Castus

A letter arrives at the gates of Vekaro, notifying Franz that a man coronated without the complicity of the High Pontiff of the True Faith is no king of Oren.

The High Pontiff reads the false declaration, and calmly holds it over a candle, watching as the sinful words burst into cleansing flame.

"Perhaps a good citizen, but he is no Saint." The Pontiff disposes of the letter.

Doctrine on Sectarian Legitimacy Penned 18th of Horen's Welcome, 1455 Formalized in the Council of the One Faith, 19th of Horen’s Welcome, 1455 The emergence of sects within the True Faith was an expression of differences in doctrinal interpretation and cultural differences. In the time of my holy predecessors High Ecclesiarch Radomir I and High Pontiff Lucien II, these were formalized as recognized sects. This only served to antagonize individuals of differing cultures to see one another's faiths as lesser than the other. I. It is henceforth determined that the sects of the True Faith will be no more. Orthodoxy, Ruskan Orthodoxy, Bristiric Orthodoxy, Lucienism, Imperial Traditionalism, Owynism, and Lucienism are no more. Only the One True Faith remains as it did in the olde times. II. The debate over the proper liturgical language, whether the Imperial common tongue, Flexio, or Raevir, is no more. Any language may be used to teach the good words of our Creator, provided that the language does not corrupt the message of the most holy God. III. The debate over the proper symbol of the faith is also no more. Either a one-barred Teutonic cross, two-barred Lorraine cross, or three-barred Hussariya cross will be fit to glorify the Creator and his holy light. IV. Sectarian orders that follow the central Church dogma of the One True Faith and serve additionally to glorify the teachings of a saint and accomplish a particular holy goal, like the Order of St. Lucien or the Order of St. Hadrien, are still legitimate. V. The One True Faith, in its embodiment by the Church of the True Faith, is the most true and holy vessel of our God's will. The High Pontiff as the head of the Church is the supreme manifestation of the Creator's will. VI. Formalized sects professing beliefs outside of doctrinal and dogmatic law are inherently schismatic, and should be reintegrated or excommunicated. This doctrine on divinity and exaltation is thus established by the High Pontiff Regulus I, ex cathedra, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, as conduit of the will of the Creator.

Doctrine on Divinity and Exaltation Penned 6th of Horen's Welcome, 1455 Formalized in the Council of the One Faith, 18th of Horen’s Welcome, 1455 Divinity has been noted as a controversial issue of great importance to be reviewed by the Holy Synod. Following a discussion between the collected clergymen, taken under advisement by his holiness, the High Pontiff Regulus I, the following conclusion has been reached. I. The Divines of Imperial Traditionalism, and the Primal Saints of the Orthodoxy, two groups of holy individuals parallel in nature, are henceforth to be referred to as "The Exalted" to clarify a misunderstanding between sects of the True Faith. These canonized individuals are further held as exalted among saints for their miraculous deeds in this world in service of the Creator to maintain the righteousness of the mortal races. II. The Exalted are not to be worshipped equal to the Creator himself, but are to be held on a level of reverence and veneration above saints. The Exalted are to be held to this equal level of reverence by all sects and sectarian orders of the True Faith. III. The Exalted are as follows: Exalted among the holy, Horen I, first man, father of humanity. Addressed in service as The Exalted Horen I. Exalted among the holy, Owyn I, son of Horen I, first King of humanity, cleanser and first king of the human state. Addressed in service as The Exalted Owyn I. Exalted among the holy, Godfrey I, of the House Horen, Emperor of the Holy Empire of Oren, unifier of a fractured humanity, first emperor of the unified human state, conquerer of worlds. Addressed in service as The Exalted Godfrey I. Exalted among the holy, Siegmund I, of the House Carrion, first emperor of the reunified modern human state, unifier of a fractured humanity after Horen V's Exodus, reformer of humanity. Addressed in service as The Exalted Siegmund I. IV. The Exalted are not to be named nor removed but by will of the Creator himself as determined by a full council of the collected clergymen of the Church reaching a near-unanimous agreement ((90% or greater)). V. The words and teachings of the Exalted are to be recognized as the will of the Creator exercised through mortal vessel, and the Exalted are to be held as prophets of the True Faith. This doctrine on divinity and exaltation is thus established by the High Pontiff Regulus I, ex cathedra, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, as conduit of the will of the Creator.

The High Pontiff's piercing stare affixes Wilfriche, and he sits in his marble chair at the head of the room as Wilfriche does the same in the wooden one below. The Grandmaster of the Order of St. Lucien sits next to Wilfriche. The Pontiff's fingers rap on the cold arm of his chair as the cold winds outside seem to hush, and he begins to speak.

