Maria Montserrat Alvarado, a 39-year-old U.S. media executive, becomes the new head of Vatican communications this week, the first laywoman to head a Vatican "ministry."
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Alvarado → become → ministry
The Mexican American will also be the first non-Italian to lead a vast department overseeing all of the Vatican's television, radio and print operations, as well as its press office.
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American → lead → operations
Analysts say the appointment of a professional woman to the key post signals that Pope Leo views women differently from his predecessors at the Vatican, where nuns have tended to be the women holding senior positions.
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nuns → say → positions
Her appointment, announced in June, came as a surprise even to Alvarado.
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appointment → announce → Alvarado
"I didn't apply, I wasn't chosen" through a standard application process, she said in a television interview with U.S. Catholic media outlet EWTN News, where she has served as president and chief operating officer since 2023.
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she → apply → 2023
It was "an appointment from the Holy Father," U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV said of the new role for Alvarado, who uses the name "Montse."
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who → say → name
EWTN News is the news division of the Eternal Word Television Network, the largest Catholic television network in the United States, which was founded by a nun and has established itself as a touchstone for conservative Catholics.
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which → found → Catholics
It hasn't always had a warm relationship with the Vatican.
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It → have → Vatican
Certain programs on the network developed a reputation for their criticism of Leo's Argentine predecessor, Pope Francis, a reform-minded pontiff who angered some within the Church's conservative wing, particularly in the U.S.
In 2021, Francis appeared to call them out on it, bemoaning a "major Catholic television channel that is constantly criticizing the pope."
"I may personally deserve attacks and insults because I am a sinner, but the Church does not deserve this; it is the work of the devil," he said.
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he → develop → devil
Born in Mexico, Alvarado arrived in the U.S. as a child and grew up in Miami before moving to Washington to pursue her studies.
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Alvarado → bear → studies
For 14 years, Alvarado worked at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit law firm that defends religious freedom.
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that → work → freedom
At the helm of EWTN News since 2023, she oversaw international media platforms that produced content in seven languages across television, print, radio, digital media, and social networks.
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that → oversee → television
Alvarado hadn't planned on a career in media and communications, telling EWTN that her "great ambition had always been to get married and have children."
She was married, but is now divorced, and the union has since been annulled by the Church.
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union → plan → Church
Alvarado succeeds 70-year-old Paolo Ruffini, who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2018 and was the first layperson to lead a dicastery, the Vatican term for a ministry.
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who → succeed → ministry
"This is a woman who has been chosen for her skills and her qualities," Lucetta Scaraffia, the founder of the Vatican's women's magazine Women Church World and a professor of history at Rome's La Sapienza University, told AFP.
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Scaraffia → choose → AFP
As the first non-Italian to occupy the post, Alvarado "will have another way of dealing with things" and a "much more international" outlook, Scaraffia said.
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Scaraffia → occupy → things
"She is a highly accomplished communications manager" who "has built this career for herself," and her appointment signals that "the pope has a different attitude toward women," she said.
"Until now, the women chosen for important positions were highly obedient nuns -- they weren't really chosen for their merits," Scaraffia said.
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Scaraffia → build → merits
The Aporia
