Pope appoints two Undersecretaries to Dicastery for Integral Development
Pope Leo XIV appoints Jesuit Fr. Avelino Chicoma Bundo Chico and Professor Claudia Leal Luna as Undersecretaries of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
An image from inside the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
On November 5, Pope Leo XIV appointed Fr. Avelino Chicoma Bundo Chico, SJ, and Professor Claudia Leal Luna as undersecretaries of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Fr. Chico served until now an office head at the same Dicastery. Professor Leal Luna is a full professor at the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences
Fr. Chico: Presence, commitment, and witness
Fr. Chico was born on July 15, 1979, in Lobito, in Angola’s Benguela province. He entered the Society of Jesus in 2002, was ordained a priest on August 3, 2014, and made his perpetual profession on May 1, 2026.
He earned a master’s degree in social ethics in 2018 and a doctorate in contemporary international migration and development cooperation in 2019.
He has served at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development since 2020, first as regional coordinator for Africa (2020–2022), then as head of the Listening and Dialogue Section (2022–2025), and, since 2025, as office head.
In a statement, Fr. Chico expressed his “deepest thanks to the Holy Father and the superiors of the Dicastery for the trust they have placed in me during these years of service at the Dicastery, particularly with regard to this new appointment.”
“I like to think of this new role in terms of three words: presence, commitment, and witness,” he said.
“The responsibility that awaits me,” the Jesuit priest added, “is demanding and challenging, but I feel supported by God, my superiors, and everyone. The words God addressed to Jeremiah echo in my ears and in my heart: ‘Do not say, “I am young.” You will go to all those to whom I send you and say everything I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to protect you.’”
Prof. Leal Luna: Working for a ‘Church for all’
Professor Leal Luna was born on December 12, 1977. She earned a degree in legal and social sciences from the University of Chile in 2001, followed by a licentiate in 2008 and a doctorate in 2012 in moral theology from the Alphonsian Academy in Rome.
She taught at the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile from 2012 to 2022.
Since 2022, she has been a full professor at the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences in Rome. She is a consultor of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and a member of the International Theological Commission.
“I receive this appointment with gratitude to the Holy Father Leo XIV for the trust he has placed in me, and with gratitude to the Lord for all the blessings he has bestowed on me,” Prof. Leal Luna said.
“I know that I am joining work that is already underway, alongside the Prefect, Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, the Pro-Prefect, Cardinal Fabio Baggio, and the Secretary, Msgr. Jozef Barlaš. I was born in Chile, have lived in several countries, and today I am in Rome with my family. Every border I have crossed has confirmed for me that human development always has a face and a name, and that no one is a stranger in the Church.”
“Through my experience at the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences,” she added, “I have learned that in every culture, the family is the first place where human development takes the form of care. I would like to entrust this task to St. John XXIII, the Good Pope, so that he may teach me to serve with his gentleness and trust, in the Church that he wanted to be a Church for all.”
Vatican News
Source: vaticannews.va/en