Superiors

Sr Alessandra Smerilli, F.M.A. was born in Vasto (Ch) on 14 November 1974, and became a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians in 1997 after a period of theological formation at the Pontifical Lateran University.

She graduated in Economics from Roma Tre University in 2001, and obtained a PhD in Political Economy from La Sapienza University of Rome (2006) and a PhD in Economics from East Anglia University (Norwich, UK 2014). In 2016, she carried out research activities at the University of Pennsylvania.

Her research interests are related to economic theories of cooperation and value-based organisations. She has authored several publications on these topics.

She is full professor of Political Economy at the Auxilium Faculty of Education. She has taught Economics of Cooperation at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan) and the LUMSA University (Rome), Economics, Ethics and Finance at the Pontifical Salesian University (Rome) and International Economics at the Pontifical Lateran University.

From 2006 to 2021, she worked with the Italian Episcopal Conference for the Social Weeks of Catholics. 

In 2018 she participated as an auditor at the Synod on "Youth, faith, vocational discernment". From 2019 to 2024, she was a Counsellor of Vatican City State. 

Since April 2020 she worked with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development as Coordinator of the Task Force Economy in the Vatican Covid-19 Commission and since March 2021 she has held the position of Undersecretary at the same Dicastery. 

On 26 August 2021, the Holy Father appointed her as interim Secretary of the Dicastery and Delegate for the Vatican Covid-19 Commission, confirming her in this role on 23 December 2021.

On 23 April 2022, Pope Francis appointed her Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

In September 2023, she was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Laudato Si' Higher Education Center.

On 30 June 2026, Pope Leo XIV appointed her Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. 

Cardinal Fabio Baggio, C.S.  is a member of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo.

He gained a doctorate in Church history at the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1998.

Fr. Baggio worked as a pastor in Santiago del Chile from 1995 to 1997 and was also advisor for migrations to the Chilean bishops’ conference (INCAMI). Afterwards until 2002, he served as director of the Department for Migration of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires.

From 1999-2010, he taught at the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires as well as the Ateneo de Manila and the Maryhill School of Theology at Quezon City in the Philippines, where he was director of the Scalabrini Migration Center (SMC).

From the year 2000 he was also professor at the Scalabrini International Migration Institute (SIMI), which is incorporated into the theology Faculty of the Pontifical Urban University in Rome. He became its director in 2010.

From 1 January 2017 he served as Under-Secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

On 23 April 2022, the Holy Father appointed him Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

On 2 February 2023 Pope Francis also appointed him as the Director General of the Laudato Si’ Center for Higher Education.

On 6 October 2024, Pope Francis announced his appointment as Cardinal, and he was created Cardinal at the Consistory held on 7 December 2024.

From 11 January 2025, Cardinal Baggio has been a member of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. And on 1 April 2025 Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.

On 30 June 2026, Pope Leo XIV appointed him Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, with special responsibility for the Laudato Si' Higher Education Center. 

Msgr. Jozef Barlaš was born on May 7, 1985, in Snina, Slovakia. After completing his philosophical and theological studies at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and the Faculty of Theology in Košice, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Košice on June 19, 2010. He subsequently served for six years as assistant pastor at All Saints Parish in Valaliky and St. Gorazd Parish in Košice.

Since 2016, he has studied Canon Law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. From October 1, 2020, until his recent appointment, he worked in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State. In 2022, he earned his doctorate in Canon Law with the dissertation "Functions of the motivation of the sentence: Comparative Profiles." 

On 24 November 2025, Pope Leo XIV appointed Msgr. Barlaš Under-Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

On 30 June 2026, the Holy Father appointed him Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

Fr. Avelino Chicoma Bundo Chico SJ., was born in Lobito, Angola, on 15 July 1979. In 2002, he entered the Society of Jesus.

In 2009, he earned a degree in Philosophy and Humanities at Arrupe Jesuit University in Harare (Zimbabwe), a Bachelor’s degree and licentiate in Theology at the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid (2011), and, at the same university, a master’s degree in International Migration (2014).

On 3 August 2014, he was ordained a priest in Luanda, where he then served as parochial vicar of the Blessed Anuarite Nengapeta Parish and as coordinator of the Refugee Section of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People of the Bishops Conference of Angola and São Tomé (CEAST). He also taught Philosophy of Education at the John Paul II Higher Institute in Luanda, as well as International Migration and Sociology of International Relations at the Higher Institute of Social Sciences and International Relations (CIS).

In 2019, he earned a doctorate in International Migration and Development Cooperation at the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid. He also taught Pastoral Theology at the Catholic University of Angola (UCAN).

Since 2021, he has been a collaborating professor of Social Dimension of Migration at the Comillas Pontifical University in Madrid and of International Migration, Peace, and Integral Ecology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Since 2020, he has worked at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. On 19 May 2025, Pope Leo XIV appointed him Head of Office, and on 5 November 2026, Under-Secretary of the same Dicastery.

Professor Claudia Leal Luna was born in Chile on 12 December 1977. She studied Law at the University of Chile and in 2004 earned a Bachelor’s degree in Theology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. She continued her formation in Rome at the Alphonsian Academy, where she earned a licentiate (2008) and a doctorate (2012) in Moral Theology.

From 2012 to 2022, she was a lecturer at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, where from 2017 to 2022 she directed the General Theological Formation Program. At the same university, she took part in research projects on abuse in the Chilean Church in the post-conciliar period and was a member of the Commission for the Analysis of the Crisis of the Church in Chile. She has also taught at the Alberto Hurtado University, the Catholic University of Maule, the Conference of Religious of Chile, and the Pontifical Urban University.

Since 2022, she has been a full professor of Fundamental Theology of the Family at the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in Rome.

In September 2024, Pope Francis appointed her a consultor of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and on 19 October 2026, Pope Leo XIV appointed her a member of the International Theological Commission.

On 5 November 2026, the Holy Father appointed her Under-Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

Professor Leal is married and the mother of two children.