NationStates Jolt Archive

This thread is established to provide basic information about the Holy Vatican See for roleplaying purposes. We begin with a caveat:

We do not demand to be "THE ONLY" Catholic Church for all the multiverses of NS--there are players who prefer to relate to other "Catholic Churches" and that is fine.

However, if players DO choose to recognize HVS as "The Church" we'll expect you to act the way you would to the RL Church. We're willing to be somewhat fluid about how players recognizing this Church interact with nations recognizing other "Catholic Churches," as long as it doesn't pose too much anomaly in the role play.

This is the Holy Catholic Church as founded by Peter upon the death of our Lord, Jesus Christ, with an unbroken Apostolic Succession from Peter through the current Pope, Leo XIV, elected in Conclave by Cardinals from various NS players in April of 2004 RL time.

We intend to play this nation very much the way the RL Church operates. You don't see the RL Church handing out reams of ex Cathedra pronouncements, declaring Crusades and Inquisitions, loudly excommunicating or anathematizing scores of people, etc. On the other hand, you DO see the Church simply refusing to recognize or lend its sanction to the more bizarro manifestations and perversions of doctrine, quietly slapping an internal gag on the more wacko advocates of extremist interpretations of doctrine, etc.

This Church will continue to tread the same line the RL Church is treading between the various factions within militating for liberalization or returns to more conservative interpretations, between the church's internal spiritual responsibilities and the external temporal moral leadership required to actualize our Faith. We can see many interesting opportunities for internal/external politics creating fascinating RPs and taking the future development of the church in some surprising directions, but those directions will proceed in a natural flow from real doctrine as influenced by the RP'd events.

The RL Church studiously avoids intervention into the politics of sovereign nations, and so will this Church. That is not to say that we won't exhort the Faithful to act within the appropriate temporal parameters of their nation's politics to actualize the Christian principles of Faith, but it will be couched as the RL Church couches such exhortation-- that individual Catholics, acting lawfully as citizens of their nations, follow the dictates of their consciences and the teachings of the Church in political affairs.

As regards overtly Catholic nations, this Church will, again, interact with them the way the RL Church interacts with RL Catholic nations-- that is, they will not meddle overtly with political affairs, and will exert the influence of the Church through assisting the individuals who profess our Faith with spiritual, rather than temporal, guidance. (You don't see the RL Holy Father excommunicating the entire political leadership of Ireland just because they finally got around to recognizing civil divorce, do you?)

In short, the RL Church is a spiritual, rather than a temporal, authority, and this Church will be played on that same assumption. The only temporal authority we assume is over the precincts of the Holy Vatican See and the established Institutions of the Church.

And no, there IS NO INQUISITION, and this Church will not recognize any such institution as valid. Questions of doctrine, interpretation, etc. should be submitted to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which will reprove doctrines opposed to the principles of the faith after the interested Bishops of a region have been heard.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith also examines whatever concerns "the privilege of the faith" whether in law and in fact. It is competent to pass judgement on errors about the faith according to the norms of an ordinary process. It safeguards the dignity of the sacrament of Penance. It will proceed administratively or judicially according to the nature of the question to be treated, with the usual level of deliberation. (Meaning, not by tomorrow afternoon at 3:00, that's for sure. What's an aeon or two to an Eternal Church?)

So please, if you're RPing some version of Catholicism that involves fire-breathing Inquisitors hiding under every bed and torturing unbelievers, holding public burnings or shrieking witch hunts over the airwaves, remain in some other multiverse unless you want your Church to be an acknowledged separate "Catholic Church" outside the Communion, such as the Coptic Church, the Anglican Communion, etc.

On the other hand, if you're well within current RL doctrine with just a few minor twists, you may want to establish the Church of your nation within the Communion as a "Variant Church" with its own name, similar to the Churches of Oriental Rite in RL. In fact, we are renaming the RL Church's Congregation for the Oriental Churches, and calling it the Congregation for the Variant Churches. Please consult by TG to discuss this, and do your homework--Google around a little to see how the Oriental Churches relate to the Latin Rite Church, how their Liturgies work, etc. Have a realistic plan.

The most basic information about the HVS "nation" can be found here:

http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2692371#2692371
(link to our FactBook entry)

We'll be adding to this thread from time to time, helpful information for anyone wanting to RP with HVS.

