NationStates Jolt Archive

Bishop Ekerin, of the diocese of Ari, a city in the far northern mountains of Aerion has sent a secret courier to deliver an immediate message to the current leaders in absence of the Pope.

(Courier Letter)
Your Eminences:

I send this message, risking my own life, as well as that of others around me. The state of Catholicism is terrible in Aerion. There are approximately two hundred million Catholics within the country, but they are all spread apart in cells. Mass has been outlawed, as well as most of the Catholic Hierarchy. The Aerion Conference of Bishops cannot even meet together, for each Bishop has been placed under house arrest in our palaces, and the Archbishop who lead the conference was executed by the fascist government we have. The government is slowly stamping out religion of every kind, and this includes Catholicism. We used to have much wider membership until the Divine Emperor took over, and the fascist government seceding him. It is a perilous state of affairs, and I fear for my own life with each passing day. If they knew I was sending this, they would brutally torture, and kill me.

Glory to God,
Bishop Ekerin Erl

:TAG:

OOC: Actually, it might be wiser to send this to me, Belem, Territora or Tordor. The Holy Vatican See is busy, so we'd probably end up dealing with this situation anyway.

While attempting to escape the nation, Bishop Ekerin was captured, and subsequently executed on orders of the Prelacy. He was labeled a traitor, and his body was thrown into a pit with no proper burial ceremony. According to some reports, he was not allowed his last rights. Many other Bishops have feared for their lives, and the secret transmissions from the Catholic leadership in Aerion have stopped.

(OOC: Aerion, was this directed at HVS? If you'd like us to participate in this thread, please TG.)

Archbishop Ignazio Rahner, acting Sostituto for the Interregnum, read Bishop Erl's letter with deep sadness, and requested a moment of Cardinal di Corneliano's time.

"Eminence, we must do something," he insisted.

Di Corneliano's response was anguished. "We cannot, under Canon Law. We have no authority to engage in relations with states during the Interregnum, other than to facilitate the funeral and the Conclave, and to manage the simplest day to day business. It must wait for the new Pope."

Rahner bowed his head. "It may already be too late, Eminence."

The Camerlengo nodded unhappily. "Officially, we can do nothing but pray. Unofficially?" He thought.

"Consult with Guido. If anyone would know how to deal with this unofficially, he will have an idea."

It was no easy matter tracking down the busy Cardinal, who had served as Secretary of State under Sixtus VI, at a time when he could consider the problem. But Gambini had considerable respect for the man who had been his principal subordinate in the Secretariat. He saw him over dinner.

"Di Corneliano is correct, we cannot even officially correspond with these illegitimi," he growled.

"However..." he narrowed his eyes, looking past Rahner. The look the staff of the Secretariat called "the wheels turning."

"Forward the correspondence to Cardinal Ver'Chan, at St. Martha's. He remained here after the Consistory. Cover it with a personal, unofficial note from myself, explaining the Canon Law situation, and suggesting that Aerion's neighbors might wish to look into diplomatic communications on the matter. Let him know that I will be available for informal discussions with him, if he needs them, and ask him to keep the Secretariat updated on the situation."

He smiled thinly. "And pull the Khallaca dossier. I'd like to know the status of Khallaca's relations, if any, with Aerion."

Rahner's eyes widened, but he just nodded, and addressed himself to his linguine.

Ver'chan's eyes widened when he saw the note. "Oh... oh my..." He scrambled over to the phone, and dialled Guido. "Your Eminence... I wonder if this is what I think it is?... Are you... requesting that I send to the Patriarch a request for a crusade to be declared?" The man felt his heart fall into his chest. Leopold won't like that. He won't like that at all. He's already distracted with Zerni, and... still...

Wait. The Romans might not mean that... I've been in Roania for too long, I'm starting to see calls to arms everywhere I look.

...Galdania has no comment. While some people in Galdania would be appalled by not eating the dead (as is Galdanian custom), and could understand the situation, Galdania is VERY anti-Catholic, and will not become involved in the situation.

>tag<

Gambini repressed a sigh. He'd forgotten how--lacking in subtlety--many of his brethren could be. And Ver'Chan was no professional diplomat.

"Not at all, brother," he said, soothingly. "Er... 'diplomatic communications' doesn't usually imply a declaration of war, and in any case, this is not a formal request, since we're not empowered to make one at this time."

"Merely a friendly suggestion that a diplomatic request from Roania for clarification might remind Aerion that they do stand on a world stage, and that world is full of Christians--including Catholic Christians."

Gambini cursed himself silently for not having his Roania dossier handy. There had to be someone of sufficient--dexterity--to understand the action required in a situation like this. He'd have Francis get the Roania materials from Ignazio in the morning.

"After all, my brother, we would like, if possible, to avoid escalating the situation in such a way as to provoke yet more unfortunate loss of life, if possible. Perhaps, if enough of Aerion's neighbors become concerned, the UN might be persuaded to examine the situation."

"Does this help clarify things?" he asked solicitously.

Ver'chan nodded, thankfully. "Thank you, Eminence..."

<=======>

[code:1:be8a650431]TO: Duke Leopold VII von Agua, High Inquisitor of the Holy Roanian Inquisition for the Purity of the Faith
FROM: Cardinal Ver'chan, former Benedictine Abbot.

It appears that Zerni will have to wait. I will be sending a request to the Princess about the Aerion situation. As aide to Patriarch Frasier, I hereby order you to prepare your Inquisitors for a rescue mission of the surviving catholics of Aeriom[/code:1:be8a650431]

Leopold cursed. He would need to contact the Roman Office for the Purity of the Faith, and gain clarification on this order.

