(ZENIT News / Vatican City, February 02.15. 2026) – Made public on Saturday, February 14, was the appointment of another woman to the Dicastery for Bishops, the body responsible for the election of Bishops for the various dioceses of the Catholic Church.
Sister Simona Brambilla, M.C., Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, has been confirmed as a member of the Dicastery for Bishops. Sister Brambilla joins other women also confirmed on February 14 in their positions within the Dicastery for Bishops: Sister Raffaella Petrini, F.S.E., President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State; and Mrs. Maria Lia Zervino, former President of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations.
The Pope also confirmed the following as members of the Dicastery for Bishops:
The Cardinals: Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State; Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; João Braz de Aviz, Prefect Emeritus of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; Sergio da Rocha, Metropolitan Archbishop of São Salvador de Bahia, Brazil; Blase Joseph Cupich, Metropolitan Archbishop of Chicago, United States; Joseph William Tobin, C.SS.R., Metropolitan Archbishop of Newark, United States; Juan José Omella Omella, Metropolitan Archbishop of Barcelona, Spain; Español Anders Arborelius, O.C.D., Bishop of Stockhom, Sween; Jose F. Advjncula, Metropolitan Archbishop of Manila, Philippines; Augusto Paolo Lojudice, Metropolitan Archbishop of Siena-Colle di Val d’Elsa-Montalcino and Bishop of Montepulciano-Chiusi-Pienza, Italy; Jean-Marc Aveline, Metropolitan Archbishop of Marseille, France; Oscar Cantoni, Bishop of Como, Italy; Grzegorz Ryś, Metropolitan Archbishop of Krakow, Poland; José Cobo Cano, Metropolitan Archbishop of Madrid, Spain; José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education; Mario Grech, Secretary General of the General Secretariat of the Synod; Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; Lazzaro You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy; Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches; Victor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; Paul Emil Tscherrig, Apostolic Nuncio; Rolandas Makrickas, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major;
And the Bishops: Dražen Kutleša, Metropolitan Archbishop of Zagreb, Croatia; Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva, Metropolitan Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina; Félix Genn, Bishop Emeritus of Münster, Germany; Paul Demond Tighe, Secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education; José Antonio Satué Huerto, Bishop of Málaga, Spain;
And the Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls, Father Donato Ogliari, O.S.B.
