Pope Leo XIV appoints more women to Vatican advisory roles

Pope Leo XIV is increasingly appointing women to key advisory roles and high-level positions within the Vatican. This trend is particularly evident in the recent renewal of the Vatican Economic Council.

Among the eight newly appointed members of the 15-person council, two are women: Elena Wettstein Principato, an Italian finance manager at UBS, and Gisela Bergmann, head of the Liechtenstein-based firm Industrie- und Finanzkontor. With these appointments, the council now includes a total of four women, including existing members Charlotte Kreuter-Kirchhof and Leslie Jane Ferrar.

The appointments emphasize international professional expertise, with the new members bringing backgrounds in wealth management, investment banking, and environmental engineering from various global financial hubs.