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Cardinal Kelvin Farrell, Acting Pope<\/p><\/div>\n
As Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal Farrell now oversees the day-to-day administration of the Vatican.<\/p>\n
In this vital role, he is tasked with ensuring the continued functioning of the Apostolic See until the College of Cardinals convenes in a conclave to elect a new pope.<\/p>\n
Cardinal Farrell, 77, is a seasoned Church leader with decades of experience. Born in Dublin, Ireland, and now a naturalized U.S. citizen, he previously served as the Bishop of Dallas before being appointed to key roles within the Vatican. He is also academically accomplished, holding a Master of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame.<\/p>\n
His appointment as interim leader brings both continuity and stability to the global Church as preparations begin for the historic task of selecting a new pontiff.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile contrary to\u00a0 Pope Francis outlined wishes for a modest burial, the funeral for a Pope is no simple matter. It will likely take weeks to choose a new pontiff.<\/p>\n
In life, Pope Francis shunned the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City in favor of a modest apartment.<\/p>\n
In death, too, he disdained ornateness, directing the church to inter him in a single coffin instead of the traditional nested trio.<\/p>\n
But a funeral for a pope \u2014 which is set for Saturday at 10 a.m. \u2014 is never a simple matter.<\/p>\n
On Monday, within hours of the announcement that Francis had died at age 88, cardinals around the world began heading to the Vatican to bury the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and prepare for the task of choosing his successor.<\/p>\n
Summoned to Rome by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, they had their first meeting Tuesday morning at the synod hall.<\/p>\n
The cardinals decided that Francis\u2019 remains should be moved on Wednesday to St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, where they will be on view before his funeral there, the Vatican said.<\/p>\n
The entombment of a pope generally takes place four to six days after his death, with the funeral rites and the elaborate rituals attending them lasting about nine days.<\/p>\n
If burying a Pope is complicated, choosing a new one is still more so \u2014 though the heart of the process takes place behind closed doors.<\/p>\n
Cardinals under the age of 80 have a vote, meaning that 135 men will soon begin making a decision that will shape the future of a church with 1.3 billion adherents around the world.<\/p>\n
The conclave, as it is called, begins sometime after the funeral rites are over.<\/p>\n
Political and religious leaders from around the globe are expected to attend the funeral service, but they may little resemble those who were in power when the Argentine-born prelate took the papal throne in 2013.<\/p>\n
Some will be leaders he confronted over their treatment of the downtrodden, especially migrants.<\/p>\n
President Trump, who was one of them, says he plans to attend (adding another wrinkle for Vatican planners, given the size of the president\u2019s entourage).<\/p>\n
This is likely to be Mr. Trump\u2019s first overseas trip since he assumed office.<\/p>\n
Twelve years ago, the new pope could look at a world where at least some kindred spirits held positions of power.<\/p>\n
But that world has changed with remarkable speed.<\/p>\n
Progressive politicians have fallen from favor, authoritarian ones have taken their place, and, by the end of his time, Francis was a lonely voice.<\/p>\n
Now, within the church itself, conservatives forces, never resigned to the liberalizing tendencies of their pope, see a chance for a reset.<\/p>\n
The question is whether the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church will reflect a changing world \u2014 or try, like Francis, to redirect it. (NYT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following the death of Pope Francis on Monday, the Vatican has announced that Cardinal Kevin Farrell stepped in as the interim head of the Catholic Church, marking the beginning of the interregnum\u2014the period between the death of a pope and the election of his successor. As Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal Farrell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2320,2323,2322,2321],"class_list":["post-3588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion","tag-apostolic","tag-authoritarian","tag-conservatives","tag-palace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3588"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3613,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3588\/revisions\/3613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}