03-10-2020, 07:31 PM
A ghost of a smile touched Armande's lips. Did the Pope not believe in God? Or merely equate the two. It was not unheard of, of course. Becoming Pope was a political act. Just because people were not privy to the machinations of the Holy See did not make it any less so. True, the Regus, using lines of influence developed over decades and centuries, ultimately pulled the strings for the final choice. Sometimes, to their horror. Pope Urban VI turned out to be a complete and utter fool. When your high handedness and cruelty literally lead the splitting of the Church, it was safe to say a colossal mistake had been made. Of course, the seeds were there, festering between the France and Rome, especially once Gregory XI had returned the Papacy from Avignon back to it's birthplace in Rome.
Regus Cavelli should have chosen a Pope to mend the breaches, to reach across the lines and sooth ruffled feathers. The Atharim needed the stability- and more importantly, the power and backing- of the Church. Instead Urban VI fractured the institutions, even having Cardinals executed. Those remaining Cardinals had gone to Geneva, claimed the election to be invalid and raised a new Pope. Cavelli had a hand there too. The result spoke for itself, Pope and Anti-Pope both rushing to excommunicate the other. It became so chaotic that a third Papal claimant appeared by 1409.
Cavelli had paid the price for his stupidity. His secretary had seen to that. By the end, neither Pope played a role in selecting the new Regus, though a few Cardinals had been involved. It took time to reestablish the Pope-Regus cycle and relationship. Sadly, the Church never recovered. The seeds of Reformation had been watered. What Wyclif and Tyndale had seeded yielded a bumper crop over the next few centuries, breaking what had been fractured into a thousand different pieces. True, the Humanist Movement and the scientific revolution had led to advancement in every field and had yielded their modern world. But perhaps there had been a way to arrive at the same place without such a terrible price.
The responsibility for choosing a Pope was heavy.
His attention returned to Patricus. The man had asked a question. "As I mentioned, the relationship began with Sylvester. By that time, the church had become aware of our existence and our work. While they saw it as a necessity, they also saw us- at least those of us in the Old World who while united- as a threat. He believed that we could not be allowed to exist unfettered." He saw no need to mention the fact that Atharim had existed in all inhabited continents for millenia, some who did not recognize the authority of their tradition.
It had bothered him, just as it had his predecessors. Contact and some measure of influence had been reestablished in the Americas. And he suspected more than one small tribe were Athari remnants themselves, carrying on a tradition without the full knowledge of their history. There were whispers of other types of leaders, styled after the Regus. He suspected the Soviet pogroms across Siberia had been partially motivated by Atharim working with the Russian Orthodox Church. There had even been a title. The Yaga. They were gone, now. Stalin had been brutally efficient. Ukraine was not the only region to feel his iron fist. Just the most well known. And that said nothing of Mao.
But given his lack of interest in Armande's historical collection, he didn't even bother to mention that.
"Many Atharim are Catholic. Some are priests, but they do not serve as hunters. Many of them hear the confession of those that are. But the Atharim and the Church have worked together for 1400 years as allies." He paused. He was unsure how Patricus would take this next. "When Regus Barnabas died, it was Pope Sylvester, in accordance with their sealed pact, who chose his successor, Metrobius of Corinth. When Sylvester died, it was Metrobius who chose Mark as Pope, then Julius I. A dance, back and forth, Regus and Pope, Pope and Regus. Throughout the centuries there have been less than ten Popes or Reguses not selected in this manner."
Regus Cavelli should have chosen a Pope to mend the breaches, to reach across the lines and sooth ruffled feathers. The Atharim needed the stability- and more importantly, the power and backing- of the Church. Instead Urban VI fractured the institutions, even having Cardinals executed. Those remaining Cardinals had gone to Geneva, claimed the election to be invalid and raised a new Pope. Cavelli had a hand there too. The result spoke for itself, Pope and Anti-Pope both rushing to excommunicate the other. It became so chaotic that a third Papal claimant appeared by 1409.
Cavelli had paid the price for his stupidity. His secretary had seen to that. By the end, neither Pope played a role in selecting the new Regus, though a few Cardinals had been involved. It took time to reestablish the Pope-Regus cycle and relationship. Sadly, the Church never recovered. The seeds of Reformation had been watered. What Wyclif and Tyndale had seeded yielded a bumper crop over the next few centuries, breaking what had been fractured into a thousand different pieces. True, the Humanist Movement and the scientific revolution had led to advancement in every field and had yielded their modern world. But perhaps there had been a way to arrive at the same place without such a terrible price.
The responsibility for choosing a Pope was heavy.
His attention returned to Patricus. The man had asked a question. "As I mentioned, the relationship began with Sylvester. By that time, the church had become aware of our existence and our work. While they saw it as a necessity, they also saw us- at least those of us in the Old World who while united- as a threat. He believed that we could not be allowed to exist unfettered." He saw no need to mention the fact that Atharim had existed in all inhabited continents for millenia, some who did not recognize the authority of their tradition.
It had bothered him, just as it had his predecessors. Contact and some measure of influence had been reestablished in the Americas. And he suspected more than one small tribe were Athari remnants themselves, carrying on a tradition without the full knowledge of their history. There were whispers of other types of leaders, styled after the Regus. He suspected the Soviet pogroms across Siberia had been partially motivated by Atharim working with the Russian Orthodox Church. There had even been a title. The Yaga. They were gone, now. Stalin had been brutally efficient. Ukraine was not the only region to feel his iron fist. Just the most well known. And that said nothing of Mao.
But given his lack of interest in Armande's historical collection, he didn't even bother to mention that.
"Many Atharim are Catholic. Some are priests, but they do not serve as hunters. Many of them hear the confession of those that are. But the Atharim and the Church have worked together for 1400 years as allies." He paused. He was unsure how Patricus would take this next. "When Regus Barnabas died, it was Pope Sylvester, in accordance with their sealed pact, who chose his successor, Metrobius of Corinth. When Sylvester died, it was Metrobius who chose Mark as Pope, then Julius I. A dance, back and forth, Regus and Pope, Pope and Regus. Throughout the centuries there have been less than ten Popes or Reguses not selected in this manner."