Issued and confirmed by papal fiat of his holiness, High Pontiff Regulus, in order to resolve an issue of jurisdiction over magical practices, I. The Order of the Pale Crescent is hereby merged into the Church and formalized within the clergy as the Order of Saint Hadrien after the patron saint of learning, with the holy mission to keep mystical knowledge and the people of the Creator safe. The Order of the Pale Crescent will henceforth referred to by its formalized ecclesiastic name. II. The Order of Saint Hadrien will adopt the following revised list as their tenets: I. One may never use magic in combat unless life is at stake. Magic for utility is permissible, but ostentation is strictly forbidden. II. One may never teach practical magic to one the Order does not believe deserving or competent enough. III. All who have the ability to use practical magic must make all of their personal information, including magical abilities, names, relationships and place of residence, available to the Order at will. VI. One may never practice magic with the intent of using it to do harm innocents. V. None may share experimental or scholarly pursuits in magic that take place within the Order to any outside of the Order. They can be shared freely within the Order. VI. One who uses practical magic and commits a capital offense in any nation, regardless of whether the offense was committed with magic, will be hunted and eliminated. VII. One who studies or practices dark magic, including necromancy must serve and live with the Order, or die. VIII. The Creator and his Church must be respected and honored during all magical practices to keep the Order free from the taint of darkness. Any who do not abide by this will be hunted down and reeducated or eliminated regardless of nation or race. III. The Order of Saint Hadrien will recognize papal authority as supreme in the regulation and moderation of the magical arts, and in return the papacy will grant license to the order to operate as an arm of the Church for regulation of the magical arts. Creator save us.

Fr. Michael du Longueville, OSL is to be ordained as dual Bishop of the Diocese of the Steppes and the Dicoese of Eastcoast in a month's time! His duties in these Diocese begin as of the publishing of this writ, but he will not assume the full vestments and authorities of the office of Bishop until his ordainment. All faithful are invited to witness his ordainment in the coming days, and may God bless his service to the holy office. The ordainment will take place at the Ager church, in a month's time, at eve'ntide. ((Ager church, 7 pm EST, this Thursday 3/10 ))

The High Pontiff would note that John of Darfey has been Archbishop of the same Archdiocese before the rename, and was not just appointed to this position. This being noted, the stacked letters on the High Pontiff's desk will be taken under consideration.

((If you refreshed the page after you posted, you would have seen them.))

[[FM please pin]] By fiat of the Pontiff, the dioceses have been rearranged for the first time since the foundation of Anthosian Oren, to more accurately reflect the concentrations of population and ease of navigation within the modern Kingdom. (Purple) Archdiocese of The East - Archbishop John of Darfey I. Diocese of Greater Abresi - High Pontiff Regulus II. Diocese of the Heartlands - Archbishop John of Darfey (Blue) Archdiocese of The North - High Pontiff Regulus I. Diocese of The Wastes - High Pontiff Regulus II. Diocese of the Steppes - High Pontiff Regulus III. Diocese of Eastcoast - High Pontiff Regulus (Green) Archdiocese of the South - High Pontiff Regulus I. Diocese of Valles - High Pontiff Regulus II. Diocese of Susson - Bishop Virosi III. Diocese of Shadowcastle - Archbishop John of Darfey (Red) Archdiocese of the West - High Pontiff Regulus I. Diocese of Kralta - Bishop Iosif II. Diocese of Rosemoor - High Pontiff Regulus (Gold) Archdiocese of the Outlands - High Pontiff Regulus I. Diocese of North Mali - High Pontiff Regulus II. Diocese of South Mali - High Pontiff Regulus [[Any diocese held directly by myself is open to applicants from within the clergy for the position of Bishop. Those wishing to enter the clergy should approach an existing ranking clergymember for vetting and ordainment.]]

An annoyed High Pontiff Regulus speaks with an annoyed Archbishop John, "Why did those silly little new-Horens make a tomb for Godfrey, when his bones have always been kept hidden by the faithful?" Regulus harumphs, and touches a ruby ring with a dragon etching on his finger below his Pontifical ring, and sighs at the antics in the south. Even the Count William knows not where Godfrey's corpse lies.

The High Pontiff shakes his head, and turns to the man beside him, "Send someone to investigate this order. Any who study darkness are likely to fall into its depths. Even their name sounds like heretical longears symbolism. This cannot be allowed without confirmation of the piousness of its members."

The High Pontiff orders the publishing of a pamphlet on how to test for evil in a child.

