Vatican City (AFP) – Mexican media executive María Montserrat Alvarado has just taken over as director of the Vatican's powerful communications department, and is the first lay woman to hold a position of this rank in the Roman Curia.

First modification: 11/02/2026 - 12:45

Born in Mexico City and raised in the United States, Alvarado, 39, was until now president and director of operations of EWTN News, the news division of the largest Catholic television network in the United States.

She was appointed in June to head the Dicastery for Communication, responsible for overseeing the Vatican's press, radio and television services, as well as its press office, a decision that surprised even the person concerned herself. His appointment is effective from this Sunday, November 1.

"I did not apply or was selected" through a normal process, she said in an interview with EWTN News.

As he explained, it was "an appointment of the Holy Father," Pope Leo XIV, born in the United States.

EWTN News is the news division of Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), the largest Catholic television network in the United States. Founded by a nun, it has established itself as a reference for conservative Catholics in the country.

The relationship between the chain and the Vatican was not always simple. The predecessor of Leo

Some of the network's programs became known for their criticism of Francis, a reformist pontiff who generated resistance among conservative sectors of the Church, especially in the United States.

At that time, María Montserrat Alvarado, known as "Montse", worked as a presenter for the network.

In his new position, which is equivalent to directing a ministry, he will be in charge of bodies such as the Vatican News agency, Vatican Radio and the newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

"More international"

Born in Mexico, Alvarado came to the United States when she was a child. He grew up in Miami before moving to Washington to pursue his studies. He has dual Mexican and American nationality.

For 14 years he worked at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit legal organization dedicated to the defense of religious freedom.

Since 2023 he was in charge of EWTN News, where he supervised international news platforms that produced content in seven languages ​​for television, print media, radio, digital media and social networks.

However, communication was never a vocation for her, who explained to EWTN that her "great ambition had always been to get married and have children."

She was married, but is currently divorced and the Church later annulled her marriage.

Alvarado succeeds Paolo Ruffini, 70, whom Pope Francis named in 2018 as the first layman to head a dicastery, the term used by the Vatican to designate its ministries.

"This is a woman chosen for her skills and qualities," Lucetta Scaraffia, founder of the Vatican magazine Women Church World and professor of History at La Sapienza University in Rome, told AFP.

According to Scaraffia, the fact that he is the first non-Italian person to hold the position will give him "a different way of doing things" and a "much more international" vision.

"She is a very competent communications manager who has built her own career," he said. In his opinion, his appointment also indicates that "the pope has a different attitude towards women."

"Until now, the women chosen for important positions were very obedient religious; they were not really chosen for their merits," Scaraffia noted.

© 2026 AFP

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