Pope appoints 2 undersecretaries to integral human development dicastery

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday appointed two new undersecretaries to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development — a priest from Angola and a laywoman from Chile — completing a change in leadership at the dicastery that began Sept. 1.

The pontiff on Nov. 5 named Father Avelino Chicoma Bundo Chico, SJ, and Claudia Leal Luna to fill the hole left by Monsignor Jozef Barlaš’ promotion to secretary of the dicastery.

From Angola, 47-year-old Chico has served in the dicastery since 2020, first as regional coordinator for Africa, then as manager of the “Listening and Dialogue” section, and finally, since 2025, as office manager.

He has a master’s degree in social ethics and a research doctorate in contemporary international migration and development cooperation.

Claudia Leal Luna, left, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, speaks prior to her appointment at a press conference at the Vatican on Oct. 12, 2026, about a 2026 gathering of bishops on “Amoris Laetitia.” | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News

Leal, 48, originally from Chile but living in Italy, has been a teacher at the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage…