L'Eglise Aristotelicienne Romaine The Roman and Aristotelic Church

[Nicolino]

The name of the Cellae, was the name of an ancient martyr of the faith. He was an humble deacon, who preached the faith in the times it was a crime against the roman law. He had many enemies, and it was a hard task to grow the seed of the faith in the hearth of the pagans. However, right now, in the city he preached, the capital of the Church stood, and now, the pagan temples, were ruins of the past.

This was, then, a symbol of hope. Nothing was impossible, even after so many sacrifices. Maybe, that could be the same situation in some other countries. And the spanish cardinal didn't want to let the priests of such countries alone in his taks: they were a ligh in the dark, but they needed to know that the Church still had a place for them, that they weren't forgotten.

That's why he invited Vanyar to the Monastery.
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A schism? Just try it. I will strip you of all you have...

[Vanyar]

The old priest enters the study cell in the in his arms the books that his mentor has suggested him to study. He sees a chair and a table near a window. He places the books on the table and looks outside, it is early so everything looks calm and peaceful. He sits down at the chair and opens one of the books. The title is Iusiurandum Societatis Iesu and he starts to read.
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Presbyter & Professor of the Universal and Roman-Aristotelian Church. | Bishop of Ptolemais

[Nicolino]

Nicolás smiled when he saw Vanyar for the first time. Statler had talked about him in the Curia before, but now, he had the opportunity to meet him. When the spaniard saw that the english priest arrived, he told a novice to bring them two jars of beer from Heiligenbronn, the germen abbey well known for their production: it was a donation of the german provincial, Rodrigo, to the Order.

-Would do you like to drink, dear brother? I assume you are thirsty, it's a long way from England to Rome!

He said, as he offered him one of the jars.

-I'm Nicolás Borja, National Elector Cardinal of the hispanic consistory, Chancellor, Duke, and many other things, but it isn't important. The most important fact, is that we are here to support your mission in England, to learn about you, and to help you, if needed.

I know Rome and the Curia have to change many things to become functional to the reality of many countries, not only England, and I would like to hear your suggestions!

Nicolás drank a sip, and then he continued:

-But maybe you could tell me more about the Church of England. When did everything collapsed? Back in time, many years ago, the Church of England was healthy, and there were still bishioprics in our hands. Could you tell me more about the mistakes that lead us to that current status? Did you serve as priest of the roman church since those times?
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A schism? Just try it. I will strip you of all you have...

[Vanyar]

Hearing the words of the Cardinal make the old priest look up from his books. When he sees the Cardinal he smiles, are his eyes deceiving him or is the Cardinal truly bringing him a pint of beer?

A beer, your Eminence, that is so very thoughtful of you!

The old priest listens to the Cardinal when he takes a sip of his beer. Ah, what a nice taste that has. The questions the Cardinal is asking is a complex one, for it is all in the eye of the beholder. How does that saying go again, ah yes, "the truth lies in the middle". Something this old priest knows all too well.

That beer has a fine taste, thank you so much. As you already know, I am Father Vanyar of Southampton and I am also the RP bishop of Portsmouth. It is truly nice to meet you Eminence Nicolás Borja. The question that you ask, is a complex one, but I shall try to give some answers. Now do bare in mind, when this all happened I was just a simple priest in Barnstaple. The only source I had at that time was that what was addressed publicly in Devon and what the people told me when they wrote to me.

This is where Vanyar takes another sip of his beer and tries to collect his thoughts. After all, this all happened a long time ago.

In the old days there where 3 Cardinals that ruled over the English Speaking countries. Darienbalintyne, Syrus Younger and Koolike, with them was a fourth Dutch Cardinal by the name of Leopold (the inactive). These 3 could never agree on anything as far as us of the lower clergy could tell, except for one thing, that was their frustration towards the Curia. Now I have this from hearsay, but according to them the Curia was never concerned with the English speaking countries and usually blocked all ideas that came from these countries.

Koolike from Ireland was the first to start a Church, he did that because he could no longer work with the other two Cardinals. And because he believed that the Curia was on the side of these other two Cardinals. This is also proof of what the 3 Cardinals agreed upon, the Curia did not care! It just allowed an entire country to leave our Church! I was shocked and puzzled! Perplex is what I was.

Father Vanyar gathers his thoughts and thinks about this, why would an institute like the Curia allow something like this to happen?

I would like to add to this, that at that time there was a war going on between Ireland and England. Which made this situation both political and religious. Two reasons why the Curia should have intervened, if you ask me.

