Between popes, Irish-born American cardinal will run the Holy See

A 2022 photo of Farrell attending an interview with The Associated Press in Rome. Photo: Andrew Medichini/AP

Cardinal Kevin Farrell remembers the day Pope Francis asked him to be the camerlengo, the Vatican official who runs the Holy See after the death of one pope and before the election of another.

They were flying back to Rome from the 2019 World Youth Day in Panama, and Francis popped the question in business class.