VATICAN CITY – Pope Leo XIV announced a series of high-level appointments to the Roman Curia on June 30, filling critical second-in-command positions and expanding the membership of the Dicastery for Evangelization.
The nominations target the “secretary” roles within two key departments, effectively completing the leadership structure for offices where the pontiff had already installed top-tier prefects earlier this year.
The moves are part of a broader administrative reorganization of the Curia, the central government of the Catholic Church, intended to align daily operational management with the strategic priorities of the current papacy and with the governance framework set out in the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium.
New Leadership in Legislative and Charitable Offices
The pontiff appointed Bishop Marco Mellino as secretary of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts. Mellino, 59, previously served as the adjunct secretary of the same office and has a background in the Secretariat of State.
His credentials include serving as secretary to the Council of Cardinals and, since 2022, acting as secretary of the Interdicasterial Commission for the Revision of the General Regulations of the Roman Curia. In that capacity, he has been closely involved in translating broader Curial reform into concrete norms and procedures.
In the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, Father Lucio Adrián Ruiz was named secretary. An Argentine priest ordained in 1990, Ruiz brings a technical background to the role, holding a doctorate from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and an MBA.
Ruiz previously served as secretary of the Dicastery for Communication and has led the Vatican Internet Services office. He also served as an IT adviser to the Argentine Bishops’ Conference, experience that is expected to support the increasingly data-driven management of papal charitable initiatives and emergency aid.
Additionally, the pope appointed layman Massimo Ralli as undersecretary of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity. Ralli previously worked as an official within the same dicastery, giving him operational familiarity with its global network of projects and partners.
Both Father Ruiz and Massimo Ralli are scheduled to begin their new duties on Sept. 1, allowing for a transition period with outgoing officials and alignment of new management practices before the end-of-year budgeting cycle.
The Administrative Role of the Secretary
Within the Vatican’s hierarchical structure, the secretary serves as the No. 2 official, reporting directly to the prefect. While the prefect provides overall leadership and vision, the secretary is responsible for:
- Directing day-to-day operations
- Coordinating technical and administrative workflows
- Managing the internal personnel of the dicastery
- Translating papal and Curial policy decisions into internal regulations and working procedures
These appointments follow the March appointments of the department heads. Archbishop Anthony Randazzo was named prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, while Spanish Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín was appointed as the papal almoner and head of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity.
Together, the prefect-secretary teams will oversee how canonical norms are interpreted and applied and how papal alms and humanitarian responses are managed, areas that have direct implications for diocesan governance, church finances and the Church’s public-facing social outreach.
Recent Shifts in Curial Prefects
The June 30 appointments follow a period of significant leadership turnover across several other Vatican departments, consolidating a new cohort of senior decision-makers around Pope Leo XIV.
Recent shifts include:
- September 2025: Archbishop Filippo Iannone was transferred from the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to lead the Dicastery for Bishops, which plays a central role in the selection and oversight of diocesan leaders worldwide.
- March: Canadian Archbishop Petar Rajič was appointed prefect of the Pontifical Household, managing the pope’s schedule and official ceremonies, a position with significant protocol and diplomatic visibility.
- June 2: María Montserrat Alvarado, formerly the president and COO of EWTN News, was named prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, placing a media executive at the helm of the Holy See’s communications strategy.
- June 30: Salesian Sister Alessandra Smerilli was appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which coordinates the Holy See’s work on justice, peace, migration, health and ecology.
The appointments of Alvarado and Smerilli mark the placement of two women at the head of different dicasteries, extending a gradual but notable shift toward broader lay and female participation in top-level Vatican governance.
Global Expansion of the Dicastery for Evangelization
On June 30, Pope Leo XIV also reorganized the membership of the Dicastery for Evangelization, specifically within the Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, the office that supports mission territories and newly established dioceses under norms outlined by the Holy See in its Curial statutes and guidelines published on the official Vatican website.
The new members include a geographically diverse group of cardinals and bishops, signaling an effort to ensure that decision-making on missionary strategy reflects the experience of churches in rapidly growing or fragile regions.
- Cardinals: Thomas Aquino Manyo Maeda (Osaka-Takamatsu, Japan), Fridolin Ambongo Besungu (Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo), Jean-Marc Aveline (Marseille, France), and Frank Leo (Toronto, Canada).
- Archbishops and Bishops: Alfred Adewale Martins (Lagos, Nigeria), Peter Chung Soon-taick (Seoul, South Korea), Andrew Nkea Fuanya (Bamenda, Cameroon), Paulus Budi Kleden (Ende, Indonesia), and Oscar Roberto Domínguez Couttolenc (Tulancingo, Mexico).
- Other Regional Members: Elias Frank (Calcutta, India), Daniel Ernest Flores (Brownsville, Texas), and Lisandro Alirio Rivas Durán (San Cristóbal, Venezuela).
The membership also includes Angelo Vincenzo Zani, archivist and librarian emeritus of the Holy Roman Church; Paolo Giulietti, archbishop of Lucca; and Michel Jalakh, secretary of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.
Supporting these members are Monsignor Roger Joseph Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, and Father Francesco Rapacioli, superior general of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, both of whom bring hands-on experience in funding, staffing and coordinating mission projects across multiple jurisdictions.
The pontiff further appointed several consultors to the dicastery:
- Archbishop Davide Carbonaro (Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo, Italy)
- Archbishop François Sylla (Conakry, Guinea)
- Father Remigio Bellizio (Director of the Domus Missionalis, Rome)
- Father Joseph Koonamparampil (Claretian Missionaries)
- Father Wenceslaus C. Madu (Claretian Missionaries)
These appointments to the Dicastery for Evangelization are intended to strengthen the missionary character of the body by integrating leadership from multiple continents, and to give local churches in Africa, Asia and the Americas a more direct voice in how resources, personnel and pastoral priorities are set for emerging Catholic communities around the world.
