Pope Leo XIV has appointed twelve new consultants to the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development this Tuesday, including priests, academics, and professionals from Europe, Africa, Asia, the United States, and Australia. Their backgrounds span areas such as the defense of life, the Church’s social doctrine, ecology, migration, economics, education, finance, and artificial intelligence.
The appointments come just days before the new leadership of the Dicastery takes effect. On June 30, Leo XIV named Salesian religious sister Alessandra Smerilli, previously secretary of the same body, as prefect. Smerilli will formally assume the position on September 1, 2026. The role of the new consultants will be to provide specialized advice to the Dicastery in matters corresponding to their respective fields of expertise.
Francesco Coluccia, bioethicist and member of the Movimento per la Vita
One of the appointees is Italian priest Francesco Coluccia, director of the Health Pastoral Office of the Archdiocese of Otranto, in the Apulia region of southern Italy.
Coluccia is a psychologist and bioethicist who has served as a hospital chaplain and formator. He currently also directs the School of Health Pastoral Care and Bioethics of his archdiocese and is treasurer of the Italian Movimento per la Vita, an organization dedicated to the defense of human life, as well as being connected with Centers for the Assistance of Life.
Three professors from the University of Notre Dame
The list includes three academics linked to the University of Notre Dame, a Catholic institution in Indiana, United States.
Ugandan priest Emmanuel Katongole is a professor of Theology and also works in the field of peace studies. His academic work has focused on issues such as reconciliation, violence, politics, and the role of Christianity in Africa. He is also the founder of the Bethany Land Institute in Uganda, an initiative centered on agriculture, formation, and care for creation inspired by integral ecology.
Also appointed is Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at Notre Dame and professor of Social Ethics. His research fields include poverty, migration, refugees, ethics, and Catholic social doctrine. Sedmak has also devoted various academic works to the pontificate of Francis and the concept of integral human development.
The third representative from Notre Dame is Clemens Sedmak —included by the Holy See for his leadership of the Nanovic Institute— while Katongole appears by virtue of his position as ordinary professor in the Department of Theology at the same university.
Economy of Francesco and ecology
Indian professor Caren Rodrigues, affiliated with the Saint Joseph’s Institute of Management in Bangalore, has participated in the Economy of Francesco, an initiative launched in 2019 following a call by Pope Francis to young economists, researchers, and entrepreneurs.
The project remains active in 2026 and is presented as an international community dedicated to studying economic proposals focused, among other issues, on fraternity, human dignity, care, and the common good.
Also included is Jacqueline Remond, a lecturer at the School of Theology of the Australian Catholic University in Sydney. Remond has developed part of her work on environmental issues and previously directed Catholic Earthcare Australia. She has also collaborated with Vatican initiatives related to ecology and Laudato si’.
A specialist in the ethics of artificial intelligence
Another consultant is Swiss national Peter G. Kirchschläger, director of the Institute of Social Ethics at the University of Lucerne. His work covers issues related to human rights, digitalization, and the ethical implications of artificial intelligence.
Kirchschläger currently leads research and academic activities on the consequences of data-based systems for employment and education, as well as on the ethical criteria that should be applied to these technologies.
His specialization coincides with a subject to which Leo XIV has devoted special attention. The Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development itself announced this month that the theme chosen by the Pope for the 2027 World Day of Peace will be “Disarming technology, serving peace. Politics as preventive responsibility,” with special reference to the risks of delegating military decisions to artificial intelligence systems.
A Wall Street executive
Among the professional profiles is Kathryn A. Koch, president and chief executive officer of Trust Company of the West (TCW), an investment management firm based in Los Angeles.
Koch previously had a long career at Goldman Sachs, where she held various responsibilities in asset management. Her inclusion brings to the group of consultants experience drawn directly from the financial sector and international investment management.
Caritas Africa and social doctrine
Lucy Afandi Esipila, regional executive secretary of Caritas Africa, has also been appointed consultant. Her professional activity is related to development on the African continent and to the work of the international Caritas network.
Joining her is Italian Paolo Foglizzo, editor of Aggiornamenti Sociali, the journal of the San Fedele Cultural Foundation in Milan linked to the Jesuits. An economist by training, Foglizzo works on the Church’s social doctrine and economic and social issues.
Peter Klasvogt, from Justice and Peace to the current Dicastery
German priest Peter Klasvogt, currently rector of the Pontifical Teutonic College of Santa Maria in Camposanto in Rome, has previous experience in the Holy See’s bodies dedicated to social issues.
For years he directed the social institute Kommende Dortmund and has worked in areas related to economic ethics and Catholic social doctrine. In 2012, during the pontificate of Benedict XVI, he was appointed consultant to the then Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
That body was later integrated into the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, created by Francis in 2016.
Economics, education, and psychology complete the appointments
The remaining appointments correspond to Omer S. Combary, professor in the Department of Economics at Thomas Sankara University in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso, and Indian Salesian Joseph Jeyaraj Swaminathan, adjunct professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome.
Swaminathan carries out his academic work primarily in the fields of psychology and educational sciences.
With these appointments, the Dicastery incorporates twelve consultants from different professional and academic fields, who will participate as advisors in matters related to integral human development.