AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PONTIFF

[ReveredOwl 5639]

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnFAHHrS_no

As written by the Auditor of the Tribunal of the Canonist Church
12th of The Sun’s Smile, 1762

To His Holiness, High Pontiff James II

                    I write this letter to you today to express my grave concerning the current state of the church and your recent bull. I do hope this one reaches you as my previous do not seem to have,  as I’m sure you would not purposefully ignore or neglect to respond to them. It appears to me, and many others, that the church has become lax in its spiritual duties and instead seems to care more for appeasing secular rulers. Though I am sure you think that I am the only one who speaks such an opinion, but do believe, the most pious are often silenced. To begin, when you stripped me of all of my positions on a golden bull, all without informing me beforehand and after promising me you would not do such. I do recall being told I was demoted back down to priest because I had upset all of Oren with my opinions and that their leadership and my fellow cardinals urged you to do it. Cardinals sadly who never mustered up the strength to confront me themselves and instead plotted and schemed in darkness, truly I pity these cardinals who shall forever remain nameless. Alas, you did later summon me to Basilica in Helena to apologise for my mistreatment, offering me the position of Cardinal back. All men are sinners and at that moment, I succumbed to temptation and accepted the offer believing all was well. But then I see that cardinal Ves was hauled before a court for publishing writings on the Senate that the courts considered to be seditious, upsetting many in Oren like I had but no action. However I did believe that when you apologised you truly meant it, but in the recent bull you removed Wilhelm as Auditor and placed me there instead, all without informing either of us. I beg  you your Holiness, be kind to your clergymen, afterall we all serve the same purpose.

 

Another concern that I wish to bring to your attention, your Holiness, is the sinful nature of indulgences and tithes. In your recent golden bull you have commanded all secular lords in the diocese of: Helena, Jorenus, Avalain and Ves to pay a sum of two hundred and fifty mina yearly under the guise of charity. In the bull it is made clear that the paying of the tithe is mandatory yet still call it charity. Charity should be given out of one's good heart to assist in the church in spreading GOD’s teachings and assisting those in need. However it seems that my thesis regarding indulgences and tithes did not reach you so I have attached them below for you to read and I pray you agree with me. Men should not be forced to give the church mina and even when the church receives a donation, it should always be put to use publicly so people know what we use the donations on. I myself have made just under thirty thousand minas from donations and charitable people, which I am now seeking to redistribute to those who need it. If the church truly needs funds for righteous purposes, ask the faithful.

https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/190231-thesis-on-tithes/

https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/190212-thesis-on-the-depravity-of-indulgences/

 

The section in the golden bull concerning interdiction I find to be a truly scary concept. In the bull it states that you will introduce an interdiction on a diocese should the secular ruler or lords of that diocese fail to maintain their canonist duties to the holy mother church. If a diocese has a state of interdiction placed upon it by yourself they can no longer receive certain types of sacraments, although the sacraments they no longer receive are not listed. The church is not permitted to bring merriment and joy to the peoples of the diocese. This is gravely concerning to me as no faithful canonist man, woman or child should be refused any sacrament over the failure of their leadership. Their leaders might fail in their duties but the faithful canonist populace do not. Do not punish the faithful for things they did not do.

 

At the diet of Helena where we discussed the church constitution, I was heavily in favour of some form of power of rebuke being given to the college of cardinals. I advocated for its addition to the constitution, which is not yet published. I did this because many times there have been greedy and vile Pontiffs who ought to be removed yet there was no legal way of doing so. However, I sadly now recognise that this was a grave mistake because this now enables the cardinals to essentially hold the Pontiff hostage to have him do as they demand or he would be unseated. It also allows for a specific cardinal to stack the college full of his friends and people so that he can vote out the Pontiff and subsequently be voted in as Pontiff. It permits cardinals to be very greedy and have more authority over the church than they should ever have. I beg you, your Holiness, to rescind this power from the cardinals for I’m sure that when GOD deems a Pontiff unfit, he will remove them however he deems fit.

 

An additional grave concern of mine regarding the current state of the church are the clergymen who also hold public offices or high secular positions. For centuries clergymen have been banned from holding public offices in Oren or anywhere else for several reasons, though mainly due to their need to focus on their clerical duties rather than their secular. It should be worth noting that clergymen are still currently banned from holding public offices as is written in Canonical Law. No clergymen should ever hold a secular position or public office because it redirects their focus elsewhere and there can be conflicts of interest. A clergymen should only ever be focussed on spreading the word of GOD, not politics. There was a time in history when the church was apolitical however now all it seems interested in is stacking as many clergymen into imperial positions rather than spreading GOD’s good word. I believe current clergymen should have to pick between their secular position or their clerical one.

