A Co Donegal nun has been appointed to a senior Vatican role dealing with other faiths by Pope Leo XIV.
Sister Mary T Barron, who is originally from the Drumoghill/Galdonagh area between Derry and Letterkenny, but currently based in Ghana, has been named as a consultor to the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.
The Dicastery, which is a department within the Catholic Church’s central ruling body, the Roman Curia, deals with the church’s relations with all non-Christian religions, except for Judaism, which has its own relations commission within the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.
Pope Leo celebrating Mass on New Year’s Day in St Peter’s Basilica PICTURE: ALESSANDRA TARANTINO/AP (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)
Sister Barron is the Superior General of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, a missionary congregation founded in France with the aim of working in Africa.
She has carried out missionary work across Africa, and has worked with rural communities on issues including women’s empowerment and tackling HIV.
In 2024, the late Pope Francis appointed her to the Dicastery for Evangelization in a senior role, which she described at the time as a “great honour”.
As a consultor, she joins a team of around 30 from all corners of the globe, which includes lay people as well as clergy, who the Dicastery says “assist the mission of dialogue through research, reflection, and their own dialogue activities”.
The Dicastery adds they are are called upon “to offer their input on specific issues”.
In a short statement, a spokesperson for the Our Lady of the Apostles Sisters Irish District said: “Congratulations to Sr. Mary T. Barron, our Congregational Leader on her appointment by Pope Leo XIV as Consultor to the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.
“We keep Sr Mary in our prayers as she undertakes this responsibility in service of the wider Church.”