Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sister Mary Teresa Barron as the new adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization. The Holy See Press Office announced the appointment on October 8, 2026. The Irish religious sister is the first woman to become president of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), the Holy See’s global evangelization network. More than two centuries after Blessed Pauline Jaricot founded the first of the four Pontifical Mission Societies in Lyon, France, a woman has been appointed to lead the organization for the first time. Sister Barron has served as superior general of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles (OLA), a congregation also founded in Lyon, since 2018. The press bulletin specifies that Leo XIV has appointed her “adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization in the Section for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches, with the office of president of the Pontifical Mission Societies.” Born in Donegal, Ireland, Read More…

Pope names Irish sister to lead Pontifical Mission Societies