Pope will take a secret to the grave!

The identity of the last cardinal the late pontiff named in '03 will be lost forever.

Pope John Paul II will take a secret to the grave when he is buried on Friday —the identity of the last cardinal he named in 2003, which he said at the time he wanted to keep close to his heart.

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In Vatican parlance, that secrecy is known as "in pectore". In layman's terms, it means 'nobody else knows'.

The Vatican on Monday said that the Pope had left no special instructions to his successor about the identity of the cardinal. Not even the new cardinal knows, and as the Pope is now dead, the honour that was his to bestow could have died with him.

Some Vatican watchers suspect that he may have left a note identifying his choice, who, once named by the Vatican, would automatically join the College of Cardinals which will elect his successor.

The mystery stems from October 2003 when John Paul II nominated 31 cardinals at a consistory, which coincided with the 25th anniversary of his election as Pope, saying he was keeping the identity of one a secret, without revealing why.

Appointing an "in pectore" cardinal is usually done when to reveal his name could expose the new cardinal to personal risk, particularly if living in a country where the Church is oppressed. This was sometimes done during the Cold War to protect bishops in communist eastern Europe.

Most speculation at the Vatican about the identity of his chosen cardinal has centred around three archbishops, two of whom fit the profile of living in a country where the Church is experiencing difficulties.