the department.<\/p>\n

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Alvarado, who assumes office this week, will oversee the Vatican\u2019s television, radio and print operations, as well as its press office.<\/p>\n

Her appointment, announced in June by Pope Leo XIV, marks a significant development in the Church\u2019s leadership structure, where senior positions traditionally held by women have largely been occupied by nuns.<\/p>\n

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Alvarado, popularly known as Montse, said her appointment came directly from the Pope rather than through a conventional recruitment process.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI didn\u2019t apply; I wasn\u2019t chosen\u201d through a standard application process, she said in an interview with EWTN News, where she has served as president and chief operating officer since 2023.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt was an appointment from the Holy Father,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

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EWTN News is the news division of the Eternal Word Television Network, the largest Catholic television network in the United States. Founded by a nun, the network has become an influential platform among conservative Catholics.<\/p>\n

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However, some of its programmes have had a strained relationship with the Vatican, particularly during the papacy of Pope Francis, whose reform agenda attracted criticism from sections of the Church\u2019s conservative wing.<\/p>\n

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In 2021, Francis appeared to criticise the network, lamenting what he described as a major Catholic television channel that was constantly criticising the Pope. Alvarado was a presenter for EWTN at the time.<\/p>\n

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Born in Mexico, Alvarado moved to the United States as a child and grew up in Miami before relocating to Washington for her studies.<\/p>\n

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She spent 14 years working at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit law firm specialising in the defence of religious freedom, before taking charge of EWTN News in 2023.<\/p>\n

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At EWTN, she oversaw international media platforms producing content in seven languages across television, print, radio, digital media and social networks.<\/p>\n

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Alvarado said she had not originally envisaged a career in media and communications, explaining that her ambition had been to get married and have children.<\/p>\n

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She was previously married, but the marriage was subsequently annulled by the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

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She succeeds 70-year-old Paolo Ruffini, who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2018 and became the first layperson to head a Vatican dicastery, the Church\u2019s equivalent of a government ministry.<\/p>\n

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Lucetta Scaraffia, founder of the Vatican women\u2019s magazine, Women Church World, and a professor of history at Rome\u2019s La Sapienza University, described Alvarado\u2019s appointment as a recognition of her professional abilities.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is a woman who has been chosen for her skills and her qualities,\u201d Scaraffia told AFP.<\/p>\n

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She said Alvarado\u2019s appointment as the first non-Italian to head the department would bring a different approach and a more international outlook to Vatican communications.<\/p>\n

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Scaraffia also described Alvarado as an accomplished communications manager who had built her career through professional experience.<\/p>\n

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According to her, the appointment suggests that Pope Leo has a different attitude towards women in leadership positions within the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n

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AFP<\/p>\n

The post Vatican names first laywoman to head communications<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Vatican has appointed 39-year-old Mexican-American media executive, Maria Alvarado, as its new head of communications, making her the first laywoman and first non-Italian to lead the department. Alvarado, who… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6529,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}