5 things to know about Cardinal Kevin Farrell, man leading Vatican until a new pope is elected

Lived with cardinal at center of abuse scandal

Farrell lived with Theodore McCarrick, a defrocked cardinal credibly accused of sexually abusing several boys over multiple decades, who died earlier this year.

Farrell served as auxiliary bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington when McCarrick was head of the regional body, with the two sharing an apartment from 2002 to 2006.

McCarrick, who weathered multiple abuse allegations during that time, would eventually move into living quarters at a seminary located in the Washington Archdiocese in 2006.

In July 2018, the Vatican ordered McCarrick to halt his ministry work due to a credible allegation that he assaulted a boy twice, once in 1971 and then again in 1972.

For his part, Farrell said in 2018 that he never had "any reason to suspect" that his former roommate was engaged in such disturbing behavior, reported Catholic News Agency.