On Thursday, 8 October 2026, Pope Leo XIV appointed Sr Mary Teresa Barron, N.S.A., auxiliary secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization. She will serve in the Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, while also taking responsibility as president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, Vatican News reported.
Sister Barron will take up her new duties on 4 January 2027. She is currently the superior general of the Missionaries of Our Lady of Apostles, a religious congregation she has led since 2018.
Biography and previous positions
Mary Teresa Barron was born on 7 November 1968 in Donegal, Ireland. Her education includes two master’s degrees: one in public health management, which she earned at the Institute of Public Administration in Dublin, and one in international development, earned at Kimmage Institute, also in Dublin.
From 2022 to 2025, she served as president of the Service of Documentation and Study on Global Mission, known by the acronym SEDOS. From 2023 to 2025, she was also president of the International Union of Superiors General in Rome.
Her appointment entrusts her with two related responsibilities: serving as auxiliary secretary in the aforementioned section of the Dicastery for Evangelization and presiding over the Pontifical Mission Societies. Both new duties are set to begin on 4 January 2027.