Father Garcia sounded both perplexed and apologetic. "Eminence, I know you didn't want to be disturbed, but there's a very strange call..."

Renard sighed. "It's alright, Manuel. I trust your judgement. What is it?"

"It's a Roanian Duke, Eminence. He wants to reach something he's calling the 'Office for the Purity of the Faith.' Is that us?"

The Cardinal who had been Sixtus VI's last Cardinal Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith blinked. "It might have been us five hundred years ago, Manuel." He recalled a brief conversation he'd had with one of his new colleagues, Cardinal Ver'Chan--something about an inquisition. "Sapristi!" he muttered. "Another one... All right, you'd better put him through."

He'd have to talk to Gambini, he realized, about getting Nunciatures established in some of the countries the Church had neglected.

OOC: The HRIPF is the Roanian wing of the Congress of the Doctrine of the Faith, founded something like... 300 years ago, while it was still the Holy Office. Roanians have a lot of respect for people who go around killing things.

Current strength at arms is 1 million. It's not really a monastic order, instead it occasionally serves as the private army of the Roanian Church, and helps deal with situations that the Roanian Central Government can't cope with. It's just *called* an Inquisition. The current administration looks down on actual torturing of heretics, and since the Government exiled the last Protestants, it's a situation that rarely arises.

IC:
Leopold's stern voice appeared on the other end of the line, in perfect Latin. "This is..." he checked his notes. What would my title in Rome be? I need to go there, myself, and cease relying on diplomats and "Grand Master Leopold von Agua of the Martial Order of St. Michael," the words sounded raw in his throat, it hadn't been called that in over 125 years. "Cardinal Ver'chan has sent me a note, and I'd like to clarify it."

He read the text out. "I am hoping that the Papal Nuncio wasn't intending what his Eminence believes him to be, as I am certain there is a way around this that would preclude the use of force. Speaking as a servant of the Church, I applaud his simplicity of faith. Speaking as a noble, I yearn for the days when Cardinal Johannes Richelieu ran the Roanian Church."

OOC: Richelieu was the *previous* administration.

Make of that what you will.

(OOC: A Papal Nuncio is--more or less--an ambassador from the Pope, to a nation or individual. At the moment, Roania doesn't have one, although we are growing increasingly interested in changing that. Gambini is the Secretary of State. We will add a Rota to our Factbook thread one of these days to clarify who the principle chars are...)

Renard listened carefully. Since he hadn't been in on the correspondence between Aerion and the Secretary of State, nor on Gambini's correspondence with Ver'Chan, it was all news to him. But he'd heard disturbing rumors about Aerion, and the note was clear enough.

"His Eminence the Secretary of State deals in diplomacy, your Grace. On occasion, perhaps, he is more subtle than the occasion really demands. However, I can assure you that his communication is most emphatically not a call to arms. Cardinal Ver'Chan's enthusiasm for the Faith is commendable, of course, but his grasp of Doctrine is not very, ah, current. Rome has really been quite remiss in our communications with our colleagues in Roania, so it is hardly surprising. Hopefully the situation will be remedied soon."

"Without consultation with Cardinal Gambini, of course, I cannot presume to clarify on his behalf. However, I can say with considerable confidence that he was referring to diplomatic action rather than military action."

Renard recalled Richelieu with mixed feelings. He always appreciated doctrinal fervor, but Richelieu's methods had been, to say the least, a tad unorthodox. And anything even remotely unorthodox was viewed with suspicion by Renard, who was often called "the Blue Pope" behind his back.

Leopold nodded. "I need something to tell the Patriarch, though, Eminence." He said, his voice regretful. The connection seemed staticky. "He's preparing to call for a crusade on his own."

Renard sighed. "It is an awkward time, your Grace. Technically, we are in an Interregnum. With Peter's See vacant, the Church has no technical authority to which such a matter may be referred. With the Grace of God, in a few days, we will have a new Pope, and then Patriarch Frasier may consult appropriately with Papal authority."

"Without which, I am sure I do not need to remind you," the Cardinal's voice grew a trifle stern, "no Crusade can be validly regarded as an activity on behalf of the Faith."

"It has not been the policy of the Church, for several centuries, to intervene in the temporal affairs of nations--even Catholic nations, and even to rely upon them for the advancement of the Church itself. In fact, it is codified within the Holy Doctrine, in the Encyclicals of Popes dating from Gregory XVI--Commisum Divinitus, for example--to withhold from temporal authorities all jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the advancement of the Faith."

"However, this also implies the obligation on the part of the Church to refrain from assuming jurisdiction over civil authorities in matters pertaining to purely civil affairs--including any state's relations with other states."

"If Roania asserts national interests that require it to, for example, remonstrate with the government of Aerion regarding the persecution of its minorities or intolerance of religious freedom, that is entirely Roania's affair and outside the jurisdiction of the Holy See."

"In the mean time, I suggest that if the Patriarch needs something to occupy his attention, he is very welcome to visit Rome and observe the Coronation of the new Pope, and to remain and discuss his concerns in the Consistory."

"I realize that this is perhaps not the most satisfactory resolution, but in view of our situation here--the Conclave is about to convene, after all--it is the best we can do. But there is always a listening ear and such counsel as we have available for all of our brothers and sisters in Christ."

"Thank you, your eminence... however, I, myself, will be travelling to the Holy City shortly."