22-04-2025
Kevin from Dublin is now in charge of the Vatican
The doors of Pope Francis's apartment were sealed with a single red ribbon and molten wax in a solemn ceremony that took place just hours after his death.
Steeped in tradition, the formalities on Monday night took place in Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guest house for visiting clerics where the late pope chose to live after eschewing the grandeur of the Apostolic Palace where his predecessors resided.
Overseeing it all was Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who overnight has become the most important figure in the Catholic Church as the temporary head of the 1.4 billion strong congregation.
Cardinal Farrell, who was born in Ireland but has spent much of his life in the US, is the Vatican's camerlengo or chamberlain.
As such, he will now run the administrative and financial affairs of the Holy See until a new pope is elected in the secretive process known as the conclave.
On Monday morning, it was his responsibility to announce the death of Pope Francis to the world.
'At 7.35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father,' he said in Italian with a pronounced Irish accent.
'He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with faithfulness, courage and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalised.'
Traditionally, the camerlengo would tap a silver hammer on the pope's head while calling out his baptismal name three times. But the hammer was shelved in the last century in favour of more scientific methods.
Doctors announced on Monday night the cause of Pope Francis' death: a stroke, followed by a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.
The official certification was signed by Dr Andrea Arcangeli, the head of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State.
Cardinal Farrell now takes charge of the Catholic Church in the period that is known as the 'Sede vacante' – literally the empty chair, in which there is no pope sitting on the Seat of St Peter.
The 77-year-old has spent more than 30 years working in the United States, although he was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland.
Cardinal Farrell went on to study at Salamanca University, Spain and the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He also holds a Masters degree from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.
He was first ordained in 1978, before going on to serve in his first official religious role as Chaplain of the University of Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico.
He was then incardinated in the Archdiocese of Washington in 1984, working as an associate pastor in Maryland and Washington DC.
Following his work with catholic charities in the region, the Vatican raised him to the rank of Monsignor in 1995.
Cardinal Farrell was concentrated as the auxiliary bishop of Washington between 2001 and 2007, before being appointed the bishop of Dallas.
While in Washington DC, he worked alongside former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick who was laicised in 2018 following allegations of sexual abuse against a child. The pair worked and lived closely together, with McCarrick having asked the Vatican to appoint Cardinal Farrell as auxiliary bishop and even being described by some as his mentor.
Asked by CNN if he knew about his colleague's alleged behaviour, he denied any knowledge. 'Did I ever know? No. Did I ever suspect? No. Did he ever abuse any seminarian in Washington? No,' he said in 2018.
The Cardinal left the United States in 2016 when Pope Francis called him to Rome as prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, which he created shortly after being made pontiff.
While leading the dicastery, he appointed two women to senior positions in his department and suggested his successor be a non-cleric.
'My expertise is getting people to do the job, people who are qualified to do the job,' he said. It was his expertise that caught the attention of Francis who made him one of his most trusted collaborators and three years later named him Camerlengo, one of the highest positions in the church.
The name 'camerlengo' featured in the Oscar-nominated film Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci about the election of a new pontiff. In the movie, the role of chamberlain was filled by the scheming and ambitious Joseph Tremblay, played by John Lithgow, the American actor.
Fiennes played the role of an English cardinal and the Dean of the College of Cardinals, whose job it is to manage the papal election.
In 2018, Cardinal Farrell banned Mary McAleese, the former Irish president, from speaking at a Vatican conference on Women in the Catholic Church. Although Mrs McAleese sought an official response from the Cardinal over her exclusion, she did not get one.
Three years earlier the then Irish president claimed she and her family had not been invited to a World Meeting of Families (WMOF) event in Dublin, which was to be attended by Pope Francis. Mrs McAleese, a critic of the WMOF events described it as 'essentially a Right-wing rally' to motivate people 'against the tide of same sex marriage, rights for gays, abortion rights, contraceptive rights'.
Service to the church seems to be in the blood. His brother, Brian, was also a priest who would go on to become a bishop and spent many years serving the Vatican.
Cardinal Farrell will then take possession of the Apostolic Vatican Palace and, personally or through his delegate, of the Lateran Palace and Castel Gandolfo, and exercise their custody and government.
Assisted by three cardinals, he also ensures the confidentiality of what happens in the Sistine Chapel, where the voting operations take place.
In particular, with the help of two trusted technicians, he protects secrecy, ensuring that no means of filming or audiovisual transmission is introduced by anyone where the election is taking place.
All the cardinal electors must hand over to the camerlengo any writings of any kind that they have in their possession relating to the outcome of each ballot, so that they may be burned with the ballots.
At the end of the election, Cardinal Farrell will draw up a report, which the three cardinal assistants must approve, to declare the outcome.
This report will be handed over to the new pope and then kept in the appropriate archive, enclosed in a sealed envelope, which may not be opened by anyone unless the new pontiff explicitly permits it.
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