Sister Simona Brambilla was appointed as the prefect of a Vatican office that oversees religious orders, but she may not be alone at the top.

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

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to lead a major Vatican department, appointing an Italian sister to take charge of the office that oversees the world's Catholic religious orders.

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.

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 of the Catholic Church's religious orders.

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.