Victor EzejaCardinal Kevin Farrell has been appointed by the Vatican as the interim leader of the Catholic Church after Pope Francis passed away on Monday, 21 April.
As the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal Farrell is currently in charge of running the Vatican during the interregnum, which is the time between a pope’s passing and the election of his successor.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelHe is in charge of carrying out the daily operations of the Apostolic See in this role until a conclave of the College of Cardinals elects a new pope.
Cardinal Farrell, 77, was born in Dublin, Ireland, and is now a naturalized American citizen.
He has served in a number of prominent positions within the Church. Among them is his role as prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. He had been the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church since 2019 and President of the Vatican City Supreme Court since 2024.
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Cardinal Farrell was ordained a Priest in 1978. Before his appointment to the Vatican, Farrell had served as a chaplain and university teacher for several years in Mexico. He also worked in the United States from 1984 to 2016 and was an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington from 2002 to 2007 and Bishop of Dallas from 2007 to 2017. He was made a cardinal in 2016.
Aside from his Bachelor of Arts degree obtained from the University of Salamanca in Spain, Masters in Philosophy and Theology, Farrell also holds a Master of Business Administration degree obtained from the University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame also granted Farrell an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 2017.
Pope Francis died at the age of 88, after spending 12 years in the Papacy. According to the Vatican, he died from a cerebral stroke that led to coma and subsequent heart failure.
In a death certificate released on Monday, the cause of death has been cited as “cerebral stroke, coma, and cardiocirculatory collapse.”
It was Farrell who announced the death of Pope Francis in a video statement on the Vatican’s TV channel on Monday. The Vatican announced that Farrell would preside over the rite of ascertainment of death for Francis.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