Then 6 months later or so, the Pope (the in-game Pope character) started wielding a sword and having in his profile very un-religious quotes. This was protested by the Cardinals at the Curia as well if you ask me (I belief that Teagan and Syrus where doing this), Darienbalentyne was at that time working on becoming King of England (he failed twice before he got elected). Statler was also Cardinal back then, but working in Scotland and trying to get people back from Ireland (which got him killed and sunk his ship a number of times). The frustration of Teagan and Syrus about the Pope and the fact that they where being ignored by the Curia about this made them start working on the Reformed Church.

The wrote a manifesto (that I shall try to locate for you) and 3 out of 4 Archbishops in England signed up right away and started recruiting. From that moment on, it was in less than 3 months that 95% of the English Clergy left. And what did the Curia do? Of course nothing, I belief it was Statler alone that had to revoke all people, but not even a excommunication of Cardinals was done from the Inquisition or Curia (until today many of them still hold Cardinal access, not that I mind, I belief in forgiveness and working together). But seriously, when a King of England dies, the Curia sends a letter - but when the entire body of clergy leaves the Curia does nothing.

The old priest thinks that he is too negative and sarcastic again, so he needs to see something about that as well.

I have the utmost respect for a person that becomes a cardinal. Because it means that this person has shown dedication and devotion to our cause. I respect that and am always pleased to hear that a new person has reached that position. However, I do believe that as an institute the Curia is not paying attention to the world we are living in. That should change, the Curia should have the main concern to keep the flock together and recruit new members. All other things that the Curia does is irrelevant if you ask me. What we see nowadays is new titles of themselves or promotions of family and loyal-friends to honorary positions within the Church. Or more detailed Laws for God know what exception that only happens once in a thousand years.

Again time for a sip of beer, the taste remains good, even after a negative monologue. I'd better stay quiet, maybe the Cardinal wants to ask something for more detail, or maybe he's tired of my whining. One can only guess what goes on in the mind of a Cardinal.
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Presbyter & Professor of the Universal and Roman-Aristotelian Church. | Bishop of Ptolemais

[Nicolino]

Nicolás heard Vanyar's words, and meditated about it for a few minutes. It was a sad story, but someone had to tell it to them. It was also surprising that nobody had noticed in such a long time, that all the efforts of the Curia weren't focused on helping to fix the english situation.

-Now I understand many things...-he said, quietly, and he added- If you have that document, could you give it to me? I would like to read it, so I can understand the other parts too.

However, not everything is lost. If we have at least one priest, at least one believer, there is a seed we can help to grow. And you are here, you replied the call, and you still are a true believer.

Maybe some other people could do as Koolike and come back to the Church, leaving the reformed ones...but as far as I know, they also have problems with the activity. These are dark times for everyone regarding those matters...then, I don't reject to work together if we need it, in an intelligent way, that could lead us to union again.

About the Bishops, as you know, you could get an In Gratibus seat if you have the support of the County, or if the current In Gratibus Bishops is inactive. What's the situation in your County about that? The Assambly should be the one that acts the appointment, and then, there is a procress where the Pope appoints it themself. *

He did a pause, drank a sip of beer, and continued:

-Also, I know the Curia should improve many things. I'm here to offer you to deliver your messages and ideas to them, and defend those ideas if needed. How do you think we could improve it? Of course, the Curia should pay more attention to the islands, but also be eager to delegate on the local priests. If you have any idea to improve the situation, feel free to share it!

HRP: * Admins appoints the Bishops manually. You can change a Bishop with an army, with the support of the County, or if there isn't someone else. Then you could get an IG diocese in England if you want. We can request it for you to the admins, and they should do, no matter the religion. This requests usually follows the wish of an assambly.

And the admins play the Pope's character (it isn't a real person!) so if he is a bit crazy it is the only thing it isn't our fault ^^
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A schism? Just try it. I will strip you of all you have...

[Vanyar]

Listening to the words of the Cardinal and pondering about them. I would love to have a Bishop position IG and be responsible for a diocese and work with Priests on becoming more involved with the religious life in the county. However, our current Bishop Graciebells is well known and respected. So setting her away would most likely result in more unrest. No it is my belief that this should be done in a diplomatic manner, rather than an aggressive way. The diocese of Portsmouth does have two Roman priests and two Reformed Priests, so there should be an opening for a Rome Bishop there as well.

[Vanyar]

Just for your information as well, I noticed that Graciebells the Primate is for the Reformed Church, so she is basically in charge now. The old priest figured that was useful information to share here as well.
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Presbyter & Professor of the Universal and Roman-Aristotelian Church. | Bishop of Ptolemais

[Nicolino]

Nicolás smiled. Questions meant interest in the topic. And as he heard Vanyar talk, he found him a smart cleric. He felt happy to have him in the roman church, because he surely had talent. Then, he started to tell the english priest more about himself...

