Currently President and COO of EWTN News, Maria Montserrat Alvarado will succeed Paolo Ruffini in November, continuing the path of reform and renewal initiated by Pope Francis.
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Maria Montserrat Alvarado, currently President and Chief Operating Officer of EWTN News, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, effective from 1 November 2026. Born in Mexico City, Alvarado earned academic degrees from Florida International University and George Washington University. From 2009 to 2023, she held leadership positions at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, serving in initiatives dedicated to the defense of religious freedom and the promotion of human dignity.
Since 2023, she has served as President and Chief Operating Officer of EWTN News, the news division of the Eternal Word Television Network, overseeing international media platforms producing content in seven languages across television, radio, print, digital, and social media.
With the appointment of Alvarado, Pope Leo XIV continues the path of reform and renewal of the Roman Curia initiated by Pope Francis, which has seen lay faithful, men and women, entrusted with positions of leadership and responsibility in the service of the universal Church. Alvarado is the first non-religious woman to be appointed prefect of a dicastery of the Holy See.
Established by Pope Francis on 27 June 2015 as part of the reform of the Roman Curia, the Dicastery for Communication oversees the Holy See’s communications systems, including Vatican News, Vatican Radio, L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican Media (photo, audio & video services), the Holy See Press Office, the Vatican publishing house, the Vatican Printing press, and the Filmoteca Vaticana. In addition to the operational and technological functions assigned to it, the Dicastery also deepens and develops the properly theological and pastoral aspects of the Church’s activity in the field of communication. Alvarado will succeed Paolo Ruffini, whom Pope Francis appointed in 2018 as the first lay prefect of a dicastery of the Roman Curia, who will be 70 next October.
In a statement released following the announcement, Alvarado said: “While this appointment was unexpected, I receive it with a sincere desire to serve the Holy Father as he begins his pontificate. And I am grateful to Paolo Ruffini for his leadership throughout the last years and look forward to continuing, in friendship and hope, the important work of strengthening the dicastery so it may continue to serve the Church in Rome and everywhere to communicate Christ to the world.”
