Talk:In pectore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Catholicism, which collaborates on articles related to the Roman Catholic Church. To participate, edit this article or visit the project page for details.
Start	This article has been rated as start-Class on the Project's quality scale.
Mid	This article has been rated as mid-importance on the Project's importance scale.

Can someone explain why a Pope would do this? I don't understand what good a Cardinal can do if nobody knows he's a Cardinal. Thanks! FreplySpang (talk) 14:44, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)

This would be done if the place this cardinal was going to work in was a dangerous environment for a Catholic. Such as China, where Catholics (and Christians in general) are not formally tolerated, and the presence of a Cardinal would at least lead to him getting imprisoned (and probably shot). It does say this in the article.

Some of the catholics in the area would know that a secret cardinal had been appointed, although obviously secrecy would be vital, and they would very probably not know his identity.

The cardinal would also then be able to communicate back to the Vatican on the situation for Catholics in that country, and allow the church to work with an increased knowledge on improving tolerance of Catholicism - and Christianity in general - in that country.

Proto 10:21, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Why was the Archbishop of Riga created in pectore in 1998? Has the Latvian government been persecuting Catholics? john k 16:08, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)

As it is not quite clear:

Would *some* in pectore Cardinals know that they have been appointed?

Have there been any cases of problems arising because it is known to the authorities that there is an in pectore cardinal but not who he is?

For those who are into such things, and with a suitable background knowledge, this could provide a useful starting point for some speculative fiction.

Jackiespeel 14:16, 9 September 2005 (UTC)