Vatican announcement about Pope Francis’s death on Monday morning came from Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
Irish-born Americans offer good words about the late Pope, saying: “He teaches us to undergo the values of the gospel with loyalty, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalized.
“With extraordinary gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we praise the soul of Pope Francis to love that is compassionate for God, one and the Trinity.”
Announcement by Cardinal Farrell is only one aspect of his vital role over the next few days, because the death of the Pope makes it the temporary head of the Catholic Church.
This role is known as Camerlengo, or Chamberlain.
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But who is Cardinal Farrell, and what is his responsibility?
Who is Kevin Farrell?
Cardinal Farrell was born in Dublin in 1947, and ordained a priest in 1978, after studying at the University of Pontifical Gregorian in Rome and entered the Legion Church of Christ in 1966.
After being ordained, he served as the priest of the Regnun Christi movement at Monterrey University in Mexico.
In 1984, he was restored in Washington’s Archdiocese, where he held a number of positions before being appointed as an additional bishop of Washington by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
He served as Washington moderator from Curia and Head of Vikar General from 2001 until he was appointed as Bishop Dallas in 2007.
In 2016 Pope Francis asked him to work in the Vatican as a preferably from the new Vatican Dicecture that was newly established for lay people, families, and life.
About three years later, he was nominated by the Pope to become Camerlengo of the holy Roman Church.
Since then, he has been entrusted with other jobs that have significant responsibilities, such as the President of the Commission for the Secret and President of the Supreme Court of the State of the Vatican City.
What is the responsibility?
When a Pope dies or, more rarely, resigning, the Catholic Church enters a period called “Sede Vacante”. This means “empty chair” – because there is no whale sitting on the throne of St. Peter.
During this period, Camerlengo – In this case, Cardinal Farrell – took over.
He is the person responsible for determining the formal death of the Pope.
He will stand on the body of the papnity this morning and ceremonially called the name of the pope’s baptism three times. Only when there was no response to the call, the Pope was officially declared dead.
After this, the death certificate was written. The papal apartment is locked by Camerlengo, with a papal study and the bedroom is sealed.
Camerlengo then broke the signs of whale and seal with scissors, to prevent them from being used by others.
Before announcing his death to the public, Cardinal Farrell will share news with the Roman Vikar, the Dean of College of Cardinals, the Ambassador of the Holy Throne and the Head of the nation -nation.
In this Sede Vacante stage, which usually lasts several weeks, Cardinal Farrell will carry out administrative and finance tasks of the holy throne until a new Pope takes over.
You can read more about the process to choose a new whale Here.