Following Pope Francis’ death Monday at age 88, the Vatican will have an acting head until a new pontiff is chosen during the conclave process. That acting head, or camerlengo,.
Following Pope Francis’ death Monday at age 88, the Vatican will have an acting head until a new pontiff is chosen during the conclave process. That acting head, or camerlengo, is Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, and ultimately became a naturalized US citizen, NPR reports. Francis nominated the 77-year-old as camerlengo (which means « chamberlain ») in 2019; Farrell had come to the Vatican at the pope’s request— »summoned out of the blue » is how the AP puts it—in 2016, and once there he rose quickly. Farrell was ordained as a priest in 1978 and served in Mexico before coming to the US in 1984; he was bishop of Dallas, a position to which he’d been appointed in 2007, when he was sent to the Vatican.
