Pope Francis demise newest: Catholic chief died of a stroke and irreversible coronary heart failure, Vatican confirms | EUROtoday

As the Catholic Church enters the “sede vacante”, Cardinal Kevin Farrell is overseeing the Holy See’s administrative and monetary duties in absence of a pope.

Cardinal Farrell was born on 2 September 1947 in Dublin. He grew to become an ordained priest in 1978, serving for nearly 40 years earlier than Francis made him a cardinal in 2016.

He is the Camerlengo of the Church, that means that he’s in cost whereas the conclave takes place.

US president Donald Trump stated he and his spouse Melania Trump will journey to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis.

“Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome. We look forward to being there!” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The US president clashed repeatedly with the pope over their differences on the issue of immigration.

Among other heads of state set to attend were Javier Milei, president of Francis’ native Argentina.

Doctors told Pope Francis that he needed two months’ rest before he returned to work, after he spent more than five weeks in hospital for a bout of double pneumonia.

Despite the orders of doctors, the pope kept working right to the end.

The day before his death, Francis made his first prolonged public appearance since February, as he entered St. Peter’s Square in a white popemobile to greet cheering crowds.

For only the second time since leaving hospital on 23 March, the pope met on Sunday with foreign leaders as he welcomed US vice president JD Vance for a brief encounter.

Vance wrote on X: “I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill”, including: “May God rest his soul.”

He also briefly met with Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenovic and his family on Sunday.

There are currently nine US cardinals who are expected to take part in the 2025 conclave, according to the list of cardinal electors.

They are: Cardinal Robert Prevost, Cardinal Blase J Cupich, Cardinal Timothy M Dolan, Cardinal Robert W McElroy, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Cardinal Wilton Daniel Gregory, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley and Cardinal Raymond Burke.

With US cardinals eligible to vote in the conclave out of 138, the mathematical possibility of the next pope being American is just shy of six per cent.