Regulus nods, "Your trespasses will be forgiven, if you walk twice around the Westerlands thinking of the St. Lucien and affirming yourself to his teachings, and at the end planting an evergreen into the damp earth as a marker of your contemplation."

"It will be agreed upon then. A name will be needed to differentiate this new Orthodoxy from the old ones. If these other sects of Lucienism and Ruskan Orthodoxy are to wither away in favour of this new one, the new sect will supplant them both. And if I understand your statement correctly, the Horen bloodline is not divine, only certain individuals from that bloodline were recognized as divine, and the Church notes that all those no longer are present on Anthos."

The High Pontiff sighs and speaks to the deacon who delivered him news of the message, "Call the clergy to me, I will speak," After the priests and bishops are assembled, Regulus stands from his pontifical throne and speaks in his typical judicious tone. "Sects cannot have schisms between one another. They cannot adopt their own laws as canon. Sects are belief systems without structure except by association with officiated orders. The 'leaders' of these sects are not so, as sects cannot have leaders. For example, the Grandmaster of the Poor-Fellow Soldiers of Horen, officiated as Order of St. Lucien, has no sway over the belief system of Lucienism. That both the orders' men and the followers of St. Lucien's teachings are known by the moniker of Lucienists is a coincidence, but nothing more. Let me explain the concept of a sect. A man who believes and practices the teachings and dogma of the Church is faithful. A man who believes within these borders of righteous faith but also shares a local custom or follows most attentively a different teaching of a recognized canonical figure like a Saint, is of his own unique sect of the Faith. These people gather together and an unofficial derivation on the Faith that remains within the Church dogma is created. If they as a collective petition the Church with the tenants of their beliefs as they add upon the dogma of the Faith, a sect is standardized so that others may attend to their same practices and beliefs. There are no official leaders of sects that would have the power to combine, remove, or otherwise alter their or other sects except by influencing those who practice that sect towards a gradual collective change, at which point the Church may recognize a change in the sect or a new sect if the changes are significant. Sects cannot simply be combined, as they are not entities with the capacity to combine. Those of similar beliefs can form monastic or military orders and practice their beliefs within these insulated from the outside world, and proselytize towards the end of expanding the devotees of their unique brand of the Faith provided that it stays within the dogma and under the authority of the Church. But these are not sects. Sects are variants on belief. There was never a schism, as a schism is a break from the overarching Church itself, in which case the offending party would be excommunicated and their souls damned to hell. If you wish to petition for a new sect to be recognized apart from the Ruskan Orthodoxy and Lucienism, with its own unique belief system within the Church dogma, this can be done, but no man that does not hold this here pontifical staff can alter a simple subsect of belief. This is foolery. Do not entertain yourselves with illusions of grandeur, or majesty over the Faith, that are not rightly earned. Visit me from the Seven Skies when the Creator has deemed it fit for you to be sainted." The High Pontiff lowers his aged body back into his chair with a grimace, tapping his hard oaken staff topped with a Kaedrini cross against the marble slabs of the synod floor to note the end of his speaking, and calmly begins to sip from a glass of water.

The High Pontiff sits on his gestatorial chair as the King's errand boy delivers the message. He chuckles as he hears it and replies, "This was a most objectionable practice of the Teutons when they were under the dwarves. Before the Teutonic Order was permitted to swear under the Church, the last High Pontiff eradicated Savrism from their practices and beliefs, and they were justly punished for their offenses. The Teutonic Order are and have been redeemed. This message was delivered to the King by a man who was intent on discrediting the Teutonic Order and reached into the dark depths of their history to do so." The High Pontiff writes a quick letter to the King explaining this, and stamps it with his pontifical seal.

((Savoie was originally a Church state, Galahar was Flay-Silverblade not just Flay, and the Duchy of Raev was merged into Savoie, then Galahar was as well, then they renamed that to Ruska and bought the Westerlands. And Silus is incorrect, the modern Oren is indeed a Kingdom, not an empire. That being said, it was an empire under Cracker. Overall, good work.))

High Pontiff Regulus chokes on his porridge, because the Church is not combined with the State, and remains a sovereign entity which answers only to the Creator.

A letter is dispatched to the Order of St. Lucien, the Teutonic Order, and all other laymen and clergymen in the service of the Church requesting their presence at the feast.

High Pontiff Regulus looks left, then right, seeing no evidence of the Catholic canon law that Lucien may be thinking of being applied by any Pontiff before Lucien II except Owyn, and look how that turned out. The High Pontiff, having no knowledge of the "Catholic" church, only knows to follow the laws codified by the Church of the True Faith. Regulus would further note, if it were called to question, that his regnal name can be construed to be a reference to an existing saint in the holy tongue.