Authority in the Church: How it Works

The Church is a huge entity that spans both time and space as we know them, and (of course) Eternity itself. Within the confines of the time/space continuum we are equipped to perceive, the Church is a highly-organized institution that both transcends and embraces the divisions of nations, regions, and peoples.

Here is how the hierarchy of authority works, within the Church:

The Pope
In theory, the Pope is at the top and what he says goes and he can overrule anybody or anything else and if he decides to speak "ex cathedra," he's infallible and no one can argue and that's the last word on the subject. In practice, he's closely constrained by tradition, by the size and weight of the bureaucracy that surrounds him, and by the considerations of realpolitik in a world where Catholicism has plenty of competition. Popes almost NEVER speak "ex cathedra"--the last time was in 1950 and regarded the Assumption of the Virgin. However, in spite of, (or perhaps *because* of,) the restraint with which Pontiffs have used supreme authority, they still wield enormous moral authority throughout the Church. In addition, they are, in effect, the combined Chairman of the Board and CEO for the "corporation" of all Catholic clergy. They cannot supervise every priest, monsignor, bishop, etc., personally, due to the sheer volume, but when they do choose to 'supervise,' that supervision overrides all normal chains-of-command.

The Synod of Bishops
After the Pope, in technical Ecclesiastical authority, comes the Synod of Bishops, which is all the Latin Rite Catholic bishops in the world, meeting in a body, nominally under Papal supervision and only with Papal consent. The Synod is more or less the "national legislature," if you want to think of it that way. However, it meets only ever few years, and in the mean time its business is done in Rome by the General Secretariat of the Synod, which is elected by the whole Synod.

Episcopal Conferences
Next comes the regional Episcopal Conferences authorized by the Pope and the Synod. In practice most of the "regions" are nations, but in a few cases they are multi-national. Think of these as "state/provincial government," of the Church, roughly. They actually exercise considerable autonomy over the Church affairs of their region, they elect their own Presidents and other officers, and they are charged with the well-being of all the diocese and churches in their regions. Each substantially-sized nation can be assumed to have its own Episcopal Conference, and the President of that Conference is, de facto, the highest Church authority for the Catholic Church in that nation, under the Synod and the Pope.

Individual Bishops
Bishops are assigned to individual diocese. All Latin Rite (“regular Catholic”) Bishops must be personally chosen and ordained by the Pope. The “home parish” of the bishop within each diocese becomes the Cathedral Church for that diocese. Diocese are grouped into provinces, and the chief bishop of a province is the Archbishop. The diocese and provinces of the Church do not necessarily have a strict relation to political boundaries within a nation or a state, but often they do. Within their own diocese, a bishop has supreme authority to ordain priests, to assign them to or remove them from parishes, and to otherwise govern the temporal affairs of the diocese.

Cardinals
Where do Cardinals fit in? The College of Cardinals actually has NO ECCLESIASTICAL AUTHORITY at all, as a body, to do anything other than elect the Pope. However, they fulfill all the "Cabinet" functions of the Church. All Cardinals are also bishops, and most of them are still in active pastoral supervision of a diocese somewhere, usually large, important diocese. They tend to get elected President of their Ecclesiastical Conferences a lot, but it's a chicken/egg thing-- do they get elevated to Cardinal because of their leadership in the Conference, or does the Conference elect them because of their elevation? It differs from place to place.

Technically, the whole College of Cardinals acts as the Pope's "privy council," or Cabinet, but in fact it is usually only the Cardinals appointed to Curial offices in Rome that form his regular Counselors. They wield their authority through their Dicasteries--the curial offices like the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Secretariat of State, the Congregation for Bishops, the Congregation for the Variant (in RL Oriental, but for NS RP purposes we're just saying "variant") Churches, etc.

Patriarchs
Variant (in RL “Oriental”) Churches are governed by “Patriarchs.” Patriarchs are empowered to ordain their own bishops, and the bishops of that church are responsible to their Patriarch. Only the Patriarch is directly subject to the authority of the Pope, and he has fairly wide latitude in governing his Church. Patriarchs are frequently also Cardinals of the Church. They may also dispense bishops under their authority to become Cardinals of the Church; if this is done, the Cardinal’s primary responsibility becomes to the Pope, rather than to their Patriarch.

More About Cardinals, in Particular...

http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=139068

Nunciatures

A "Nunciature" is just the fancy Vatican way of saying an "Embassy." A "Papal Nuncio" is an Ambassador.

