According to tradition, the camerlengo certifies the pope’s death, seals the papal apartment and breaks the pope’s fisherman’s ring, as a symbol of a vacancy at the Holy See.

An Irish-born American cardinal was entrusted by Pope Francis to be the camerlengo, the Vatican official who runs the Holy See after the death of one pontiff and before the election of another.

According to tradition, the camerlengo certifies the pope’s death, seals the papal apartment and breaks the pope’s fisherman’s ring, as a symbol of a vacancy at the Holy See.