Vatican City (AFP) – She is the first secular woman to take the head of a Vatican “ministry”: the Mexican-American María Montserrat Alvarado has been the new face of Vatican communications since Sunday, a sign of a desire for rejuvenation and openness to the world for this strategic position.
Published on: 02/11/2026 - 12:39
Announced at the beginning of June, this appointment was a surprise for this woman who will soon celebrate her 40th birthday.
“I did not apply, I was not chosen” as in a classic application process, it is “a nomination from the Holy Father”, she said in an interview with the American Catholic media EWTN News, of which she has been president since 2023.
“In reality, as a communications professional at Becket and a management professional, I was certainly not on the radar of the Holy See, nor in a working relationship with the Vatican,” she added, specifying that “all of this came from EWTN, thanks to some services rendered and the desire to support the work of the Holy Father.”
The one who calls herself “Montse Alvarado” met several times with the first American pope in history, notably as part of the preparation for the National Conference of Catholic Youth in November 2025 in Indianapolis and during the publication of her encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” last May.
EWTN News is the news division of the Eternal Word Television Network, the largest Catholic television network in the United States, originally started by a nun and becoming a reference for conservative Catholics.
“Change the world”
The network had attracted the wrath of Leo
Born in Mexico, María Montserrat Alvarado then grew up in Miami before pursuing studies in Washington. “I studied music. I served in my church with a lot of love,” she told EWTN News.
For fourteen years, Montse Alvarado worked at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit law firm defending religious freedom before the Supreme Court.
At EWTN News, she led international media platforms producing content in seven languages across television, print, radio, digital media and social media.
“I have always been interested in the idea of changing the world,” she told the American channel SA News in June 2025.
"Communications Manager"
However, communication has never been a vocation for the woman whose “great ambition has always been to (get) married and have children”.
The first non-religious woman to be appointed prefect of a dicastery (equivalent to a ministry) of the Holy See, she succeeds in this office Paolo Ruffini, 70, who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2018 and was himself the first lay person to head a dicastery.
"This is a woman who is chosen for her skills, for her qualities. (...) She is a great communications manager," Lucetta Scaraffia, professor of contemporary history at the Roman university "La Sapienza", told AFP.
“Until now, according to her, the women chosen for important positions were very obedient nuns, they were not so much chosen for their merits.”
And as a non-Italian, "she will have another way of approaching things, (...) it will be much more international", she notes.
Leo
Established by Pope Francis in June 2015 as part of the reform of the Roman Curia, the Dicastery for Communication oversees the Vatican's extensive print, radio and television services, which broadcast to a global audience. Added to this are the daily newspaper "L'Osservatore Romano", the photo and video services agency "Vatican Media", the press room of the Holy See but also its publishing house and printing house.
“Moving to a new country, learning a new language, (...) leaving everything, these are big obstacles to overcome,” added Montse Alvarado, saying however “very grateful for this opportunity”.
© 2026 AFP
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