Three Americans, New Consultants for Integral Human Development

– Simone Orendain, OSV News

The three new U.S. consultants, affiliated with the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, are among the dozen consultants recently appointed to the Vatican department that was created by Pope Francis in 2016.

On June 30, Pope Leo XIV appointed the Reverend as Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development Sister Alessandra Smerilli, F.M.A., who will take office on September 1.

At the same time, the Holy Father appointed Cardinal Fabio Baggio, C.S., as pro-prefect of the Dicastery, with special responsibility for the Laudato si’ Center for Advanced Formation; he will assume the position on the same date. The Secretary of the Dicastery will be Monsignor Jozef Barlaš.

University of Notre Dame 

On August 18, the Holy See Press Office announced the appointments of twelve consultants, including Father Emmanuel Katongole, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame; Kathryn Koch, president and CEO of the Los Angeles-based international investment firm TCW; and Clemens Sedmak, director of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at Notre Dame.

The dicastery supports the Church’s work in the areas of human dignity and human rights, economic justice, care for creation, migration and displacement, as well as peace, conflicts, and humanitarian crises. According to the Church, it is necessary to address the obstacles in all these areas in order to promote full human development.

Consultants help strengthen the dicastery for five-year terms. They are appointed “from among the faithful who are distinguished by their experience, proven ability, and prudence,” according to the guidelines established in 2022.

Father Katongole

Father Katongole, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kampala, Uganda, was recently appointed director of the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion at Notre Dame. He joined the faculty in January 2013, specializing in politics and violence in sub-Saharan Africa, political theology, global Catholicism, and other related areas. 

Before joining Notre Dame, he was an associate professor of theology and global Christianity in the School of Divinity at Duke University. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and was ordained a priest in 1987.

When announcing his appointment at the Ansari Institute, Mary Gallagher, the Marilyn Keough Dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame—where Father Katongole teaches courses in theology and peace studies—stated that he has «a deep commitment to integral human development.».

Kathryn Koch

Koch has led TCW, also known as Trust Company of the West, since 2023. Before joining TCW, she worked for 20 years in the asset management division of Goldman Sachs, where her last position was chief investment officer. In that role, she managed the company’s equity business, valued at $300 billion, and served as a member of the asset management division’s executive committee.

Koch serves on the board of trustees at Notre Dame, his alma mater. He earned a bachelor's degree in English and Economics from that university in 2002, graduating with honors (magna cum laude).

Clemens Sedmak

Sedmak is a professor of social ethics at the Keough School of Global Affairs at Notre Dame and specializes in the Catholic social tradition, poverty, the philosophy of religion, and other related topics. He also teaches at the Institute for Social Affairs at Notre Dame.

Sedmak holds doctorates in philosophy, theology, and social theory, and taught moral and social theology at King’s College London before joining Notre Dame. He also held various positions at the University of Salzburg in his native Austria.

The Nanovic Institute for European Studies, under Sedmak’s leadership, has a mission to “strengthen Notre Dame’s presence in Europe, deepen the understanding of Europe within the Notre Dame community, and contribute to academic discourse and research on European studies.”.

Nine more consultants appointed

As for the remaining consultants appointed by the Pope, they are the following. Monsignor Peter Klasvogt, rector of the Pontifical Teutonic College of St. Mary in Camposanto, in Rome (Italy). And the Rev. Francesco Coluccia, director of the Office for Pastoral Care in Health of the Archdiocese of Otranto (Italy), and Joseph Jeyaraj Swaminathan, S.D.B., assistant professor in the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome.

In addition to those from Notre Dame mentioned above, the laypeople appointed are Omer S. Combary, a professor in the Department of Economics at Thomas Sankara University in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). Lucy Afandi Esipila, regional executive secretary of Caritas Africa. Paolo Foglizzo, editor of Social Updates – San Fedele Cultural Foundation in Milan (Italy). Peter G. Kirchschläger, director of the Institut für Sozialethik at the University of Lucerne (Switzerland); Jacqueline Remond, adjunct professor at the School of Theology at the Australian Catholic University in Sydney (Australia); and Caren Rodrigues, associate professor at the Saint Joseph’s Institute of Management in Bangalore (India).

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Simone Orendain is a correspondent for OSV News. She writes from Chicago.

This information was originally published in OSV News. You can consult it here.