Pope Francis introduced a landmark reform on Saturday that will allow any baptised lay Catholic, including women, to head most Vatican departments under a new constitution for the Holy See's central administration.
For centuries, the departments have been headed by male clerics, usually cardinals or bishops, but that could change from June 5 when the new charter takes effect after more than nine years of work.
Under the 1988 constitution, the departments - with a few exceptions - were to be headed by a cardinal or bishop and assisted by a secretary, experts and administrators. In an interview with Reuters in 2018, the pope said he had short-listed a woman to head a Vatican economic department, but she could not take the job for personal reasons.The new constitution said the role of lay Catholics in governing roles in the Curia was "essential" because of their familiarity with family life and "social reality".
But one of the commission's original members, Marie Collins of Ireland, said on Twitter this could hurt its independence.
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