Establishing a Nunciature is the equivalent of two things; one is opening formal diplomatic relations with a nation (the Vatican is, after all, a sovereign nation in itself, so this is its international diplomacy;) and the other is providing the clergy and faithful of that nation with a way of connecting ‘directly’ with Rome.

The upside of this is clear and formal government-to-government communications, and an opportunity for the faithful of a country to feel like a higher priority to Rome--after all, it's an expenditure of time and money, and the presence of the Pope's personally designated representative on their soil indicates they have sufficient importance to rate that kind of direct attention.

On the down side, it's a little like a franchisee, as it were, suddenly having the corporate HQ send a representative to take up an office in "their" store. Anti-Catholic or anti-clerical governments with a historical distrust of the Church can go all goosebumpy thinking about the days when Popes made and unmade Kings, etc.

And in spite of "official" policy, it would be silly to deny that the Church does interest itself in the politics of nations-- look at all the "Christian Democratic Socialist" parties in places like Spain, Italy, France, etc., that keep a toehold for the Church in the nation's policymaking. And in the Central and South American countries the Church's Nuncios and their diplomacy have sometimes made them a real thorn in the side to military strongman dictators who want them to stop whining about treating workers better, etc.

However, it's all second-hand, as it were, on the nation-to-nation basis.

The place where it gets really interesting is intra-Church politics. Many Ecclesiastical Conferences (essentially, the Council of Bishops of all the diocese with a nation, which sets policy and reviews all the Church's actions within that nation) don't want a rep. from Rome looking over their shoulders. On the other hand, some feel that a Nuncio is a valuable tool for THEM to influence and manipulate and carry their water to Rome for them.

Papal Encyclicals

Papal Encyclicals are "official" letters of the Pope to the bishops and others with authority in the church. They speak officially to matters of Church doctrine and policy, and as such are very important documents.

Popes also write Apostolic Letters, Exhortations, and Constitutions for various purposes, usually a little more transitory and less policy-oriented than the Encyclicals.

This post is here for the purpose of keeping a list of links to Papal Encyclicals

Magna Opus Dei:
http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3038269#3038269

I do not agree with the Catholic Religion, but that's just me, I am a Protestant. So I will not listen to you.

er... fine, GHI. Noted.

>also a TAG<

It is good that you understand.

About 15% of our citizens are Catholic; the rest are either Eastern Orthodox or Muslims.

Not enough for a nunciature, eh?

Cardinal Brown TAGS this thread as Holy.

90% of my people are Protestants, 5% are Muslim and another 5% are Orthodox Christians. Not Orthodox Jews. This is the way I like it.

A few questions for you on certain matters, which I think are sort-of unique to the NS world.

Firstly, 'Catholic' Churches which do not follow the same ideals as the See (inquisitions, burnings, the rich are more loved by God than the poor, etc.) but still claim to be Roman Catholic churches. Is your first post stating that such churches should simply remove themselves from your Catholic Church (the one spiritually centered on the Holy Vatican See)? What if a nation acts against the ideals of your Church, but still claims, IC, to be part of it? With the See RP an attempt to change that church, accept it without protest, or OOC ignore its claims of inclusion within your Church?

Secondly, nations which are Catholic theocracies, or nations who derive their goverment policy from spiritual roots... how would the Pope treat such states?

<tag>

If eone says tag again I will get VERY angry.

But it's too useful a reference thread not to tag! :wink:

Spyr: Fair questions, we’ll do our best.

We don’t so much ask that they remove themselves from “the Catholic Church,” as from the Catholic Church in the multiverse that HVS occupies. We’re sure that in some other multiverse there is “a Catholic Church” that is happily burning heretics and hunting witches and otherwise engaging in high operatic drama with a black moustache and swirling cape (or maybe it should be “swirling cassock…”) Nations whose storylines depend on such a Church should find (or heck, even create) that one and RP with it.

A nation that acts against the doctrines of the Holy Vatican See, but claims to be in Communion with us, might have several motivations. We’d probably TG such a nation to see what kind of story arc they had in mind to RP. Either they can go with a process of reform, or they can undergo the same kind of thing that happens with the RL church: a period when the Church tries to restore them to orthodoxy, and, if it fails, declares them schismatic and excommunicates their Bishops. (RL ref: see “Lefebvre.”) Those are both valid RPs and if that’s what a particular nation wants, we can probably deal with it.