Feast Day of St. Lucien Last Days of the Grand Harvest, 1451 ((January 25th, 6 pm GMT , 1 pm EST)) The faithful of Anthos are called to Abresi square for the feast day of St. Lucien, hosted by the Church of the True Faith! Come for fun, stories of the Saint, free food, and a sermon on the Creator by the collected clergy members. May also feature the cleansing of the heretics!

The Creator The most fundamental concept of the True Faith is a rigorous monotheism, called the Doctrine of One. The Creator is architect of the universe and progenitor of humankind. He is unique and inherently one, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omnibenevolent. Aenguls and Daemons The Faith holds that Aenguls and Daemons are true, physical beings with a presence in the world and powers granted by the Creator. According to the Holy Scrolls, they possess free thought, and worship the Creator in total obedience. Their earthly duties include communicating revelations from Creator, glorifying Him, recording every person's actions, and taking a person's soul at the time of death. They are also thought to intercede on man's behalf. The Scrolls describes angels as "messengers with wings—two, or three, or four (pairs). The Divine The Faithful identify the Divines as those humans chosen by the Creator to be his successors in the mortal realm. According to the Scrolls the descendants of Horen were chosen by the creator to bring the "Will of the Creator" to the peoples of the nations and so they were the Regent of Heaven in the mortal realm, and the successor of the Creator. The Divine must be of the Horen decent but not all Horens are divines. It is noted by the Church that the last divine, Horen V, sailed away from Anthos. Predestination The Faith’s teaching of predestination, or divine-preordainment is derived from the fact that The Creator has full knowledge and control over all that occurs. Everything in the world that occurs, good or evil, has been preordained by The Creator. According to Imperial theologians, although events are pre-ordained, man possesses free will in that he has the faculty to choose between right and wrong, and is thus responsible for his actions. Mercy of the Creator Repentance is the activity of reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs. In religious contexts it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God in order to gain forgiveness or absolution. It typically includes an admission of guilt, a promise or resolve not to repeat the offense; an attempt to make restitution for the wrong, or in some way to reverse the harmful effects of the wrong where possible. The Holy Light Is the light and wellhead of the creator that interacts with the mortal realm. It suffuses all things and is the most essential and timeless aspect of the Creator”; also termed the Godhead, it reflects the infinite will of the Creator and his influence over the mortal world. It embodies the concept of unconditional reality, which transcends the limited existence of mortality or even personality; it is a singular, driving force of purity and radiance which acts as the spiritual body of the Creator. The Holy Light is also the progenitor of pre-ordainment, acting as the primary mover behind all things that occur. Revelations The holy scrolls are the records which most Faithful believe were dictated by the Creator to Tesion and Artifai, The Faithful believe that the verses of the Early Scrolls were revealed to Horen I by The Creator through the an Archaengul on many occasions during his lifetime, although most of these scrolls were lost during the usurpation of the Horens. When the faithful speak in the abstract about "the holy scrolls", they usually mean the scripture as recited in the original tongue rather than the printed work or any translation of it. To The Faithful the Holy Scroll are perfect only as revealed in the original tongue; translations are necessarily deficient because of language differences, the fallibility of translators, and the impossibility of preserving the original's inspired style. Translations are therefore regarded only as commentaries on the scrolls, or "interpretations of its meaning", not as the Holy Scrolls itself. Principles of Faith I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the Creator and Guide of everything that has been created; He alone has made, does make, and will make all things. I believe with perfect faith that the Divine are the Creators Regents in this realm and that there obedience is worship to the Creator. I believe with perfect faith that the Aenguls and Daemons are The Creators servants. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is One, and that there is no unity in any manner like His, and that He alone is our God, who was, and is, and will be. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, has no body, and that He is free from all the properties of matter, and that there can be no (physical) comparison to Him whatsoever. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the first and the last. I believe with perfect faith that to the Creator, Blessed be His Name, and to Him alone, it is right to pray, and that it is not right to pray to any being besides Him. I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the Divine Prophets are true. I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Horen I our teacher, blessings be upon him, was true, and that he was the chief of the Divines, both those who preceded him and those who followed him. I believe with perfect faith that the entire scrolls that is now in our possession is the same that was given to our Divines, blessings be upon them. I believe with perfect faith that the Holy Scrolls can not be corrupted. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, knows all the deeds of beings and all their thoughts. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, rewards those who keep His commandments and punishes those that transgress them. I believe with perfect faith that there will be a revival of the dead at the time when it shall please the Creator, Blessed be His name, and His mention shall be exalted for ever and ever.