The Secret Cardinal

Author’s Note

This novel is a product of the author’s imagination; however, the uneasy relations between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China upon which the story is based are real and remain unresolved as of this writing.

Fact: As a political entity, China has existed in some form for millennia. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) came to power under Mao Zedong in 1949. China is the fourth-largest nation in the world and home to the world’s largest population of 1.3 billion people.

Fact: The significance of the various Popes’ secular power has waxed and waned over the past seventeen centuries, but the line of succession for those who served as Bishop of Rome has remained unbroken since the arrival of the Apostle Peter in 42 A.D. Ruling as an absolute monarch, the Pope is the Sovereign of the State of Vatican City — a landlocked city-state with less than one-eighth the area of New York’s Central Park and a population of slightly more than nine hundred persons. Of far greater importance is the Pope’s role as the spiritual, doctrinal, juridical, and legislative leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Roman Catholics.

Fact: The PRC is officially an atheist nation, and religious belief is considered antisocialist. In the years immediately following the Communist takeover and later, during the Cultural Revolution, the government tried to eradicate religion in China. It failed in both instances. Despite periods of intense persecution, religious faith in China has persevered and, in some instances, flourished.

Fact: Unable to eradicate religion, the PRC government has chosen instead to control the content of the message heard by Chinese faithful. Chinese Christians may only use Bibles printed by the government; foreign versions are illegal. The government also places onerous restrictions on contact between Chinese religious organizations and their foreign counterparts to guard against foreign infiltration under the guise of religion. Ironically, covert agents of China’s Ministry of State Security have been caught in the West posing as priests to cover their espionage activities.

Fact: The political reliability of religious figures in China is more important to the government than their spiritual training. During a visit to Beijing in 2005, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attended a Palm Sunday service in an officially sanctioned church. The pastor’s sermon emphasized how Christ came to Earth not to overthrow a government but the evil in men’s hearts.

Fact: The current constitution of the People’s Republic of China guarantees its citizens the right to religious belief. This right extends only to those faiths recognized by the government: Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Protestantism, and Catholicism. The practice of all other religious faiths in China is illegal. Religious instruction is also not permitted to persons under the age of eighteen.

Fact: Although citizens of China have the right to be Catholics, they cannot be Roman Catholics unless they reside in Hong Kong, which has special rules. Taking a cue from England’s Henry VIII, the PRC government took control of the Catholic Church in China and usurped the authority of the Pope with the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA). Through the CCPA, the government controls the training of priests and the naming of Bishops in China. The Chinese Patriotic Association controls all other recognized religions.

Fact: The freedom to have religious belief in China is not complemented by the right of free association. All churches sanctioned in China must be registered with the government, and membership in these churches is strictly controlled. As a result, religious activities of many faiths are performed illegally in houses or underground churches.

Fact: The government of China deems the practice of religion an internal matter, and foreign interference, either by missionaries or Popes, is not permitted.

Fact: Ties between China and the Holy See dissolved in 1951 following the expulsion of the last Roman Catholic nuncio from Beijing. Presently, the Holy See is one of only a handful of nations to share full diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which the PRC views as interference in the internal affairs of China.

Fact: A majority of the Bishops of the CCPA have reportedly sought and received recognition from the Vatican with no negative consequence from the Chinese government. Until recently, the CCPA elevated new Bishops only after receiving an indication from the Vatican that the candidate was acceptable. This compromise over the naming of Bishops broke down in 2006, and its status remains in doubt.

Fact: Of the estimated forty Bishops of the underground Roman Catholics in China, most are in prison or under house arrest with the remainder in hiding. Most of these Bishops are very old, and they are dying at a rapid rate. The Holy See has not made any new episcopal appointments to the underground Roman Catholic Church in the past decade and many dioceses, including Shanghai, are vacant.

Fact: Roman Catholic Bishops are required to travel to Rome every five years to report on the condition of their diocese. The Chinese government prohibits this activity, and Roman Catholic Bishops and priests are often charged with espionage.

Fact: The Vatican does not possess an intelligence service comparable to the CIA or the Israeli Mossad, or even to one as modest as the one described in this novel. The Holy See receives information primarily through reports filed by its diplomatic corps and from published sources. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Vatican did receive intelligence briefings from the CIA relating to the Solidarity movement in Poland. Anecdotally, the Vatican is considered by many to be the nation most spied upon, yet least capable of spying.

