Difference between revisions of "Holy Vatican See"

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However, if players DO choose to recognize HVS as "The Church" we'll expect you to act the way you would to the [http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm|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.
 
However, if players DO choose to recognize HVS as "The Church" we'll expect you to act the way you would to the [http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm|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, [[Wikipedia:Jesus|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.
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This is the Holy Catholic Church as founded by Peter upon the death of our Lord, [[Wikipedia:Jesus|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.  The structure and [[Power in the Church|lines of authority]] mimic (as far as possible) that of the RL Church.
  
 
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.
 
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.

Revision as of 16:40, 10 June 2005

This article deals with Holy Vatican See as it relates to NationStates. For more general information, see the Wikipedia article on this subject.

Holy Vatican See
holy_vatican_see.jpg
Flag of Holy Vatican See
Motto: "Pactum Serva"
map of the Vatican
Region Lateran Treaty
Capital The Vatican City
Official Language(s) Latin
Leader Leo XIV
Population 1.5 billion
Currency Euro 
NS Sunset XML

The Holy See refers to the episcopal see of Rome, where the Pope offically resides; it can also mean the Pope or the Roman Curia. The term "Holy See" generally refers to the Pope, the Pope's official bureaucracy in the Vatican, Vatican City itself, or all of the above.

One of the more perplexing issues among Roman Catholic NS players is just who is the Pope of the NationStates world. Several players have played the Vatican. Prominent among them is Holy Vatican See (HVS), who RPs an alternate universe in which John Paul II died in 1998, replaced by a Hungarian named Sixtus VI, and then replaced by the current Pope Leo.

While many NS nations accept HVS as the Vatican of the NS world, HVS's players himselves has stated several times that no one is required to accept them as such. Nations such as Syskeyia and Cherry Ridge RP with the RL pontiff, Benedict XVI, as the pope, and Pantocratoria has accepted HVS' "papacy," but is willing to RP with countries that accept Benedict XVI.

There is also a Sede vacante where the Conclave is formed, in order to elect the next pontiff.

A caveat from the players of Holy Vatican See

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 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. The structure and lines of authority mimic (as far as possible) that of the RL Church.

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.

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