Pope Leo XIV has appointed Maria Montserrat Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, making her the first lay woman to head a department of the Roman Curia.
The Vatican announced that the Mexican-born media executive will assume office on 1 November, succeeding Paolo Ruffini, who was himself a trailblazer when he became the first lay prefect of a Vatican dicastery in 2018.
Dr Alvarado has led EWTN News since 2023, overseeing the Catholic broadcaster’s global news operations across television, radio, print and digital media in seven languages. Prior to joining EWTN, she spent 14 years in senior roles at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the Washington-based legal organisation known for defending religious freedom cases before courts in the United States and internationally.
Her appointment places one of the most prominent figures in Catholic media at the head of the Holy See’s vast communications apparatus, which includes Vatican News, Vatican Radio, Vatican Media, L’Osservatore Romano, the Holy See Press Office and the Vatican publishing house.
The decision also marks a significant milestone in the increasing involvement of lay people, and particularly women, in senior Vatican leadership positions.
In a statement released following the announcement and provided to EWTN, Alvarado said she had received the news “with deep gratitude, humility, and trust in the Lord”.
She added that her years working alongside colleagues at EWTN had strengthened her faith and prepared her for the new responsibility entrusted to her by the Pope.
Michael Warsaw, chairman and chief executive of EWTN, praised her leadership and described her as having helped shape the network’s international outreach during a period of rapid expansion into digital media.
“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,” he 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.”
Ruffini, who will work alongside his successor during the transition period, said he had come to know Alvarado over recent years and looked forward to assisting her in the months ahead “in the spirit of communion that unites us in the Church”.
The Dicastery for Communication was created by Pope Francis in 2015 as part of his wider reform of the Roman Curia. The restructuring merged a collection of previously separate Vatican media institutions into a single department intended to coordinate the Church’s global communications strategy and modernise its engagement with contemporary media.
While women religious have held influential offices within the Roman Curia, Alvarado becomes the first woman who is neither a nun nor a member of a religious order to be appointed prefect of a dicastery.
Born in Mexico City, she studied at Florida International University and George Washington University before building a career focused on public policy, religious liberty and Catholic communications. Her writings and commentary have appeared across a range of international media outlets, and she has received recognition for her work promoting religious freedom.
The appointment places her among the most senior lay officials in the Vatican and gives her responsibility for shaping how the Holy See communicates with more than 1.4 billion Catholics around the world.
Although Ruffini had been expected to leave office later this year at the conclusion of his mandate, Pope Leo has effectively brought forward that transition by naming his successor several months in advance, allowing for an extended handover before Alvarado formally takes up the post on 1 November.
