SEDE VACANTE: Cardinal Kevin Farrell, is the temporary Head of the Catholic Church

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The Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church is an office of the papal household that administers the property and revenues of the Holy See. Formerly, his responsibilities included the fiscal administration of the Patrimony of Saint Peter. As regulated in the apostolic constitution “Pastor bonus” of 1988, the Camerlengo is always a Cardinal, though this was not the case prior to the 15th century.

Currently, the Camerlengo has been Kevin Farrell since his appointment by Pope Francis on 14 February 2019. He is 77 years old Irish-born Cardinal who has served as prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.

After a Pope is declared dead, the Camerlengo takes possession of his Fisherman’s Ring, and cuts it with shears in the presence of other Cardinals. This act symbolizes the end of the Late Pope’s authority and prevents its use in forging documents. The Camerlengo then notifies the appropriate Officers of the Roman Curia and the Dean of the College of Cardinals. He participates in the preparations for the Conclave and the Pope’s funeral.

In the past the Camerlengo took possession of the Pope’s last will and took responsibility for revealing its contents. Now the last will of the Pope is given to the College of Cardinals and its content is revealed during the first pre-Conlcave meeting of the College of Cardinals. The only responsibility still in the Camerlengo’s hands is to safekeep the last will of the Pope until the College of Cardinals takes possession of it.

Until a successor Pope is elected, the Camerlengo (in this instance Cardinal Kevin Farrell) serves as Vatican City’s Acting Sovereign.

He is no longer, however, responsible for the government of the Catholic Church when the papacy is vacant; that task was placed in the hands of the College of Cardinals by “Universi Dominici gregis” (1996). His power is extremely limited, being merely enough to allow Church institutions to continue to operate and perform some basic functions without making any definitive decisions or appointments that are normally reserved to other powers delegated by the Pope. Unlike the rest of the Roman Curia, the Camerlengo retains his office during the Sede Vacante period and functions as the executive director of operations for the Vatican City and the Holy See, answerable to the College of Cardinals. This is primarily to carry out the College’s decisions with regard to the funeral of the Late Pope and the events leading up to the Conclave. The only other people who keep their offices during this time are the Major Penitentiary, the Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Papal Almoner, and the Vicars General for Rome and for the Vatican City State.

Later this evening, Vatican has announced that Cardinal Kevin Farrell, will preside over the rite of the ascertainment of death of Pope Francis and placement of his body in the coffin on Monday evening.

The rite will take place in the Chapel of the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta at 8:00 PM (GMT +2).

The Holy See Press Office indicated that those present will include the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, and 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, respectively.

Separately, the Press Office announced that the canonization Mass for Blessed Carlo Acutis has been temporarily suspended due to the death of Pope Francis.

The Eucharistic celebration and canonization rite had been scheduled for Sunday, April 27, on the Second Sunday of Easter, also celebrated as Divine Mercy Sunday.

Stay tuned with The Concourse for up-to-date news on the events leading to the 9 days mourning period for the Pope and convocation of the Conclave for the election of his Successor