(Vatican City, September 1, 2026). Pope Leo XIV invested Helen Osman, former president of SIGNIS World, as a Dame of the Pontifical Order of St. Sylvester on Tuesday. The ceremony took place at 3 p.m. Rome time in the office of Dr. Nataša Govekar, director of the Dicastery for Communication’s Theological-Pastoral Department.
After receiving the honor as a Dame of St. Sylvester, Helen Osman said: “I am deeply humbled that the Holy Father would grant me this honor. My goal is always to use the gifts God has given me in service to his Kingdom — may the glory always be for him!”
Osman chaired the Board of Directors of SIGNIS World, the World Catholic Association for Communication, for two consecutive terms, from 2017 to 2026. In 2022, Pope Francis appointed her a consultor to what was then the Dicastery for Communication, and on April 9, 2026, Pope Leo XIV named her a member of the dicastery.
SIGNIS President Rev. Fr. Prof. Walter Chikwendu Ihejirika offered his “congratulations to our former President, Ms. Helen Osman, on being awarded the Papal Honor of Dame of St. Sylvester. We celebrate that you join past Presidents of SIGNIS in receiving this exalted honour. On behalf of the entire SIGNIS community, we extend our heartfelt congratulations and our deepest gratitude for your years of dedicated service to SIGNIS.”
“Throughout her two terms as president, almost a decade of service as the head of our association, she has not only shown outstanding leadership during periods of extreme challenges — namely the COVID-19 pandemic and the social and financial fallout that followed — but did so while displaying Gospel values and unwavering faith,” said Dr. Peter Rachada Monthienvichienchai, Secretary General of SIGNIS. “Her synodal approach to leadership displayed true listening to the concerns of our worldwide members and inspired synodality in our members’ own missions in their country and region”, he added.
The Order of St. Sylvester is one of five orders of knighthood conferred directly by the Pope. It was established in its present form in 1841 by Pope Gregory XVI, building on the earlier Militia of the Golden Spur, and was reorganized by Pope Pius X in 1905. It recognizes lay Catholics (and, in some cases, members of other faiths) for their service to the Church and the professional record behind it. The order has four ranks, and women have been admitted since 1994.
Osman has more than three decades of experience in communication. She served as director of communications for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), coordinated coverage of the papal visits of Benedict XVI (2008) and Francis (2015) to the United States, and chaired the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada, which presented her its St. Francis de Sales Award in 2012.