I know, I know, but one can hope, no?
Posted on 04/04/2005 5:37:56 PM PDT by wagglebee
VATICAN CITY – What happens to the mystery cardinal the late Pope John Paul II selected in 2003 but never publicly identified?
Will the world ever find out who was picked?
Vatican watchers wondered Monday whether there was still a way in accordance with Church law for this unidentified "prince of the Church" to take his place among the cardinals and, if he is young enough, vote for the new pope.
When John Paul created new cardinals in 2003, he announced that he was keeping one name secret, or "in pectore," meaning "in the heart." This is a formula that has been used when the pope wants to name a cardinal in a country where the church is oppressed.
Vatican watchers have speculated that the prelate could be from China, where only a state-sanctioned church is recognized.
But Polish Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, 65, John Paul's longtime private secretary who was at his bedside when he died, has also been mentioned as the possible secret cardinal.
The Rev. James Conn, a professor of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, said that if John Paul identified the man in writing in some authenticated document before he died, the man would be a cardinal.
"I think that any means of publishing the name of the cardinal that was previously not revealed, including in some testimonial that was authenticated, would be acceptable," Conn said.
Canon law says only that the pope has to make his name public. But it doesn't say whether that has to be done orally, he said.
Once the name is made public, the cardinal "is bound by the same duties and possesses the same rights" of the other cardinals, including the right to vote for a new pope if he is younger than 80, canon law says.
There are now 117 cardinals eligible to vote in the conclave to elect John Paul's successor.
John Paul has named three other "in pectore" cardinals whose names were later revealed, including Marian Jaworski, archbishop of Lviv, Ukraine, for Catholics who follow the Latin rite, and Janis Pujats of Riga, Latvia.
Both Ukraine and Latvia formerly belonged to the officially atheist Soviet Union.
The third was Ignatius Kung Pin-Mei, an elderly Chinese bishop who spent 30 years in Chinese prisons for defying attempts by China's communist government to control Roman Catholics through the state-run church.
While in prison in 1979, he was named "in pectore" by John Paul in the first group of cardinals named by the pontiff.
His name was made public in 1991, nine years before he died in Connecticut at the age of 98.
Keep up the good work Wal-Mart.These are the people you should be doing business with.
Does the mystery cardinal know he was selected by the Pope?
Make a comment about the topic. Stop jumping other posters.
No. And if the Pope gave no directions to reveal his name, the secret "in pectore" died with him.
Sheesh. Who died and annoited YOU "sinkspur"? Sorry, hall monitor.
Any comments about the cardinal "in pectore"?
I heard the cardinal is Chinese.
And that would be: from ASIA.
As part of her repositioning campaign, I expect Hillary to announce any day now that she is the secret cardinal.
More likely the Whore of Babylon.
You ever read The Bear and The Dragon?
I believe that the Pope liked humor.
Sorry.
Seems unlikely we will ever know:
In Petto
An Italian translation of the Latin in pectore, "in the breast", i.e. in the secret of the heart. It happens, at times, that the pope, after creating some cardinals in consistory, adds that he has appointed one or more additional cardinals, whom he reserves in petto, and whom he will make known later: "alios autem [v.g. duos] in pectore reservamus, arbitrio nostro quandoque declarandos." Until they have been publicly announced these cardinals acquire no rights, and if the pope dies before having declared their names they do not become members of the Sacred College; but when he has proclaimed their elevation at a subsequent consistory, they take rank from the date of their first nomination and receive from that date all the emoluments accruing to their office. This is a method that the popes have sometimes adopted to ensure poor ecclesiastics a competency to meet all the expenses incident to their promotion. At the consistory of 15 March, 1875, Pius IX announced that he was creating and reserving in petto five cardinals, whose names would be found, in case of his death, in a letter annexed to his will. But the canonists having raised serious doubts as to the validity of such a posthumous publication, Pius IX published their names in the consistory of the following 17 September (See CARDINAL.).
Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08025b.htm
I know, I know, but one can hope, no?
Easily the best man for the job.
Absolutely.
If any man has ever been trained for the Pontificate by Providence. It is that man. He speaks five or six languages fluently, He is computer literate, He is 100% orthodox in his Catholicism. He has travelled the world at a pace that is quickly outracing JPII in mileage and He's only 47 years old, I believe.
He has ordered all Mass centers to have Requiems offered for JPII. He is already dealing with a worldwide organization.
I think God has been laying the groundwork for a true restoration. I wonder if he has any association with Olives in his life?
cry me a river
I hope so. The past week has been incredibly demoralizing to see what passes for Catholicism and Catholic "experts" in the world today.
I wonder if he has any association with Olives in his life?
Or Peter the Roman.
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