-Oh, well. My story. I'm from the Borja family, which italian transliteration is "Borgia". I spent my life at the service of the royal houses of the iberian peninsula: I had many secular charges, from Governor (the equivalent to your elective Dukes and counts, heads of the councils), to Judge, Prosecutor, Trade Minister...and now I'm Chancellor, head of the diplomacy of Valencia. A life as noble and statesman.

But I also served the Church during this time, as Greatmaster of Montesa's Order, and after a while, I decided to take the vows. From simple priest, I get to cardinal, with hard work to improve the situation of a chaotic Church. However, charges aren't the spirit of the Church. Many just sit down to accumulate them, but they aren't privileges: they are responsabilities, and they represent, by their own symbols, a condition of service to the Humanity itself, through the path of Faith.

And the Curia. Oh, what would be thinking the Curia about the topic? What have they done all this time? A good question, instead. Nicolás has been focused in the matter since a few months, and he could tell his companion about the situation in the vatican palaces. Surely, it would be important information for Vanyar, since communication wasn't very fluent about these topics usually.

Then, he started to tell him...

-Well, about the actions of the Curia, I must say that thanks to the effort of a small but active group of Cardinals, the debate about the English Church is alive, and the Sacred College is worried and wants to take actions to help you; something that didn't happen in a long time, when they were focused in other affairs.

The Curia even sent a delegation to England. I went with Uter Pendragon to the chambers of the Royal Ambassies, and I had a few words with Patan, the Queen, and a count, Edward. Patan was a charming lady, open to cooperation, the Queen didn't care too much about the faith (I had the impression that don't even the reformed faith) and Edward was a reformed fanatic, a bit too extremist in my humble opinion.

However, we didn't get to any agreement, maybe because we didn' talk with the leaders of the other faiths of England, but with their secular leaders (and not all of them).

One of the ideas that were discussed by the Curia were to create a single Assambly that could include everyone, reformed or roman, to decide about the IG Bishops, and share the common problems, working together, and achieving the union with time enough. As you said, together we are strong, divided we are weak: we all loose if we are away from each other, fighting between ourselves, while the world has bigger problems.

I suppose we already could discusss about that in the Sacred College if the reformed show interest: but a thing is true, we should get consensus about the bishops appointment, and how to share the parishes. Maybe that Primate could be contacted...?

The cardinal looked at the cross in one of the walls for a minute, and he continued:

-Also, I think there are more roman priests in england that we thought. We should bring a bit of order to that. Statler has done a great job, but the eyes of the Church in the Kingdom of England are right now Koolike, you, and my young disciple Beatriz, who could help you if you need it. She found priests from an old age, that didn't know koolike or some important names, but who followed our church!

Maybe we should try to be closer with them, and organise them to rebuild the Church! There are so many things to do...! And we have to be close to everyone, and don't sleep in our palaces, away from the reality!
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A schism? Just try it. I will strip you of all you have...

[Vanyar]

The old priests listens to the words of the Cardinal. It is good to hear where he is coming from. Italy, Vanyar remembers walk through that country once, so many many years ago. It are fond memories and he lets them fill his mind for a moment. Thank you for telling me a little bit about yourself, it is kind of you to tell a little bit about yourself, it is always a good way to get to know someone better. Followed by these words, the old priest thinks about the words he spoke of England and related things. I belief that Patan is a good woman with her heart on the right place, our Queen Aggness is a royal pain in the behind (ass), she is blunt and cares only about one thing, which is absolute power. He loyal lapdog (Edwardd) is not much better than that and he has a mediocre position in life and in the Reformed Church. The Queen cared about the Reformed church when the election was there. But once the votes where counted, that was all gone as well. The Reformed Church is very disappointed about that, they no longer have the ear of the Queen, which is a gain to us if you ask me. Then the priest takes a moment to think about the things the Cardinal said about the Church. He is happy to hear somethings and nods at them, however he feels some things he needs to say as well. I too am in contact with some of the older Clergy in England, his Eminence Lordruce, Apocas and Dainsleif have been in contact with me. Some of them live like I in Southampton and they are all in Devon. So it is nice to them to write me a short letter every now and then. I am curious about Beatriz, because I haven't seen her before earlier this week.
Please don't underestimate what Eminence Statler did for us. He worked so hard to keep us together, while at that time England and Scotland where at war and he had to fight a battle on two sides, both religious and temporal, needless to say that the Reformed Church used the war to their advantage to get rid of more Roman influence in England. I know that Statler is sometimes tired of the Curia and I know he had great difficulty there. But with the new Camerlengo things may change on that part. But I don't know because I haven't spoken to him the past 2 weeks.
I hope that I can continue to serve our Church.
_________________

Presbyter & Professor of the Universal and Roman-Aristotelian Church. | Bishop of Ptolemais

[Nicolino]

The Cardinal laughed when he heard the words of the priest about the royal people in his meeting. He didn't dare to say the same before, but his thoughts were the same. Surely, Vanyar was a very honest person too, and Nicolás was glad to see he trusted him.

