He is appointing Sister Simona Brambilla, an Italian nun, to become prefect of the Vatican department responsible for all the church's religious orders.

Pope Francis taps one of most outspoken and progressive-leaning U.S. Catholic leaders to Washington, D.C. ahead of Trump term, immigration battle.

Sister Simona Brambilla, 60, of Italy will be prefect of the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Francis’ liberal pick for Washington, D.C. archbishop is at odds with Trump’s choice for ambassador to the Vatican, Brian Burch, a vocal Francis critic.

Outspokenly progressive, Cardinal McElroy is now poised to take over the ecclesiastical territory of the nation’s capital just as Donald Trump is sworn in for a second term as president of the United States.

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 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 lead a major Vatican department, appointing an Italian sister to take charge of the office that oversees the world's Catholic religious orders.