L'Eglise Aristotelicienne Romaine The Roman and Aristotelic Church

[Fenice]

Brother Kalixtus, everything you say is right, but there is a big ‘but’.

All these activities that you list would have made sense and would have been feasible years ago, when this world of ours was vibrant, and all public meeting and gathering places were full of active people.
Maybe where you live there are still political debates or cultural occasions, parties and celebrations, but in many other places there are no more.
It would take an enormous amount of time and energy to stir up the stagnant waters.

Let us reflect on one fact: heretics and enemies of the Church are few in number, but they speak loudly and make tempting promises... we are even fewer in number, we are meek and our promises concern the post-mortem.

Once we were numerous and could act as a driving team. Now each one of us is alone. and to fight alone is really difficult.

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[Kalixtus]

If you say act as a team - what exactly do you have in mind what we as team should do excluded from what I say.

Maybe there is something even I can't see.

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[Urbain_mastiggia]

Urbain was torn between the two points of view.


- If I follow what the Dogma says, then all rulers, kings and other counts and dukes, must have been generals emeritus in order to attain their office and priesthood. But if this is the ideal to which Aristotle invites us to aspire, we also have to come to terms with earthly realities. I'm a very bad politician, because I'm not interested in the politics of men, and I can't handle a gun. I prefer to watch over the decisions they make, but I'm not interested in political parties or politics in general. I start from the principle that we must love all mankind, and that our pastoral duty must involve concrete action, whether in halls, gargotes or taverns, for example. Our only weapon is our Faith. As such, our decisions must be heard, but above all listened to, and I believe that on a diocesan or parish scale, priests can and must participate in the development of the faith and the community of the faithful by all the means at their disposal within the framework of their Faith. We are not politicians, we are above all that, and it is by being united and accompanied, for example by the Episcopal Assemblies, the Pontifical Consistories and the Sacred College, that we can have an influence on a macro scale and through the work of priests and their auxiliaries an influence on a micro scale. Our duty here is to guide priests.

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[Kalixtus]

"There are quite a lot of strange things in your post, dear Urbain.

If we are not political beings but merely theological-pastoral beings who hover around the macro level like ghosts over a cemetery, then we should shut down the Vatican, wall off Rome, hand over the Papal State to the Empire and Sicily, and henceforth operate as a monastery.

For that is what you are saying — that we should concern ourselves only with faith, the holy texts, and ensuring that the priests dutifully do what the religious authorities desire.

You say you dislike politics and therefore don’t engage with it — in my opinion, this contradicts dogma.

Politics is the framework through which society is shaped, whether in cities, communities, or states.

We are meant to participate in this, directly, for reclusiveness is considered forbidden.

We must be among the people, which inevitably means we are also in politics, even if only as a critical voice — to critique, comment on, and place limits on politics.

But to do so requires engaging with politics, with politicians, with states, institutions, citizens, and systems.

If you take the mission seriously, then you have no choice.

I do not consider myself a politician merely because I engage in political interactions. A believer who says 'Amen' in church does not thereby become a priest.

In Aristotle’s vision, it was priest-kings who ultimately ruled the ideal golden city. This reflects a dogmatic necessity to engage with politics and the state.

If you prefer the cloister, you are free to choose it and become a regular cleric, then you will partake in a much more limited portion of society.

As a cardinal, if you have the power to shape the continent through your decisions, I expect you to be aware of the political and societal dimensions, for everything we decide has repercussions, most directly on politics and governance."

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[Fenice]

I think, Brother Kalixtus, that we should be active on two levels.
One is the local level, where each of us, according to the situation of the area in which we live, should carry out our pastoral duties and, if possible, also be active in the local community.
The other level is that of the Church as an institution. This does not mean, however, publishing occasional announcements or making some royal coronation when we are asked to do so.
The Church as an institution should build and disseminate a coherent group narrative, where coherence should first and foremost be about the identity we want to have: are we a Church that punishes heretics? If we are, then we must find a way to fight and make this attractive.
Are we a Church that forgives and welcomes? Then we must be persuasive. Until we have not a group identity and show it through words, actions, behaviour, events, we will become increasingly irrelevant.
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[Adonnis]

I agree with the distance the Empire has taken from the Faith, but I strongly disagree that the Sacred College is to blame for this.

In the same way that I see Castille today being inexplicably influenced by Hermerico, I also see the Empire, not now, but a long time ago, both by its Emperors and a large part of the Regents being influenced by Raphael who only wanted to mold the Empire and its Laws to his personal and particular ambitions.

The so-called unpopularity of our decisions only served as an evasive and laconic pretext to justify what he wanted to do.

His almost demonic ability to speak into the ears of Emperors and Regents and convince them is, on the other hand, unknown to me.

But I agree with Kalixtus when he says that we contribute to the current status quo by being inactive.

I think that, as I said about the situation in Castile, we should resume active proselytizing and political participation, not just by standing as a candidate, but also by seeking to approach the political class for advice.

This is the path we can take, if we cannot impose our will by war.

Although the Dean's interpretation of the Dogma's teachings is very coherent, my interpretation rests on the side that says we have to take an active part in politics, which can happen not only by standing as a candidate, but also by approaching and advising those in power.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: participation in politics can come through standing for secular office, but that's not all. Although I have participated in secular governments in Portugal over the years, even when I was away I tried to stay close to and advise those in power, like a priest and a friend.

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.....Cardinal-Presbyter of Saint Anthony of the Portuguese / Grand Audiencier of the Holy See / General Inquisitor of Portugal
...............Primate of Portugal / Metropolitan Archbishop of Braga / Bishop of Vila Real / Duke of Monte Real

[Kalixtus]

Thank you Adonnis. I was sure, you can see what I can see.

We are advisers, but we have direct opponents that have their own visions and ideas. We are in a competition of ideologies across the continent.

If we are not strong together and present as a whole - not only the SC than we will lose it step by step.

I don't blame the SC for the situations - I will say, that we all need to be active and interwoven in our duties locally as direct and loud advisers of seculars.

The result we have these days is based on the reduction of being loud and noisy and present.

If it is true what you say, Sister Fenice and Brother Urbain, and only a few heretics are loud, then I ask why we aren't louder and more direct and more obvious than the heretics.

Why we are so silent and observing.

The idea, that time will help us to gain our victory, is over.

The idea, that we are forgiving at all costs, are over.

The idea, that we can be silent and ignoring towards what happen in the secular world is finally over.

If we are not changing our philosophy of doing things, we all will witness the end of the Church and the end of Rome soon.

If we are not remembering how the clerics of the past, some of them are blessed ones some are saints, act and react than you will never understand how it works with the people.

The whole book of hagiography is full of hardworking, strong and loud clerics who fought for this church - successfully.

I see too many clerics resting behind the walls of Rome, their palaces and cathedrals and reducing their action heroically to pastoral work and even that not actively by being present, just passively by being existent. People need to find and research instead of getting found and embraced. This is a shame.

The pastoral work is the foundation of a clerical life - it is their duty, but it is not enough to defend Church and Faith - it is the start not the final of our duties.

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[Fenice]

Actually, what we are saying is not the opposite of each other.
I am simply saying that fighting alone is useless, so we should learn what we have never known and never wanted to do: to act as a team and not individually.
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[Kalixtus]

I agree with you, Sister. Nothing can be done alone - everyone is a part in that construction, and everyone is needed.

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