However, if the hypothetical nation in question has no interest in RPing either way, and/or is just yanking our chain or griefing us, we’ll simply ignore them.

Nations that are Catholic theocracies or derive their government from spiritual roots will be treated like any other Catholics, in terms of their individual leaders and citizens. Theoretically, as nations, they’ll be treated like any other nations in regards to diplomacy—it will depend on how they act in terms with our notions of how nations should act, what kinds of diplomatic accommodations they make with us, etc.

In reality, of course, Catholic nations, theocracies, etc., that are highly orthodox in accordance with both doctrine and practice, and make an effort to be devout and maintain good relations with the HVS will probably get all kinds of positive strokes, diplomatically, and will probably see benefits in terms of how their Bishops are appointed, Cardinal preferments, etc. Of course similar advantages could well accrue to friendly non-theocratic nations with large Catholic populations who can offer the Vatican substantial benefits in terms of the flow of Peter’s pence, etc. We’re pragmatic up to a point.


New Mozambique: Probably not enough for a Nunciature, but no reason not to have an emissary or envoy who makes periodic visits, if you’re so inclined. In the mean time, the President of your Ecclesiastical Conference (your Bishops’ Council) is de facto your diplomatic contact with the Vatican. It would be he who would contact Rome on your behalf on any official business.

Mark

Tag

The Hattian government is pleased that the Vatican is not all a 'fire and brimstone', inquisition type church. Though our government is secular (A very defined separation of church and state), the Catholics in Hattia have pushed for us to recognize HVS as the true Catholic church, so we shall.

The government would like to ask if the Vatican would like to establish a Nunciature. Only a small part of the country is catholic (1.6%, and it is the largest religious denomination in Hattia), though it only sounds like a small amount, it is actually about 30 million people.

(I hope you don't mind me asking in this thread, and please don't apply the communist stereotype to us, we allow religious freedom in the nation)

Organization in Rome: Part 1

The Bureaucracy

The Pope cannot govern a huge and complicated institution like the Church. The various offices of the Vatican assist in carrying out the functions of the Papacy, the Church, and the Vatican city-state. Most of how the NS Vatican is organized closely parallels the current RL Vatican, although the names of some offices have been slightly changed, and a few relatively minor reorganizations have taken effect, most notably in Communications, Finance and Information functions.


Running the Pope: The Papal Household and Offices

The Pope has several officers to assist in dealing with both the ecclesiastical and the administrative duties of his pastoral mission. Some of the principal offices and individuals include:

Private Secretary
This is the official who has the most to do with the Pope on a day-to-day basis. He keeps the Pope’s calendar and manages his appointments within the Vatican, deals with the Holy Father’s private correspondence, and acts as an executive assistant, managing the flow of business into and out of the Pontiff’s Apartment.

Prefecture of the Papal Household
This is the office that manages all of the business of the Pope’s household and supervises the pontifical family and the Pope’s chapel. It arranges Audiences and non-liturgical ceremonies. Principal officers include:

Papal Major Domo
Prefect of the Pontifical Household


Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Apostolic See
This is one of the offices re-organized during the Papacy of Sixtus VI. The Administration of the Patrimony and the supervision of the Vatican Bank were both folded into the Prefecture. This office handles all of the financial affairs of the Papacy except for those related to the civil administration (Governatorato) of the Vatican City. The Prefecture is directed by a Commission of three Cardinals, one of whom acts as President. The Commission is staffed by the ProPrefect. Principal officers include:

President of the Prefecture (member of the Commission for Economic Affairs)
Two additional members of the Commission for Economic Affairs
Pro-Prefect for Economic Affairs
President of the Vatican Bank
Pro-Prefect for Administration of the Patrimony


Apostolic Camera
This is the office that handles the interregnum and the issues pertaining to the vacancy of the Holy See. Principal Officers include:

Camerlengo of the Church
Vice-Chamberlain
Prelates Chamberlain (these fulfill the functions of Marshals, Prefects, etc., during a Conclave.)


