The Secret Cardinal

8

Archbishop Sikora entered the chapel to prepare the Pope for an early evening appointment with the cardinal in charge of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State. He carried with him a BlackBerry PDA filled with the Pope’s appointments scheduled several months out.

‘Your Holiness,’ Sikora said as he approached the pontiff.

The lack of an immediate response did not surprise him; the Pope prayed and slept deeply. As he came around the Pope’s chair, Sikora saw the pontiff’s rapt expression and dropped the PDA on the floor.

‘Jedrek,’ Sikora blurted out reflexively

He placed two fingers on the Pope’s neck; the skin felt cool to the touch and he found no pulse. Sikora scooped the PDA off the floor and said a brief prayer of thanks that the device was still functional as he keyed in a call to the Pope’s personal physician.

Donoher entered the papal apartments and went directly to the Pope’s bedroom. In his wake followed the cleric prelates, the secretary and the chancellor of the Apostolic Camera, and the master of papal liturgical celebrations — men in whose presence he was officially to declare the Pope’s death. The supine body of the supreme pontiff lay on the bed dressed in a clean white cassock. Donoher immediately noted the look of blessed serenity on the Pope’s face. Death had been kind.

Nearby stood Archbishop Sikora, the Pope’s physician, and several members of the papal staff.

‘Your Eminence,’ Sikora said, moving to kiss the cardinal’s ring.

‘Michal, please,’ Donoher said, dismissing the polite formality. ‘You found him in his chapel?’

Sikora nodded. He handed Donoher a velvet-lined pouch containing the lead seals of the papal office.

‘That we would all be so fortunate to meet God in a place that brings us great peace.’ Donoher turned to the physician. ‘Have you determined the time and manner of the Holy Father’s passing?’

‘Only that His Holiness died sometime between six and seven o’clock this evening. An area of discoloration on his head suggests the probable cause was a massive cerebral hemorrhage. His death was almost instantaneous.’

Donoher clasped the physician’s hand in both of his own. ‘Doctor, you and your staff have my sincerest gratitude for all you have done to ease his suffering over these past few years. I will pray for you, always.’

‘Grazie, Your Eminence, grazie’

Both the physician and Sikora retreated from the Pope’s bed, merging in with those who had arrived with Donoher. In his first duty as Camerlengo, Donoher approached the bedside of the Pope. He said a silent prayer as he stroked the cheek of his friend, then turned to those assembled.

‘From medieval times to up well into the last century,’ Donoher said solemnly, ‘the cardinal Camerlengo would ascertain the death of the Pope by tapping him on the forehead three times with a silver hammer. After each blow, the Camerlengo would call out the Pope’s given name and ask if he was dead. Universi Dominici Gregis makes no mention of this ancient ritual, and I see no need to further insult the body of this great man. I therefore declare that Pope Leo XIV is truly dead.’

With the greatest respect, Donoher gently lifted the Pope’s right hand and removed the gold fisherman’s ring. As he did so, he recalled the letter the Pope had given him the previous day — likely the last official document sealed with this signet. Donoher placed the ring in the pouch with the seals. In his first meeting with those cardinals present at the Vatican, he would break both symbols of the holy office.

Donoher turned to the chancellor of the Apostolic Camera. ‘Do you have the death certificate?’

‘I do, Your Eminence.’

Donoher accepted the leatherbound folio and motioned for the physician to accompany him into the Pope’s study. Inside the folio was a sheet of pure white vellum inscribed in fluid Latin script with the official pronouncement of the Pope’s death. Donoher and the physician affixed their signatures, completing the ritual.

As he looped the ‘r’ at the end of his name, Donoher suddenly felt the immense weight of his new office. At this moment, he was entrusted with a sacred duty to safeguard and administer all the goods and temporal rights of the Holy See. Until the election of the next Pope, the cardinal Camerlengo was the most powerful man in the Roman Catholic Church.

‘They are ready to prepare the Pope’s body,’ Sikora announced.

‘Doctor, is there any need for further examination?’ Donoher asked.

A minor controversy had erupted following the death of the previous Pope, whose reign had lasted a mere thirty-three days. Those sowing rumors that the Pope might have been murdered cited the quickness with which the late pontiff was embalmed as a sign of a Vatican coverup. Had the truth of the late Pope’s poor health been more widely known among the College of Cardinals, he never would have been elected.

‘The cause of the Pope’s death is clear,’ the doctor avowed.

‘Then I release the Pope’s body for preparation to lie in state.’

After removal of the body from the apartments, Donoher cleared everyone from the papal bedroom and study and sealed the rooms. Those members of the late Pope’s personal staff who resided in the papal apartments would be permitted to remain until the burial. After the funeral, the entire apartment would be sealed until the new Pope was elected.

Donoher moved purposefully as he left the papal apartments. The next few weeks would likely be among the busiest of his entire life; the list of his duties and responsibilities as Camerlengo was immense.

He flipped open his cell phone and dialed the number for the cardinal vicar of Rome. Upon receiving Donoher’s official notification, it would be that man’s unhappy duty to make the special announcement to the people of Rome later this evening. Crews representing news agencies from around the world were already setting up just outside the Vatican walls as rumor of the Pope’s death spread.

By the time he reached his office, Donoher completed his second call — this one to the cardinal archpriest of the Vatican Basilica, setting in motion the preparations for a papal funeral. He pulled out a file received from the previous Camerlengo and ran down the list of tasks requiring his immediate attention. Throughout his life, Donoher had never owned real estate of any kind. Within the next few hours, he would formally take possession of the Apostolic Palace and the palaces of the Lateran and Castel Gandolfo.

And then, Donoher thought, there was the matter of Yin Daoming.