Pope Leo XIV has appointed Italian religious Tiziana Merletti as secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Holy See Press Office announced on May 22, 2025. She will be the “number two” to Prefect Sister Simona Brambilla, who was appointed last January to head this Vatican department that is responsible for religious life. This is the first Curia appointment made by the new pope — two weeks after his election on May 8.
There are now three women in leadership in this dicastery. This increase begins to reflect reality: There are more than 10x more women religious than men.
Born on September 30, 1959, in Pineto, Italy, Sister Tiziana Merletti made her first religious profession in 1986 with the Institute of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, a congregation founded in 1845 in Aachen, Germany.
These sisters, who are particularly dedicated to the education of women, are now present in the United States, Italy, Brazil, Senegal, and the Philippines.
According to her biography published by the Vatican, Sister Tiziana Merletti holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University. From 2004 to 2013, she served as superior general of her religious institute. She teaches at the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical Antonianum University in Rome, and collaborates as a canonist with the International Union of Superiors General.
More women in leadership positions
In her new position as secretary, Sister Tiziana Merletti succeeds Sister Simona Brambilla, who was appointed “prefect” – “number 1” – on January 6 by Pope Francis. The appointment of the Consolata Missionary nun, the first woman to head a dicastery of the Roman Curia, was hailed as “historic.” Sister Merletti will also work with the pro-prefect, Spanish Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime.
The leadership of the dicastery for religious life is becoming more feminine, as one of the undersecretaries, Sister Carmen Ros Nortes, is also a woman. Women represent the vast majority of religious: as of December 31, 2022, the Catholic Church counted 599,228 women religious and just 49,414 men religious.
