(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV has named Maria Montserrat “Montse” Alvarado, who currently serves as the President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of EWTN News, as the next Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication.
In its June 2 daily bulletin, the Vatican announced that Alvarado’s appointment will take effect on November 1. The president of the conservative Catholic media outlet will notably be the first laywoman to lead a Roman curia office and will continue the trajectory of Pope Leo and his predecessor, Pope Francis, of naming women and laypeople to key positions in the Vatican.
Just over a year ago, Pope Leo XIV’s first meeting with Maria Montserrat Alvarado, his newly appointed Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication. pic.twitter.com/2Aqo9fL4bh
— Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) June 2, 2026
“While this appointment was unexpected, I receive it with a sincere desire to serve the Holy Father as he begins his pontificate,” Alvarado said in a statement after the appointment.
Alvarado, who was born in Mexico City, holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Florida International University and a master’s in political management from George Washington University. From 2009 to 2023, she served in various senior positions at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty before becoming the president and COO of EWTN News.
Michael P. Warsaw, CEO and chairman of the board of EWTN, emphasized Alvarado’s extensive media experience and deep faith in his own statement on her appointment.
“Montse’s background in international media, public affairs, and Church engagement has helped shape EWTN’s outreach at a critical moment in the history of our apostolate: the pivot into a deeper engagement with the digital space,” Warsaw said. “Just as importantly, she has remained deeply committed to the mission that defines EWTN: proclaiming the truth of Jesus Christ and the teachings of his Church with clarity, fidelity, and charity.”
The Dicastery for Communication, created by Pope Francis in 2015, oversees the Holy See’s press office; the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano; Vatican News; Vatican Publishing House; and all of the Holy See’s communication and media entities, making its prefect a powerful position in the curia.
The appointment of Alvarado is significant as EWTN had been critical of Pope Francis and continues not to shy away from criticizing decisions made under Pope Leo’s Vatican. Indeed, in 2021, Pope Francis, during a meeting with Slovakian Jesuits, appeared to slam EWTN for raising concerns about his pontificate, declaring that their criticism is “the work of the devil.”
“There is, for example, a large Catholic television channel that has no hesitation in continually speaking ill of the pope,” Francis said. “I personally deserve attacks and insults because I am a sinner, but the Church does not deserve them. They are the work of the devil. I have also said this to some of them.”
Alvarado’s appointment is also significant because Alvarado will now become the first laywoman to serve as the prefect of a Vatican dicastery. Traditionally, only clerics have been chosen to lead Roman curial offices, but Popes Francis and Leo have both broken from this custom and appointed women and laity as prefects as well as other key roles in multiple dicasteries.
In 2018, Pope Francis notably appointed Paolo Ruffini, an Italian journalist and actor, as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, becoming the first layman to lead a Vatican dicastery.
In 2025, the Argentine pontiff made history again by naming Sister Simona Brambilla as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, making her the first woman to lead a curia office. Leo has since confirmed Sister Brambilla in her role as prefect.
READ: Pope Francis appoints first woman to lead a Vatican dicastery
In addition to naming a nun as prefect of a dicastery, Francis had also named other women to key positions in the Vatican. In 2017, the 266th pontiff named Barbara Jatta as the first female director of the Vatican Museums.
A few years later, in 2021, Francis appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini as the secretary general of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, then in 2025 named her as President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, becoming the first woman to hold the highest leadership position within the Vatican government.
Francis also named Petrini and María Lía Zervino, the former President of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations, to the Dicastery for Bishops. In February, Pope Leo named Sister Brambilla and confirmed Petrini and Zervino in their roles in this key dicastery.
READ: Pope Leo XIV protects Francis’ legacy in key Vatican office overseeing appointment of bishops