From Drimnagh to the Vatican: Cardinal Farrell to oversee conclave

RTÉ News​

25-04-2025

It was Cardinal Kevin Farrell who delivered the news of the Pope's death to the world and he will continue to play a central role in the days and weeks ahead.
As Camerlengo, or chamberlain, Dublin-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell is responsible for running the ordinary affairs of the Vatican until a new pope is elected.
It is thought to be the highest office in the Vatican ever to be held by an Irishman.
Since the Pope's death, Cardinal Farrell has received much attention with his childhood friends paying tribute to him as the world's media profile the man from Drimnagh.
Interest in his role has, no doubt, been boosted by the recent movie Conclave which detailed the intrigue of the papal voting process.
Kevin Farrell was born in the south Dublin suburb of Drimnagh in 1947 and left Ireland in his teens.
He joined the Legionaries of Christ and was ordained a priest in the early 80s.
He has spent the majority of his adult life in the US. A well established Irish-American, he served the Bishop of Dallas for a decade.
Before that in Washington DC, he worked as the late Cardinal McCarrick's assistant bishop.
When McCarrick was fired for sexual abuse decades later, Kevin Farrell expressed shock about the crime.
He was appointed Cardinal in 2016 and became more widely known here two years later when he blocked former president Mary McAleese from speaking at a Vatican conference to mark International Women's Day.
Later that year, he was centre stage for the World Meeting of Families in Dublin. His rise in Rome was continuing before being installed as Camerlengo in 2019.
He now faces into his most important period in that role as the process to select a new pope nears.
According to the document, the 'Universi Dominici Gregis', which lays out the rules of the papal election process, it is the Camerlengo who must ensure the voting is carried out in a "smooth and orderly manner" and with the "maximum discretion".
Along with two other high-ranking officials, he also ensures that the accommodation rooms are made ready for the "suitable lodging" of the cardinal electors when they gather.
It is also his responsibility to make sure the interior of the Sistine Chapel, where the voting takes place, and adjacent areas, be prepared so that the "orderly election and its privacy will be ensured".
The Cardinal Camerlengo is obliged to be "especially vigilant" in ensuring that there is absolutely no violation of secrecy "before, as well as during and after the voting".
There is also nothing to preclude a Camerlengo from becoming Pope, however there have only been two occasions in the past when that has happened.
Kevin Farrell comes from a deeply religious family - his brother Brian served as a bishop for 20 years.
It was at the church of Our Lady of Good Counsel where Kevin Farrell first served as an altar boy.
Decades on, from Drimnagh to the Vatican, Kevin Farrell is now at the centre of one of the Catholic Church's most important consequential events.