Office of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Holy See
This office was slightly reorganized under Sixtus VI and manages the preparations for sacred and liturgical ceremonies carried out by the Pope or celebrated in his name, as well as the administration of the sacred functions of the Basilica of St. Peter’s and the other Papal Churches: St. John Lateran, St. Paul, and St. Mary Major. Principal Officers include:

Master of Ceremonies
Sacristan of the Vatican
Archpriest of St. Peters
Archpriest of St. Pauls
Archpriest of St. Mary Maggiore


Office of Apostolic Communications
This office was one of two major reorganization projects of Sixtus VI’s Papacy. Offices for all of the Vatican’s media outlets, including the Osservatore Romano, Vatican Radio and Vatican TV were combined with other communications functions, including the Vatican’s online communications services. Principal Officers include:

President of the Office of Apostolic Communications
Managing Editor, Osservatore Romano
General Director, Vatican Radio
General Director, Vatican TV
Director of Internet Communications


Office of Information Management
This was the other major reorganization project under Sixtus VI. The Central Office of Statistics, some of the working Libraries, and various Archives were combined, and new functions pertaining to the management and maintenance of the Holy See’s information technology were added in the Technology Section. Principal Officers include:

President of the Office of Information Management
Director of Archives
Director of Libraries
Director of Technology Section

Organization in Rome: Part 2


Running the Church

Offices & Congregations, Tribunals, and Papal Councils

These offices assist the Holy Father in managing the religious affairs of the Church. The major Curial offices are established through long tradition and confirmed in the Apostolic Constitution of 1998 “Pastor Bonus Constitutio Apostolica de Romana Curia.” With the exception of some very minor updates in names, etc., they remain substantially the same.

Offices & Congregations

The Secretariat of State
This is the office that most closely assists the Holy Father in carrying out his major administrative functions in the Church. It is divided into two sections. The first, or “General Affairs” section, deals with a wide-ranging variety of matters, particularly those related to the affairs of the Church throughout the world. The “Second” section is the section for “Relations With States,” and does most of the Holy See’s diplomatic work. Principal Officers of the First Section include:

Sostituto
Assessor

Principal Officers of the Second Section include:

Secretary
UnderSecretary


Each Congregation, unless otherwise noted, is headed by a Cardinal Prefect

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
This Congregation is charged with maintaining the vitality and purity of the doctrine of faith throughout the world. This is the office that studies, validates, and/or formulates doctrine based on matters arising from developments in science and culture, and reproves doctrines opposed to the principles of the faith.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints
This office is competent in all matters associated with the process of Beatification or Canonization of the Servants of God, and the Preservation of Relics.

The Congregation for the Variant Churches
Matters pertaining to Churches of variant rite within the Communion of the Catholic Church (formerly, “Oriental Churches”) are under the jurisdiction of this Congregation. It supervises and assists the hierarchies of the variant churches in matters of persons, discipline, and rites.

The Congregation for Bishops
This is the Congregation that deals with the constitution, organization, and provision of particular Churches—that is, how they will be composed in terms of regions, provinces, diocese, etc., how many Bishops will be required to serve them, and other administrative matters. It supervises the episcopal function in all Latin Churches except those under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. This congregation provides for the naming of bishops in all contexts—diocesan, auxiliary, coadjutant, and prelacies for special pastoral ministries.

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
This Congregation deals with the promotion and moderation of the liturgy and sacraments, in conjunction with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It safeguards the discipline of the sacraments and what constitutes licit and valid celebration or administration thereof, and has particular responsibilities in connection with the nonconsummation of marriage, the obligations connected with major orders, and the validity of ordination. This Congregation is headed by a Pro-Prefect.

The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
(Formerly, for Propagation of the Faith.) The work of missionary cooperation and the evangelization of peoples is directed by this Congregation, and Churches in territories subject to it rely on this Congregation to provide many of the functions (such as diocesan organization, development of clergy, etc.,) that are performed by other Congregations for Latin Churches not under missionary status.

The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life
The forms of consecrated life and apostolic life (Orders) come under the jurisdiction of this Congregation. It deals with matters pertaining to Religious and Secular Institutes and various societies of common life and Third orders.

The Congregation for the Clergy
“With due regard to the rights of bishops and their processes,” this Congregation is charged with matters dealing with priests and deacons of the secular clergy, providing support and administrative functions for a wide variety of pastoral activities including pastoral catechetical education, religious instruction, and the preservation and administration of the temporal goods of Churches that are not subject to other Congregations. This Congregation is headed by a Prefect.

The Congregation for Catholic Education
This Congregation oversees the direction, discipline, and temporal administration of seminaries, secular institutes, Catholic Colleges and Universities, parochial and diocesan schools, and all other institutes of education that depend upon the authority of the Church. This Congregation is headed by a Prefect.