Fact: Diplomatic discussions between China and the Vatican remain stalled over three major issues: recognition of Taiwan, the naming of Bishops, and, most importantly, recognition of the authority of the Pope over the Roman Catholic Church. China demands that the Vatican sever ties with Taiwan as a precondition to further discussions. The Vatican is unlikely to surrender such a valuable bargaining chip for nothing. China further demands that the Vatican refrain from interfering with internal matters, such as the naming of Bishops. Church dogma states that the Pope has final authority in the naming of Bishops.

Fact: Unlike the title of priest or Bishop, the rank of cardinal is not sacramental. Cardinals are primarily assistants and advisers to the Pope, and lay cardinals were permitted until 1918. Since then, with rare exception, only Bishops have been named cardinal. The Pope creates new cardinals by first naming them publicly, then elevating them at a consistory.

Fact: In cases where a Bishop’s life would be endangered, the Pope can name him a cardinal in pectore, keeping the name a secret in his heart. Pope John Paul II did so with long-imprisoned Bishop Kung Pin-Mei of Shanghai in 1979. The Pope revealed his secret cardinal in 1991, but only after Kung was finally released from prison and exiled to the United States.

Fact: When China regained control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997, Cardinal Wu Cheng-Chung became the first Chinese cardinal in the Communist nation. Hong Kong enjoys religious freedoms not permitted in the rest of China, and the aging Wu was allowed to remain. Upon Wu’s death, Beijing made known it would be displeased if the Vatican created another cardinal in Hong Kong. In 2003, Pope John Paul II named his fourth and final secret cardinal.

Fact: In April 2005, Pope John Paul II died and took to his grave the name of his last secret cardinal, though many believe it was Hong Kong’s Bishop Zen Ze-Kiun. One year later, Pope Benedict XVI made Bishop Zen a cardinal, triggering outrage from China. Like Pope John Paul II, Zen is a staunch anti-Communist, and he has taken a strong stand against Beijing’s efforts to rein in the rights and liberties enjoyed by the citizens of Hong Kong. The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association decried Zen’s elevation as ‘a hostile act’ against the government of China.

Fact: Following Zen’s elevation, the CCPA named several new Bishops who were not acceptable to the Vatican — candidates chosen more for their political reliability than their episcopal qualifications. Allegations of kidnapping and forced participation/attendance marred Beijing’s claims that the ordinations were proper. The ordinations garnered worldwide condemnation.

Fact: On June 30,2007, the Vatican posted an open letter on the Vatican web site from the Pope to Catholics in China. The letter expressed the Pope’s desire for greater unity among the official and underground Catholics, for strong ties between the faithful of China and the rest of the Roman Catholic Church, for improved relations between China and the Vatican, and for a dialog on the naming of Bishops in China. In response, China reiterated its stance regarding the Vatican’s diplomatic relations with Taiwan and on interference in China’s internal matters. China also blocked access to the Vatican web site and to domestic web sites that posted the Pope’s letter.

Fact: On September 1,2007, China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs implemented Order No. 5, granting the state sole authority over the reincarnation of Living Buddhas. This formalizes a process started in 1995, when China arrested a boy who had recently been recognized as the reincarnated Panchen Lama, and then installed their own Panchen Lama. Through enforcement of this law, China intends to secure control over the most revered figures in Tibetan Buddhism, including the next Dalai Lama. This effort mirrors China’s control over the naming of Bishops by the CCPA.

Fact: September 9, 2007, Bishop Han Ding Xiang, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Yang Nian in Heibei Province, died in prison. The Bishop spent nearly 35 years of his life in prisons and labor camps or under house arrest, and his whereabouts during his last six years of incarceration were unknown. The cause of the Bishop’s death remains unknown but the circumstances of his death appear suspicious as he died late in the night and was cremated and interred before dawn the next day.

Fact: Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders view the pro-democracy movement and Christianity as the greatest threats to their single-party rule, and they are keenly aware of the Vatican’s role in toppling Soviet communism. They are particularly fearful of someone with the moral authority to challenge the CCP rising up from within China. Cardinal Zen embodies this perceived danger because the charismatic and popular Bishop of Hong Kong is now in a position to become the next Pope.