LeoWatch: Maria Montserrat Alvarado
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.

🤔 it is interesting how some are freaking out. I blocked Vatican News after what’s his face said he didn’t think continuing to use Rupnik’s art w credible allegations was a negative.
Maybe I can stomach it soon
it’s interesting how this appointment is traveling under the radar…..
“The issue is whether a layperson should be serving as prefect at all. Historically, dicasteries were extensions of ecclesiastical governance.”
https://bigmodernism.substack.com/p/leos-dei-prefectress-the-revolution
“The Vatican itself openly described Alvarado’s appointment as a continuation of Francis’s reforms and his effort to place more laypeople, including women, in positions of governance.”
Reform?!? Renewal??? Ha! He hired James Martin SJ as a communications consultant for that dicastery!
If he gets the axe, I might allow myself to be hopeful.
This is no surprise if you followed EWTN News before Alvarado descended on the operation. She was always like a gushing schoolgirl when talking about Francis, and had no kind words for most of his critics. Under her reign, nearly all of EWTN News talking heads save Raymond Arroyo have visibly turned against Trump over Gaza and border enforcement. They basically bought into the USCCB propaganda on those issues, more often than not. She won’t be missed at EWTN, IMO.
I agree with David WS, the real issue here is the appointment of a lay person to head a Vatican dicastery. It is another step in the revolution.
“Reform and renewal” is Church language for “new and improved.”
In my experience, the “new” part is true, but the “improved” part is almost never a change to my benefit.
As I have expressed before, Vatican II is New Coke.
I don’t know how this will work out but the appearance now is one of safe and compliant. Probably ideal to avoid controversies.
I appreciate Mr. Karlson’s reminder to not tweet while taking hallucinogens.
Nothing substantive will change at the office.
I regard what Vatican News reports with the same level of credibility as I regard what CNN reports: nil to none. Maria Alvarado’s appointment means nothing but the continuation of the same liberal progressive environmentalist homo-erotic propaganda that has so typified the Vatican since the election of Pope Francis in 2013.
Thing is, the only thing on EWTN that is critical of Francis (and Leo for that matter) is the Papal Posse.
How can you be the Prefect of the Dicastery of Communications if you won’t criticize the pope? That’s the whole point of the job!
DEI must DIE. Get a real journalist or EWTN news will become just another propaganda machine. Mother Angelica must be rotating in her grave.