Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sister Tiziana Merletti as secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
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According to the Vatican Press Office, the 66-year-old consecrated religious previously served as superior general of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor for nine years.
She will report directly to another nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, whom Pope Francis appointed in January as prefect of the Vatican department, responsible for all matters concerning the government, discipline, studies, assets, rights, and privileges of institutes of consecrated life.
Under the late Argentine pontiff, women’s leadership increased significantly. According to data maintained by the Vatican on its website, the female presence increased from almost 19.2% to 23.4% during Francis’ pontificate. With the 2022 apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, Francis decreed that laypeople, in addition to women, could lead a dicastery and become prefects, a position previously reserved for cardinals and archbishops.
Doctorate in canon law, experience in Church government
Born Sept. 30, 1959, in Pineto in the Teramo province of Italy, Merletti made her first religious profession in 1986 at the Institute of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor. She holds a degree in civil law from the then-Libera Università Abruzzese degli Studi “Gabriele d’Annunzio” in Teramo (1984) and obtained her doctorate in canon law in 1992 from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.
From 2004 to 2013, she served as superior general of her congregation. Currently, Merletti is a professor in the canon law department of the Pontifical Antonianum University in Rome and collaborates as a canon lawyer with the International Union of Superiors General, the organization representing women religious of apostolic life worldwide.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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As a journalist, Victoria Cardiel has specialized in social and religious news. Since 2013, she has covered the Vatican for various media outlets, including Europa Press and Alfa and Omega, the weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Madrid.