Tribunals

Apostolic Penitentiary
This tribunal deals with matters of conscience, the formation, training, and appointment of confessors within the clerical hierarchy, matters of indulgences, etc. Principal Officers include:

Major Penitentiary
Regent


Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
Authoritative in judging matters assigned to it under the Code of Canon Law. It is the Supreme Tribunal, prorogues the competence of other Tribunals, supervises the proper administration of justice; and provides for the establishment of regional and interregional tribunals. It enjoys the rights assigned to it in concordats between the Holy See and the various nations. Essentially, this is the “Supreme Court” of the Vatican. Principal Officers include:

Prefect


Tribunal of the Roman Rota
Popularly known as the “marriage court,” due to its function as the court of first instance for matters pertaining to nullity of marriage, that is a large through not comprehensive part of the Rota’s duties. It also exercises jurisdiction over the safeguarding of rights within the church and the uniform administration of jurisprudence. Principal Officers include:

Dean


Councils

All Councils, unless otherwise noted, are headed by Presidents.


Pontifical Council for the Laity: Deals with promoting and coordinating the lay apostolate.
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity: Deals with initiatives and ecumenical activities for promoting unity among Christians. Also competent for religious relations with Judaism.
Pontifical Council for InterReligious Dialogue: Fosters and moderates relations with members and bodies of religious who are not Christian, and undertakes initiatives to bring about mutual respect and dialogue.
Pontifical Council for the Family: Promotes pastoral care of families and fosters their rights and dignity within the Church.
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: Promotes justice and peace internationally in accordance with the gospel and social teachings of the Church. The Office for Social Communications was folded into this Council during the Papacy of Sixtus VI.
Pontifical Council Cor Unum: Specifically concerned with administering the solicitude of the Church to the needy, to foster human fraternity and manifest the charity of Christ.
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People: This includes care for refugees and stateless people as well as displaced or trans-national peoples.
Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers: Aids those who carry out the ministry of mercy to the sick, including responding to new and emerging needs and challenges.

Organization in Rome: Part 3


Running the Rest of It

In addition to the plethora of offices and departments and councils dealing specifically with Papal business, the Vatican includes dozens of other institutions connected with the Faith, including:

The College of Cardinals
The College has its own offices and business in the Vatican, dealing mainly with matters of the Cardinals’ appointments, working with the Pope to arrange Consistory meetings, ceremonies, etc. The principal officers are:

Dean
Sub-Dean
Camerarius (or Camerlengo) of the College (distinct from the Camerlengo of the Church)


The General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
This is the permanent office of the Synod and manages the Synod’s business between meetings, which are not held very often. The Secretariat is a Council of twelve bishops elected by their peers, and three appointed by the Pope headed by a President elected from among their number.


The Governatorato
This is the actual “government” of the Vatican City State and oversees the administration is a Pontifical Commission. It includes offices for civil law, personnel, records, the numismatic and philatelic office (stamps and coins, a major revenue source for the State,) the post office, maintenance, the Floreria (the “special events engineering” squad,) a technical services department that deals with sanitation, maintenance, etc.

There are separate departments under the Commission for Museums and Galleries, the Vatican Observatory, the administration of Castel Gandolfo, etc. Also an office for archeological research into local sites.

The Principal Officers include:

President of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State
Special Delegate for the Vatican City State
Secretary General for the Vatican City State


Colleges and Seminaries
Rome is stiff with institutions for educating Catholics and training Catholic Clergy, including:


Pontifical Roman Major Seminary)
Pontifical Roman Minor Seminary)
French Seminary (Pontifical)
Lombard Seminary of SS. Ambrose and Charles (Pontifical))Founded in 1863.
Armenian College (Pontifical)
Beda College (Pontifical)
Belgian College (Pontifical)
Capranica College (Almo)
Ethiopian College (Pontifical)
GermanHungarian College (Pontifical)
Greek College (Pontifical)
English College (Venerabile)
Irish College (Pontifical)
Lithuanian College (Pontifical)
Maronite College
Nepomucene College (Pontifical)
Philippine College (Pontifical)
Pius XI Dutch College (Pontifical)
Brazilian College (Pontifical)
Latin American College (Pio Latino Americano)(Pontifical)
Polish College (Pontifical)
Portuguese College (Pontifical)
Russian College of S. Theresa of the Child Jesus (Pontifical)
Ukrainian College of Saint Josephat (Pontifical)
College of St. Jerome of the Croatians (Pontifical)
St. Thomas Aquinas
Scots College (Pontifical)
Spanish College (Pontifical)
Teutonic College (S. Maria dell'Anima)
Teutonic College (S Maria in Camposanto), for the study of Sacred Archaeology and Ecclesiastical History
Polish Ecclesiastical Institute (Pontifical)
Pontifical Gregorian University, with which are associated the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Pontifical Oriental Institute
Pontifical Lateran University
Pontifical Ecclesiastical Institute
Augustinianum Instituto Patristico at the Pontifical Lateran University
Pontifical Urban University
Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas
Pontifical International Institute of St. Anselm
Pontifical Salesian University
Pontifical Antonianum Atheneum
Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music
Pontifical Institute of Christian Archeology
Pontifical Theological Faculty of St. Bonaventure of the Friars Minor Conventual
Pontifical Theological Faculty "Teresianum”
Pontifical Theological Faculty "Marianum”
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross


