Acta Sanctæ Sedis

[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . July 5th . "Urbi et orbi".
____________________________________________
The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

Is the Era of the Dominici Over?
Pope Lies Ill; Radicalism Among Metropolitan Cardinals
Coemgein B. Hart

TIBUR - Every pope until Marcus XXII had the first priority of wrestling for control of Tibur with the republicans. Then came the Dominici, serious scholars from the Université Catholique Pontificale Dominiquaine who rescued the intellectual and spiritual life of the church. They came with their nouvelle théologie that called for a ressourcement to the Church Fathers, and their focus on the liturgy. In 1962, Marcus caught the bishops by surprise by calling the Second Capitolline Council. His legacy was continued in the great papacies of Clemens IX, Marcus Clemens I, and Marcus Clemens II.

What high hopes the Dominici had for Stephanus IV when the great Aquitanian scholar, the known as Alexandre Cardinal Renard, was elected last year. But after a briefly controversial disclosure of his reluctance to condemn homosexuality, Stephanus has spent more than half of his papacy in the sickbed, while Tibur reeled from the epidemics of typhoid fever and cholera that followed the Great Floods of 2010.

The floods and the disorder within the church has appeared to cause the rise of a new group to rival the Dominci. The Tiburian metropolitan cardinals, young and numbering perhaps a third of the College of Cardinals, have been calling for the Church to exert more earthly power.

The Radical Orthodox, as they call themselves, came to my attention some years ago when I was a seminary student at Mimir Abbey in my home country, Olmolungring. A visiting theology student told me that Arsenie Cardinal Daniel, a much-beloved spiritual leader from Gorno-Altai who we read often, was a "twit". (The Wieser bishops are said to agree.) He called Rudolf Cardinal Strelecki of Eiffelland "softheaded". And then he proceeded to tell me that Pope Clemens IX (I am dating myself, here) was the legitimate ruler of Oelar which was still by ancient medieval treaty a papal territory. (Then, Oelar had not long since been a Franconian province, so none of my classmates were terribly offended.) The man, who I shall not name, is today a cardinal.

Or perhaps I shall name him. Middelhuis Cardinal von Haaksbergen, the Wieser-born camerlengo and spiritual leader of the Tiburians.

With the death of Vincent Cardinal Tattiglia, the last great opponent of the Tiburians has passed away, and they are becoming increasingly confident managing the day-to-day operations of the church out of the office of the Camerlengo. And it is no secret that the new Dean of the College of Cardinals, the Montelimarine Jean Louis Cardinal Rochambeau, prefers Valmy to squalid Tibur and poses no threat to the Tiburians.

To be sure - and as the affair of the Solaren antipope confirmed - it is time that the power shifted from the Gallian cardinals to Tibur, but to the papacy and not to the Tiburian cardinals.

Or it will only be a matter of time before they re-christen the Holy Germanic Empire and request the invasion of pagan Danmark.
​

 

[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . July 7th . "Urbi et orbi".
____________________________________________
The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

Does the Secretariat Have a Foreign Policy?
Turmoil in the Curia: Camerlengo Furious Over "Cantigny Affair"
Giuseppe Di Preta

TIBUR - It is an open secret now that Angelo Cardinal D'Ursaque, the Secretary of State, is frail and has delegated many of his responsibilities to the rest of the Tiburian Curia. It is no secret that his brother cardinals want the Secretariat to take a more active role steering the global politics along the lines of their conservative and internationalist agenda.

How exactly will they do it, though?

Oswald Cardinal Millbank flew to Dulwich yesterday for an audience with Queen Charlotte over the ongoing crisis between Cantigny and Butuan. The day before, the Secretariat surprised many observers by issuing a statement, penned by Gaspar Cardinal Puopolo, threatening to call Cantigny (a largely Mormon country) to protect Tiburian Catholics in Butuan.

Journalists for Acta Sanctæ Sedis discovered that the Vicar Apostolic of Butuan never expressed concern to Cardinal Puopolo or the Tiburian Curia for the safety of his flock.

By more conventional means, the Camerlengo, Middelhuis Cardinal von Haaksbergen helped to bring a human experimentation bill in Bantyr to international attention, condemning it in the strongest terms. The Bantyric Senate voted down the measure. In the process, the Chief Foreign Officer of Cantigny managed to call Von Haaksbergen's moral arguments an unprintable term equivalent to sodomy.

