Interim Pope is a man named Kevin from Dublin

An Irish-American Cardinal who officially announced the death of Pope Francis today will lead the Catholic Church in finding the pontiff’s successor.

Dublin-born Kevin Farrell is now the highest-ranking Catholic in the world after taking over the administration of the Holy See following the pope’s death.

Farrell, who served as a bishop of the Diocese of Dallas in Texas for nearly a decade, was appointed as Vatican camerlengo, or chamberlain, by Francis in February 2019.

The camerlengo takes charge after a pontiff’s death and handles daily administration and finances of the tiny Vatican City state during the ‘interregnum’, the gap period between the leadership of one pope to the next.

The camerlego is also responsible for certifying the pope’s death, announcing his passing to the world – which he did this morning – and sealing the papal apartments, as well as preparing the pontiff’s burial.

Farrell, who will remain in charge until a new pope is elected, will preside over the first formal liturgical ritual for Francis tonight at 8pm, with the confirmation of his death and the placement of the body in the coffin. 

In the next four to six days the Vatican’s cardinals will decide on the pope’s funeral date, at which point his coffin will be transferred to St Peter’s Basilica. 

Francis’s death also sets in motion centuries-old traditions that will culminate in the gathering of a conclave of cardinals to choose a successor.

Francis, who died today aged 88, tasked Farrell with ensuring a smooth transition following his death six years ago when he appointed him as camerlengo.

Farrell, 77, was born in Ireland in 1947, but spent much of his religious career in the United States.

He attended the University of Salamanca in Spain and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome before being ordained as a priest in 1978. 

Farrell served as chaplain in Mexico before taking his ministry work to Washington. He was appointed as the auxiliary bishop of Washington by Pope John Paul II in 2001.

He held several senior positions over the years, including being named the Bishop of Dallas by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007.

Francis summoned Farrell to work in the Vatican in August 2016, announcing that Farrell would serve as Prefect of the then-newly established Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.

Farrell at a press conference after his appointment said that he was shocked by the appointment and ‘humbled’ that Francis ‘would entrust me with this new department’, NBC 5 reports.

He recalled how was in disbelief when his administrative assistant told him that the pope was on the phone.

‘I felt like saying, “Yeah, yeah”,’ he told the 2016 press briefing. ‘Eventually she did put on the Pope, and he told me that he would like me to go to Rome because Dallas needed a much better Bishop than I am.’

Farrell was elevated to Cardinal that same year and, just three years later, was entrusted with the role of Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church.

Francis also named him president of the Commission for Confidential Matters in 2020.

Farrell has officially began his as duties as camerlengo, having this morning announced the pope’s death in a video statement. 

‘At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father,’ he told the faithful in the statement released by the Vatican. ‘His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his Church.’

The Vatican has since confirmed that Farrell will tonight lead the ceremony in which Francis’s body is placed in its coffin in the chapel at the Saint Martha residence, where the pontiff lived.

‘Following the notification of the death of the Roman Pontiff Francis, in accordance with the provisions of the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, this evening, Monday 21 April, at 20.00, His Reverend Eminence Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside over the rite of the certification of death and the laying of the body in the coffin,’ the statement said.

The Vatican indicated that the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, and the late pope’s family members of the late Pope Francis, along with Dr. Andrea Arcangeli and Dr. Luigi Carbone, the Director and Deputy Director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene, will be present this evening.

The Holy See Press Office has said Francis’s body could be transported to the Vatican Basilica as early as Wednesday morning.

Arrangements will determined and communicated tomorrow, following the first Congregation of the Cardinals, officials added.

Francis selected Farrell to lead the Holy See, despite the pair apparently having opposing viewpoints on same-sex marriage.

The late pope, known as being an energetic reformer who inspired widespread devotion from Catholics but riled traditionalists, formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples in 2023.

Francis did, however, reaffirm that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. 

Farrell, on the other hand, has a taken divisive stance against same-sex marriage and abortion that has seen him criticised by those with opposing views, The Times reports.

In 2021, he publicly emphasised the importance of the church’s teachings about the sanctity of traditional marriage. 

He claimed the Catholic Church recognises civil unions differently from sacramental marriage and does not support same-sex marriage. 

Farrell, however, did reiterate that the church is committed to treating everyone with respect and compassion, regardless of their sexual orientation. 

The camerlengo also faced scrutiny in 2018 when he prohibited former Irish President Mary McAleese from speaking at a Vatican conference on International Women’s Day.

McAleese issued a formal complaint to Francis, but as of last month, had not received a response, according to The Times. 

He battled a financial scandal in 2019 after it was revealed that Farrell had received $29,000 from disgraced American bishop Michael J. Bransfield for apartment renovations in Rome.

Farrell also made headlines in 2018 when he publicly confirmed that he was unaware of the sexual abuse carried out by his former boss Theodore McCarrick.

McCarrick, who was defrocked by Francis after being convicted of sexual misconduct in a canonical trial, and Farrell had lived together in DC in the early 2000s.

Francis died today, just a day after the frail-looking pontiff greeted delighted worshippers after Easter Mass, with a possible cause of death having now been revealed by Italian media. 

Francis died due to a ‘cerebral hemorrhage’, possibly a stroke, which is said to be unrelated to the respiratory problems and pneumonia he suffered in February, outlets La Repubblica and La Stampa claimed.

His doctors said that he ‘passed away peacefully’ this morning, according to local reports. Corriere della Serra reported that he woke up when his alarm went off at 6am, fell ill at 7am and died from a stroke around 7.30am.

The death of the Argentine pontiff, leader of the Catholic Church since March 2013, came less than a month after having been released from hospital following a 38-day battle with double pneumonia.

Francis, who had part of his lung removed as a young man, had maintained a busy schedule before his latest hospital admission, even hosting the prime minister of Slovakia shortly beforehand.

Even after he was released from hospital and ordered to rest for two months, Francis, known for being stubborn, did not wait long before making public appearances, meeting Britain’s King Charles and visiting a prison.

But he was barely able to speak and delegated the traditional Easter Sunday ‘Urbi et Orbi’ – ‘To the City and the World’ – benediction to an associate, although he later toured Saint Peter’s Square in his popemobile, greeting worshippers.

Despite a growing number of health problems, he never took a day off and made frequent trips abroad, including a four-nation Asia-Pacific tour only last September.

Huge crowds gathered wherever he went, a testament to his popularity and human touch.

Francis, born Jorge Bergoglio, was the first Jesuit to lead the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics and the first from the Americas.

He took over after Benedict XVI became the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to step down – and cut a sharply different figure from the German theologian.

Francis sought to forge a more open and compassionate Church, with world leaders praising him for having strongly defended social justice and the rights of migrants.

Francis’s pontificate was also marked by pushing through governance reforms and tackling the scourge of clerical sex abuse of children.

But critics accused him of creating doctrinal confusion and failing to defend traditional Catholic beliefs on key issues such as abortion and divorce.

Francis’s desire to chart a different path was evident right to the end, with his decision to be buried not in St Peter’s Basilica but in Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore basilica.

He will become the first pope in more than 100 years to be laid to rest outside the Vatican. He also rejected the tradition of popes having three coffins, instead choosing to be buried in just one.