By Currents News Staff
Since the death of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran in early July, the Camerlengo position has been vacant, but that is no longer the case. The Camerlengo certifies and announces the death of the Pope to the public and destroys his ring, so no new Vatican documents can be falsified with his seal.
Pope Francis named Cardinal Kevin Farrell the new Camerlengo. He’s currently the Prefect for the Dicastery of Laity, Family and Life.
Cardinal Farrell told Currents News about the moment he first heard the announcement, saying “I was shocked. I was surprised. I, you know, told the Holy Father that, ‘Yeah, I’d accept, but on one condition – that he speak at my funeral.’ So what can I say? To be quite honest with you, I have never thought of anything like this. “
All joking aside, he presumes the nomination at this point in time is not significant of health problems with Pope Francis, but rather a task the Holy Father hadn’t gotten around to doing.
“I guess somebody put a piece of paper in front of the Holy Father sometime recently and said to him, ‘Holy Father, you have to name a Camerlengo. It’s part of the structure of the Church,’” Cardinal Farrell said, “I’m sure he said, ‘Oh, yeah, you better get me a list of all the Cardinals.’”
Upon the Pope’s death, Cardinal Farrell will be the Vatican City Head of State until a new pope is elected, informing the College of Cardinals on news the Pope normally would receive. While the Camerlengo role isn’t very demanding on a daily basis, it is historical, dating all the way back to 1147. Now in 2019, we have Cardinal Kevin Farrell.