Irish-born cardinal entrusted as ‘camerlengo’ running Holy See between popes

Cardinal Kevin Farrell was born in Dublin in 1947 (Paolo Santalucia/AP)

The Vatican official who runs the Holy See after the death of one pope and before the election of another is no-nonsense Irish-born American Cardinal Kevin Farrell.

The 77-year-old, born in Dublin, had only been in Rome for a few years, summoned out of the blue from his job as bishop of Dallas, when he was asked by Pope Francis in 2016 to reorganise the Vatican’s laity office.