 

For a long time, like many other things, clergymen have been banned from being able to marry. I beseech the Pontiff to reconsider this drastic change from our tradition for there is truly no need of it. A clergymen should live their life focussed on spreading the word of GOD and charitable deeds, nor raising a family. Marriage can also lead to greed, lust and vanity. Favouritism sparks for one's family and distractions form. A clergyman should not busy themselves with familial affairs and instead focus on their clerical duties.

 

When you summoned me to the Basilica in Helena to apologise for my unceremonious demotion from bishop, cardinal and auditor, you offered me the position of cardinal back as you conceded it was unfair to do such. I, in my vanity accepted under the assumption that in getting cardinal back I would be re-appointed to diocese which I had chosen to go to very early in my clerical career because I sought to bring it back to life and even devised the blueprints for a grand monastery there to base my missionary work from. Alas immediately following my dismissal the blueprints were snatched from my desk by their new bishop to claim ownership over it himself. However it brings me great disappointment and sadness that instead of being allowed to go back and lead my diocese the way I had previously done, I was positioned in Morsgrad. I find it absurd that you would even consider sending any clergymen to Morsgrad as it would result in almost certain death. Though I am sure your intentions were not to send me there to be martyred. 

 

It has been ten years since High Pontiff Pontian III was murdered and mutilated and yet he still has no justice. When he was murdered I was the only clergyman who investigated and spoke out about it, publishing the Carrington Report which named Jasper Carrington as one of the assassins and also condemned the Sons of Malin for mutilating the corpse. I endured much criticism, humiliation and attacks as a result, despite this I continued to pursue the issue and did not let it go. One of the main contributing factors for my dismissal as Auditor was that in the process of trying to get justice for Pontian III, as any sane clergymen should be striving to do, I upset a great many members of Oren’s leadership who privately requested you to remove me, as you informed me when we met in the office prior to your voyage. I did all of this without your support and the support of the rest of the cardinals, who in your own words, would rather I was silent on the matter and dropped it as it was an inconvenience to them. To this day you have not issued any informal or formal statement on the matter of Pontian’s death, the excommunication of Jasper Carrington and the desecration of his corpse by the Sons of Malin, this saddens me greatly. After I was stripped of my positions it seems the issue of Pontian’s death was simply swept under the carpet rather than pursued. I beg you your Holiness, to finally take action and find justice for Pontian. It is unbecoming of a Pontiff to allow the killers and defilers of his predecessor, when they are known, to get away with such vile treachery.

 

As a result of the issues I have written in this letter, as well as my mistreatment for my fellow clergymen constantly being reshuffled and stripped from their position despite pious work, I have chosen to resign from all positions of authority within the The Holy Canonist Church and will subsequently travel the realm, distributing alms and spreading GOD’s word to the peoples of this land, as a monk. Despite my resignation I still pray that you formally address these issues as a matter of utmost importance. I do hope that by bringing these issues to your attention I am not labelled a criminal or defamer of your spiritual authority for I recognise that there is no higher authority in the Holy Canonist Church, other than GOD, than Pontiff. However I would consider it a great crime to remain silent on these matters and write to you as a clergyman concerned for our future. Despite my tone in this letter, I resign with no ill-will or animosity to you and your cardinals - Arthur, Rodrigo, Jasper and Wilhelm. I will now return to my previous life of a traveling monk and will continue to write my theses which I hope you will find time to read.

 

Best Regards, brother Boniface

 

[yopplwasupxxx 5946]

The Tarcharman, after reading another of Boniface’s famous theses, sends the travelling monk a courtier with a bouquet of chamomile flowers and a small, sealed letter. Upon opening the note, it would read simply,

 

“Dear Br. Boniface,

 

It has been sometime since we have conversed since the days of John I, though I pray you are in good health and remain safe during all times of trial. Your most recent paper has struck a fancy in me and I wish to write to you in praise of your work, with the most recent bull being also a topic of discourse within my mind. Clerical marriage for the debauched, tithes for the greedy, and power ploys of ambitious men have become the norm thanks to this proclamation, and it only seeks to erode the pontifical authority and grace once established by giants such as St Daniel I, St Everard IV, and Daniel VI. I do not know what can be done, as I myself wish nothing of these power games but only to remain in my writings and scholarly work; though as the months drag on, I see it prudent to at least voice my distrust with how the church is currently directing itself. I had high hopes for James II, a man who is perhaps one of the greater theologians to ever grace our humble Ae, but it seems his tact of administration and political shrewdness is as lacking as water in the Aeheyan deserts. He has allowed the selfish and impure to direct his actions and not the Word of Godan. I pray one day for our holy father to see reason and it brings me a semblance of peace to see like-minded individuals like yourself speak out against this malarkey (O Godan, forgive my use of such words!). Always know you have a friend in me, and keep in touch whenever you are able.

 

Prophets’ blessings upon you,

Rev. Otto the Tarcharman”