Now, the humiliated Camerlengo, the most powerful member of the Curia able to leave his bed every morning, is reportedly calling a meeting with Cardinals Puopolo and Millbank over the "Cantingy issue". Most speculate that the Camerlengo will take over as acting Secretary of State himself, rather than leave the Secretariat with either cardinal involved in the Butuan affair or with Rodrigo Cardinal Sarlo, the lone moderate and D'Ursaque student involved in the day-to-day operations of the Curia.

So far, the conservatives' foreign agenda hasn't lead anywhere but dissension within their ranks.
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[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . July 8th . "Urbi et orbi".
____________________________________________
The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

Crusaders vs. Peacemakers on Solaren Question
On Whose Side Will Cardinal Von Haaksbergen Fall?
Giuseppe Di Preta

TIBUR - Earlier this week, it was unclear whether the Church would call the expected EDF attack on Solaren a just war. The clergy of the Solaris church are presently under interdict, and "teachers of the faith", including the Antipope "Urban", are considered excommunicated latae sententiae for heresy and apostasy. In widely-quoted remarks to the press, the Capitoline City's acting Secretary of State, Gaspar Cardinal Puopolo called military action with the intention of liberating the souls of the Solaris people from a heretical church - a "crusade", he said - a just war. But, he rejoined, this was not the motive of the EDF countries, and therefore the Holy See would condemn such a war.

Then yesterday evening came the quiet announcement that His Eminence the Camerlengo, Middelhuis Cardinal von Haaksbergen, would take the role of acting Secretary of State over from Gaspar Cardinal Puopolo. The Curial shuffle-up is widely suspected to be an aftershock of the "Cantigny Affair", in which Chief Officer Benjamin Stokes of Cantigny called the fourth-highest ranking cardinal (Von Haaksbergen) a sodomite by implication.

In the Secretariat's first action since the Camerlengo took charge, the Holy See has recalled its apostolic nuncio to Vesper for consultation.

It's only other activity was to release a statement calling for the restraint of would-be belligerents in Solaren, Lorraine, and Nicosia.
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[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . July 10th . "Urbi et orbi".
____________________________________________
The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

CDF Clarifies Catholic Teaching on Matrimony
"Gay Marriage" Issue Raised in Brettaine, International Press
Michael Morzetti

TIBUR - For the past year, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has been busy articulating the Tiburian Catholic Church's position on "homosexual marriage". Conservatives were shocked by the statements Pope Stephanus made last year in a November pastoral letter to Eiffelland Catholics. The Holy Father wrote that homosexual acts were not sinful, but clarified that Holy Matrimony was a sacrament that could only be entered by a man and a woman.

4. Man has not yet uncovered, and will not uncover, the meaning and design of creation. In earlier days homosexuality was seen as unnatural. Recent studies on the subject have shown clearly that [homosexuals] do not have a choice. They are, from the beginning of their life, destined to be homosexual. Therefore, the sin isn't there. They follow the path of life that was given to them.

5. We are aware one can say, indeed homosexuality is given by birth. But one can still choose to live his life as a homosexual. Wouldn't it be better to suppress it...? We must answer... no. We are designed to live the life truly, as we were created. Suppressing homosexuality would be a sin. It makes man not honest towards his creator and the people around him.

[Excerpt from Pastoral Letter to Eiffelland Catholics of November 16th, 2010 - "Stephanus Papam".]

It has been widely rumored that the conservative backlash angered the camerlengo, forced Stephanus IV to placate conservatives by promoting them to various prefectures, and caused him enough stress to weaken him severely.

"The right to marry is proper to the Church alone."
Oswald Cardinal Millbank, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The conservative prefect for the CDF, Oswald Cardinal Millbank of Engellex, did not back off the pope's teachings. But his tone signaled a more aggressive stance on homosexual marriage:

"The right to marry is proper to the Church and to the Church alone. The State may, for prudential reasons, see fit to recognize a marriage as valid. In our time, there is a rising demand for 'marriages' - homosexual, polygamous, 'open', temporary - that do not conform to the proper nature of marriage. These are not marriages at all."

"As is now well known, His Holiness looks with favor upon lifelong relationships of love and fidelity among homosexuals, and the Church has given its blessing to these."

"Better that the liberal state recognize no 'marriage' at all."

"Should a State employ a principle of equality to marriage law, the proper course of action is not to name these relationships 'marriages'. To name them so is to usurp the authority of the Holy Church, whose power and whose power alone it is to marry. The proper course of action is for the State to recognize no marriages at all, including heterosexual marriages. The State may not see marriage where marriage is not, but the liberal State concerned with equality may make itself marriage-blind altogether. The proper course, in this case, is to license civil unions or domestic partnerships and confer benefits on the basis of the issue of these."


