Vatican City, April 5 (AFP): 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.

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

The Vatican yesterday 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.