Many of these colleges and universities are very old, the oldest being Capranica, founded by Cardinal Capranica in 1457. However, some are also quite recent, and new ones are established regularly. Most of these institutions have a President, Dean, or Rector heading their administrative operations; most of the advances Institutes and Universities also have a Grand Chancellor who is usually a Cardinal.


Religious Orders/General Chapters, etc.
Religious orders fall into several categories. The most familiar are monks and nuns, both active (“Mendicant”) orders and cloistered (“Monastic”) orders of celibate clergy living under lifetime vows in a community. However, there are also other varieties of religious order, including missionary orders, Third orders (oblates,) Societies such as the Society of Jesus (“Jesuits,”) Society of Mary (“Marist” and “Marianist,”) Societies of Apostolic Life, and a large range of other affiliated groups officially recognized by the Church. Most of the larger ones maintain an office of their General Chapter in Rome, with a ranking leader or representative doing the Order’s business.

In general, you can assume that no matter what it may be, there is some aspect of Church bureaucracy already established to handle it. Very few matters are handled “directly” by the Pope, everything percolates through many layers of bureaucracy and the Pope never even sees or knows about a large percentage of matters that are handled as routine by the bureaucracy.

So if you are wanting to RP something with HVS, it can help add realism to the thread if you TG us and work out how the correct bureaucratic approach might be initiated, or who in the bureaucracy would be contacted, etc. Just “sending everything to the Pope” is a tad on the sloppy side.

As Leo puts together a list for distributing these appointments among the Church leaders, we will add another post that will list their names and titles, and link it to these “descriptive” posts.

Ah, Signor. A word.

I was wondering... in a 'Variant' Church, where do Eastern Orthodox worshippers stand? Some of them have their own Patriarch, so... for RP purposes, should I include them as one? Or do I have to do some sort of juggling?

OOC So well done, and researched.. hmm perhaps TY-M needs a nice Catholic segment to it's society... We shall have to seriously think about this.

Roania--

Please note the difference between the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is not in Communion with the Catholic Church and over which the Pope has not the slightest jurisdiction, and the Churches of Eastern Rite which are in Communion with the Church. These are the Churches to whom we apply the new term "Variant."

Most Variant Churches have a Patriarch who is responsible to the Pope for the well-being of their Church, and worshippers under the various Eastern (or 'Variant') Rites are considered Catholics, not Orthodox.

In fact, we chose to adopt the term "Variant" not only because we anticipated that some NS 'Variant' Churches would not necessarily be "Eastern" in nature, but also to eliminate the confusion between Eastern Orthodox (which is not Catholic) and Eastern Rite Catholics.

Hope this helps.

HVS

OOC: Tagnation

(OOC: For the high points of the "Who's Who," see this:

http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3128919#3128919 )

Apostolic Household and Vatican Offices

Papal Household

Personal Secretary to the Pontiff
Monsignor Iulio Kwan

Papal Majordomo
Cardinal Peter Shan Tsao-Li

Prefect of the Papal Household
Monsignor Victor Riibner

President of the Office for Apostolic Communications
Cardinal Johannes Meisner

President of the Office of Information Management
Sister Mary Elizabeth McCormac


Financial Offices

President (Commissioner,) Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Apostolic See
Cardinal Francois Balland

Commissioner for the Economic Affairs of the Apostolic See
Cardinal Rufino Jiao Sales

Commissioner for the Economic Affairs of the Apostolic See
Cardinal Angus Ewan Gordon

