Clerics Without Clericalism

Pope Leo XIV has continued a pattern of appointing women to prominent Vatican roles while avoiding clerical appointments for them. This includes the selection of Maria Montserrat Alvarado of EWTN to lead the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication.

This approach follows the precedent set by Pope Francis, who argued that women in the Church should be valued without being clericalized. According to Timothy Kirchoff of Commonweal, Francis viewed the idea that women must hold clerical or near-clerical positions to influence Church affairs as a form of clericalism. While Francis appointed women to influential posts, he did not appoint them to roles reserved for the clergy, seeking to utilize their talents without reinforcing the assumption that power requires clerical status.

Despite these appointments, the Vatican recently denied a request from the German Church to permit laypeople to preach at Mass.