ROME — Pope Leo XIV has appointed Maria Montserrat Alvarado, president and chief operating officer of EWTN News, to lead the Vatican’s communications office, placing a top executive from the Alabama-born Catholic media giant in one of the Holy See’s most important media posts.
Alvarado will become prefect of the Dicastery for Communication on Nov. 1, succeeding Paolo Ruffini, who has held the job since 2018, according to Vatican and AP reports. The office oversees Vatican News, Vatican Radio, Vatican Media and the Holy See press office and is among the Vatican’s most financially significant departments.
EWTN’s roots go back to 1981, when Mother Angelica launched the network from a garage studio at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Irondale, Alabama. What began as a small religious broadcast operation has grown into what EWTN and other accounts describe as the world’s largest Catholic or religious media network, with 24-hour programming and a reach that extends to hundreds of millions of homes in more than 100 countries.
The Alabama connection is part of the network’s identity. EWTN is headquartered in Irondale, just outside Birmingham, and has expanded into television, radio, publishing, digital media and international news operations, including a newsroom in Rome. Reuters reported in 2025 that the network runs 11 global television channels and has become a major presence in papal coverage, especially during Vatican transitions.
EWTN emerged in the same era as CNN, which launched in 1980, with both networks shaped by the early expansion of cable television, though they followed sharply different paths — CNN as a 24-hour news innovator and EWTN as a Catholic broadcaster rooted in Alabama. From its beginnings in a monastery garage, EWTN has grown into a global media operation, becoming both a significant Alabama export and a prominent voice in Catholic media worldwide.
Alvarado’s appointment also reflects Pope Leo’s broader effort to elevate lay leaders in Vatican administration, Vatican News reported. EWTN Chairman and CEO Michael Warsaw previously served as a Vatican communications consultor, underscoring the network’s long relationship with Holy See media reform efforts.