President of the Vatican Bank
Archbishop Ersilio Colasuonno


Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica

Camerlengo (Chamberlain) to the Apostolic See
Cardinal Raul Francesco Martin

Master of Ceremonies
Monsignor Arturo Rinaldi

Sacristan of the Vatican
Monsignor Andrew Claver

Archpriest of St. Peter’s[/I]
Cardinal Ottavio Luigi Pironio


Curial Offices

Dicasteries

[u]Secretary of State
Cardinal Carlo Giovanni Angelini

Sostituto Head, First or General Division
Archbishop Tenda Nataka

Secretary for Relations With States Second Division
Archbishop Joseph Gopangi


Cardinal Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Cardinal Jean-Paul Renard

Cardinal Prefect, Congregation for the Causes of Saints
Cardinal Emmanuel Thiandoum

Cardinal Prefect, Congregation for Variant (Oriental) Churches
Cardinal Julius Zerba

Cardinal Prefect, Congregation for Bishops
Cardinal Rufino Jiao Sales

Cardinal Prefect, Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
Cardinal Angus Ewan Gordon

Cardinal Prefect, Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
Cardinal Bonaventura Eugenio Tosi di Corneliano

Cardinal Prefect, Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life
Cardinal Silvio Umberto Luciani

Cardinal Prefect, Congregation for the Clergy
Cardinal Ottavio Luigi Pironio

Cardinal Prefect, Congregation for Catholic Education
Cardinal Raul Francesco Martin


Tribunals

Major Penitentiary
Cardinal Anastasio Lambertini

Dean, Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
Cardinal Dikame Tengka

Dean, Tribunal of the Rota
Archbishop Agostino Calvecchio


Pontifical Councils

President, Council for the Laity
Cardinal Francois Balland

President, Council for Christian Unity
Cardinal Matthew Walsh

President, Council for InterReligious Dialogue
Cardinal Michael Stephen Hume

President, Council for Justice and Peace
Sister Consuela Alwi

President, Council Cor Unum
Cardinal Bonaventura Eugenio Tosi di Corneliano


The College of Cardinals


Dean
Cardinal Michael Stephen Hume

Camerarius
Cardinal Guiseppi Violardo

Sub-Dean
Cardinal Karol Ladislav Vaivods

Tag, and since I'm 80% Catholic, I think I have no just RETCONNED embassies into existance.

#TAG#

For all practical purposes, the Church of Rome as articulated by HVS is the one recognized by Galdago's chosen participatory multiverse. Our Catholics bow to your every tabernacle, except some only attend Mass on Christmas and Easter... (feh, lazy bastards)

Actually, I agree with Galdago. This is the one Universal Church acknowledged by Kaukolastan.

(Like Hattia...)
Halibris would like to have a Nunciature established in Haliton. The government of Halibris is secular, but the population is 93% Roman Catholic.(Also sorry if this is the wrong thread.)

Halibris, if you're modern/near-future tech with a more or less real-world emulation perspective on NS roleplay, we'd be happy to consider diplomatic relations to be in existence between the Vatican and your secular government.

If you wish to develop a specific RP thread involving the Church, please take some time to identify your principal Church leadership in this thread:

http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=139068&highlight=

And if you want to do some particular thread you can TG us to discuss the matter.

"Official" diplomacy takes place here:

http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=141124&highlight=

The Hattian government is pleased that the Vatican is not all a 'fire and brimstone', inquisition type church. Though our government is secular (A very defined separation of church and state), the Catholics in Hattia have pushed for us to recognize HVS as the true Catholic church, so we shall.

The government would like to ask if the Vatican would like to establish a Nunciature. Only a small part of the country is catholic (1.6%, and it is the largest religious denomination in Hattia), though it only sounds like a small amount, it is actually about 30 million people.

(I hope you don't mind me asking in this thread, and please don't apply the communist stereotype to us, we allow religious freedom in the nation)

A long time ago, The Island States was a nation whose Spirtual Leader was Catholic. While we now have a well-defined division between church and state, it has not let to a change in our population being 65% Catholic (since we too allow religious freedom). We too request that a Nunciature be set up in The Island States, as our people have come forward to us to ask for it (after hearing that their comrades in Hattia, a fellow member of the United Socialist Republics, had done so). We would also not like to have the Communist sterotype applied to us, as we are no where close to matching it.

Thank you, I'll post in the other thread.