In pectore

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In pectore (Latin for "in the breast/heart") is a term used in the Roman Catholic Church to refer to the power of the pope to name secret cardinals whose names are not revealed and whose identities are therefore known only to the pope and to God. Cardinals appointed in pectore do not need to be informed of his incardination, although such cases account for only a small fraction of such appointments.

Popes may choose to keep cardinals' identities secret out of consideration for:

The person's personal safety, when they live under regimes hostile to Catholicism, Christianity, or religion in general.
The safety of the person's community, when it is feared that the public naming of a cardinal may lead to discrimination or hostility against Christians in general and/or Catholics in particular.

Among areas where in pectore cardinals are believed in the past to have been named are the People's Republic of China and, before the fall of the Soviet Union and collapse of the Iron Curtain, in central and eastern Europe.

In pectore cardinals are eligible to participate in papal conclaves only if they are publicly named by the pope before his death. If he does not reveal their names, their cardinalate ceases upon the appointing pontiff's death.

Pope John Paul II named four cardinals in pectore, of whom all but one were subsequently revealed:

Ignatius Cardinal Kung Pin-Mei, Bishop of Shanghai, People's Republic of China - made cardinal 1979, revealed 1991, died 2000.
Marian Cardinal Jaworski, Archbishop of Lviv, Ukraine - made cardinal 1998, revealed 2001.
Jānis Cardinal Pujāts of Riga, Latvia - made cardinal 1998, revealed 2001.
The fourth cardinal was created in 2003. John Paul II did not reveal this cardinal's identity prior to his death, or in the 15-page testament he wrote during his papacy and which was released after his death. Consequently, this cardinalate has expired. Some suspect that this "secret Cardinal" was Archbishop Stanisław Dziwisz, a close, longtime friend of John Paul II. However, he was made a cardinal at the March 24, 2006 consistory anyway, as has been announced by Benedict XVI on February 22, 2006. In February 2005, there was also a speculation that the in pectore cardinal was Joseph Werth, a German-born archbishop of Novosibirsk, Russia (See Moscow News article below).

Term usage

Other than its religious meaning and origin, nowadays in pectore is basically used to refer to either something kept hidden or unrevealed or an expected, but still not official, appointment to an office (especially in politics).

External links

[Disclosure of "mystery cardinal" awaited] (Associated Press, 5 April 2005)
[John Paul II's testament fails to reveal secret cardinal, Vatican says] (MSNBC, 6 April 2005)
[In Petto] Catholic Encyclopedia article
[Will the Pope come from Russia?] Moscow News article (in Russian).

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