Pope Leo XIV has appointed Maria Montserrat Alvarado, President and Chief Operating Officer of EWTN News, as the new prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, according to Vatican News.
The appointment will take effect on November 1, 2026, when Alvarado succeeds Paolo Ruffini, who has led the dicastery since 2018 as the first lay prefect in the history of the Roman Curia.
According to Vatican News, Alvarado becomes the first lay woman to be appointed prefect of a dicastery of the Holy See, marking another significant step in the reform and renewal of the Roman Curia initiated by Pope Francis and continued under Pope Leo XIV.
Born in Mexico City, Alvarado earned degrees from Florida International University and George Washington University in the United States. From 2009 to 2023, she held leadership positions at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington-based legal organization dedicated to defending religious freedom and promoting human dignity.
Since 2023, she has served as president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, the global news division of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). In that role, she has overseen international media operations producing content in seven languages across television, radio, print, digital, and social media platforms.
Vatican News reported that the Dicastery for Communication was established by Pope Francis in 2015 as part of a broader restructuring of the Roman Curia. The dicastery coordinates and oversees the Holy See’s communications network, including Vatican News, Vatican Radio, L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican Media, the Holy See Press Office, the Vatican Publishing House, the Vatican Printing Press, and the Vatican Film Library.
Beyond its operational responsibilities, the dicastery also promotes the theological and pastoral dimensions of the Church’s communication mission.
In a statement released after the announcement, Alvarado said she accepted the appointment with “a sincere desire to serve the Holy Father as he begins his pontificate.”
She also expressed gratitude to Ruffini for his leadership and pledged to continue strengthening the dicastery’s mission of communicating Christ to the world.
Ruffini, who will turn 70 in October, wrote to dicastery staff, thanking them for their collaboration over the past eight years and expressing confidence in a smooth transition. He said he looked forward to working closely with Alvarado in the months ahead “in the spirit of communion that unites us in the Church.”
Michael P. Warsaw, chairman and chief executive officer of EWTN, praised Alvarado’s leadership, saying she had earned “the trust and respect of everyone privileged to work alongside her.”
He assured her of the prayers and support of the EWTN family as she begins her new ministry in service to Pope Leo XIV and the universal Church.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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