The appointment marks a major step in Pope Francis' aim to give women more leadership roles in governing the church.

In a groundbreaking decision, Pope Francis has appointed the Italian missionary nun, Simona Brambilla, M.C., as prefect of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Pope Francis this week made the novel decision to appoint the first-ever woman as prefect of a Vatican department, naming Italian Consolata Sister Simona Brambilla as head of the Dicastery for Religious.

Pope Francis on Monday named Sister Simona Brambilla the first female prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Sister Brambilla, who trained as a nurse before entering religious life, was a missionary in Mozambique in the late 1990s.

Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, appointing an Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the

Sister Simona Brambilla has been named prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, marking the first time a woman has held such a role in the Roman Curia.

Pope Francis has appointed Sister Simona Brambilla to lead a Vatican department, naming the first woman head of the office that oversees the world's Catholic religious orders and congregations.Francis has been naming women to more elevated positions within the Holy See since becoming head of the world's almost 1.