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

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 Sister Simona Brambilla the first female prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.