Lucy Afandi Esipila has taken up a new international role after Pope Leo XIV named her among 12 experts appointed as Consultors to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
The appointment, made on August 18, 2026, places Afandi in a team expected to offer professional advice and specialist knowledge to the Vatican department.
She becomes part of the advisory structure of the Roman Curia, the central administrative body through which the Catholic Church carries out its work.
The Vatican’s dicasteries are major departments, each handling a specific area of the Church’s activities. The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is responsible for a wide range of issues, including poverty, migration, healthcare, environmental protection, humanitarian assistance and human development.
Afandi brings experience in several of these areas through her work in development, advocacy and humanitarian affairs.
She is currently the Regional Coordinator of Caritas Africa, a position in which she became the first woman and youngest person to serve.
Her work at Caritas Africa has included advocacy around ecological justice, agroecology and multilateral cooperation, as well as other issues linked to development.
The new Vatican assignment places that experience within a department whose work covers social and humanitarian concerns affecting communities around the world.
The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development was established by Pope Francis on August 17, 2016, through an apostolic letter.
Its creation brought together the responsibilities of four Pontifical Councils that had previously focused on justice and peace, charity, migrants and itinerant people, and healthcare workers.
The department officially started operating on January 1, 2017.
Afandi is among 12 Consultors appointed to support its work. The newly selected group includes clergy and professionals drawn from different countries and backgrounds.
The dicastery says Consultors bring human, scientific, pastoral and ecclesial expertise to its activities. Their role includes offering opinions and insights on matters that require special attention and helping the department consider complex issues within its mandate.
Among those appointed alongside Afandi are Rev. Monsignor Peter Klasvogt of Italy, Rev. Francesco Coluccia of Italy, Rev. Emmanuel Katongole of the United States, Rev. Joseph Jeyaraj Swaminathan and Omer S. Combary of Burkina Faso.
The other Consultors are Paolo Foglizzo of Italy, Peter G. Kirchschläger of Switzerland, Kathryn A. Koch of the United States, Jacqueline Remond of Australia, Caren Rodrigues of India and Clemens Sedmak of the United States.
Afandi’s selection gives Kenya a place among the experts helping shape discussions within the Vatican department responsible for integral human development.
The dicastery is one of several departments under the Roman Curia. Other departments focus on areas such as evangelisation, the Doctrine of the Faith, the Eastern Churches, bishops, clergy, the causes of saints, divine worship and the sacraments, culture and education, communication, interreligious dialogue and legislative texts.
Her appointment adds a Vatican advisory responsibility to Afandi’s work in the development and humanitarian sector.
As a Consultor, she will bring her experience to discussions and work touching on social, environmental and humanitarian concerns handled by the dicastery.