Then, the spaniard became more serious when he talked about Statler, a cleric he had the pleasure to meet in the Curia.

-I never underestimated him, in fact, Statler has acted as the cornerstone of the Faith in the islands. Some cardinals even raised their voices against him in the past, but I can say I weren't between them, and I really appreciate the hard work that everyone is doing in England, even with the difficulties.

Also, Statler has guided the Scottish Church, and I'm glad to see this one remains loyal to our ideals. Now some changes are going on by inside the Sacred College, and I can say he is respected, and we hope he continues his work for a long time. Our Camerlengo Rehael, the most important figure after His Holiness the Pope, trusts a lot in Statler. Though not a Jesuit as other cardinals like Hull, Rodrigo, Chiluvia, Bartosz, Palladio and me, he shares our point of view about many of the problems of the Church.

And of course, we still are free-thinkers, so sometimes there can be differences in our Order, but we all try to work for a better Church and a better world.

He did a pause, and he took a breath. It was an interesting conversation, and he learnt a lot of things about the life in England. He decided to continue, trying to reach some conclusions...

-Then...as I see, there are many clerics in the Kingdom of England, and the number is increasing. Then we just need the Bishops to get them organized, and give more life to the Episcopal Assambly!

About Beatriz, she was part of the English diplomacy, and I met her long time ago, before she lived in England. I convinced her to help the Church and become priestess. She wasn't very close to the religious affairs before, but she is enthusiastic and learns fasts.

So...do you think we could have a conversation about our common interests with the Reformed Church? I mantain my idea to create an Ecumenical Concile, or something that could lead us to get a single Assambly to decide about the bishops and parishes, working together.

But there was a single question left...

...And do you think you are ready to take your Oath as jesuit?-he added.
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A schism? Just try it. I will strip you of all you have...

[Vanyar]

Vanyar Listens to the words of the Cardinal, as always they are interesting and entertaining. Thank you, your Eminence for explaining the things to me. However the progress in England is a very slow progress. Of course having an active order will be very important. So I hope that this will be organized very soon. [/b]The old man pauzes here and ponders for a moment about the Jesuit. To be honest I have not given the order much thought lately. It is still difficult for me to see what they are about and what part of the Church they do differently or maybe have a better focus on. So before I can answer that, I have to study them in greater detail.


I have just retruned from my vacation for 6 weeks, that is why you haven't heard from me before.
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Presbyter & Professor of the Universal and Roman-Aristotelian Church. | Bishop of Ptolemais

[Nicolino]

Nicolás remembered his first times in Rome. Once, he felt really lost in such a big city with lots of buildings and streets, palaces and secret corridors. He took years to learn all what he knew about the city and its misteries, and about the work of the Congregations.

-Well, Brother, the Church has 5 main Congregations:

The Congregation of Evangelization of the People, that tries to expand the faith and that is in charge of the chapels, the religious Orders, the religious education and the pilgrimage, among other things...some of them very interesting, like the exorcism.

The Congregation of the Causes of Saints, that is mainly theological: here the Dogme is recovered, the hagiographies of the saints are written, and the doctrine is born.

The Congregation of the Holy Armies, that includes all the military-religious Orders like the Templars, the Order of Santiago, the Teutonic Order or the Order of Montesa. It also includes other holy armies like the Episcopal Guard, that is the regular army of the Church. Together, they escort the pilgrims, defend our holy places and coordinates the crusades.

The Apostolic Nunciature, that is our diplomacy in the world. It signes the Concordates, that are a kind of treaties between the kingdoms and our Church, and it negociates the peace.

The Holy Inquisition, that has a very complex system of tribunals, and is, in short words, the justice of the Church. It isn't so much about witch hunting these days, and more about laws.

We also have the Chancellery, that usually drafts the canon law and has the heraldry and the registries in their hands. It isn't a congregation, but it works like one.

He smiled, and then he continued:

-And the religious Orders...they are more a matter of pertenence. Each one have their own values and idiosyncracy, they way to see the world, share by their members. They have their goals, their abbeys, their interests and internal ranks. It is in a great part a matter of pertenence and friendship.

We are just one of a lot of Orders, each one different from each other. You can learn everything you want about us, and we can teach you all what we know. As always, I am at your service.
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A schism? Just try it. I will strip you of all you have...