Secretariat Summons Eiffelland's Ambassador
Will the Pope Accept the Case for War Against Solaren?
Gianluca Maronne

TIBUR - The Secretariat of State has summoned the ambassador from Eiffelland to a rare audience with the Holy Father. The audience is the first granted by Stephanus IV in four months. The camerlengo, Middelhuis Cardinal von Haaksbergen, made clear in a prepared statement to the press that this was not a sign of the pope's health, but the urgency of the deteriorating security situation in southern Meridian Europe.

Since the breakup of the Holy Germanic Empire, Eiffelland has continued its ancient role as a strategic defender of the Capitoline City, albeit sometimes in a more subdued capacity than Wiese and Lorraine. Also, Federation military units in Lorraine are under the command of Eiffelland's General Karlheinz Modersohn.

It was unsurprising, then, that the Holy Father has called upon Eiffelland in particular to give an account of the Federation military buildup.
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[Great Engellex]

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DULWICH, SUNDAY, 10th JULY 2011

The Right Honourable The Secretary of State has received the Command of Her Engellexic Majesty The Queen to make known the following gracious Statement of Her Engellexic Majesty to His Holiness of Capitoline City.​

Extension of The Queen's Statement in Council.

TO HIS HOLINESS OF CAPITOLINE CITY

I am instructed to express on behalf of Her Engellexic Majesty;

I grieved to read the statement of Pope Stephanus from last year, in response to the circumstance of homosexuality and marriage, it proved quite disastrous to the influence of Tibur in the religious teachings and practices within Great Engellex. To affect to act ministerially in such a case, to assume right and authority over Holy Matrimony, as the ministers of governments have, is to renounce the divine authority of the Church in which the power of mission is lodged. For a Crown to see itself with a just and true a sense of duty to require, to accept, or even to be prepared for such a surrender; that surrender can only be regarded as an absolute betrayal of a high and most sacred trust.

I declare solemnly, with the full and unqualified support of her Majesty, and with a deep sense of the responsibility which attaches to such a declaration, concerning a document proceeding from such a quarter, that I could not name any work of any minister in our church, which, though of double the bulk, contains half so many heretical statements as are contained in this one charge; from His Holiness.

Acceptance of homosexuality is not contained within the teachings, and it must not be introduced now.​

By the Grace of GOD, of the UNION of GREAT ENGELLEX, CHARLOTTE, the QUEEN, through the Most Reverend Father in God, HENRY EDWARD CARDINAL MANNING, by Divine Providence LORD ARCHBISHOP of SOUTHWARK, Primate of All Engellex and Metropolitan​

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[Gunnland]

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Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.​

We acknowledge with a heavy heart the great confusion over the issue of homosexuality that has followed the Holy Father's remarks. Pastoral care for homosexuals has always been the charitable practice of Tiburian Catholics. But this does not extend to the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, which is for man and a woman.

My differences of opinion with the Holy Father on the matter of sexual ethics are known, and I know His Holiness the pope is prayerfully reflecting upon his statements and preparing an encyclical that will clarify his teachings.

I caution my brother bishops - including my own Engellexic compatriots - that while sexuality and natural theology delve into great mysteries of human being, the magisterial authority of Pope Stephanus is no mystery, and all owe the Holy Father submission of the intellect and will.

In Christo,
Oswald Cardinal Millbank, Prefect.

 

[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . July 14th . "Urbi et orbi".
____________________________________________
The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

Solaren Uses Chemical Weapons Upon Lorraine
Syracanthian Guard Enforces Curfew in Tibur, Prepares Defenses
Michael Morzetti

TIBUR - The antipope of Solaren has attacked the Kingdom of Lorraine with chemical weapons, according to the Associated Press. A retaliation from the Federation is expected to be imminent. Troops from Eiffelland, Franconia, and Lorraine mobilized along the Solaris border provoked the attack.

Military bases and civilian population centres have also allegedly been targeted by chemical weapons, with initial accounts suggesting the nerve agent Tabun was used. Casualty figures remain unknown, although further updates on the situation are expected.

Solaren has known stockpiles of sarin gas, which can be packed into artillery shells and fired long distances. It is not known whether Tibur is on the outer range of Solaris artillery, but the Tiburian Curia has ordered the Syracanthian Guard to prepare the city's defenses. Captain of the Guard Pieter Lambert urges calm: "We doubt the Solaris army has the operational capability launch artillery shells over the Gulf of Lorraine with accuracy, but the SG shall take all precautions for chemical and biological weapons anyway."

Gas masks for civilians are being distributed, but shortages have been reported. The Syracanthian Guard is also supervising the removal of artwork to protected storage facilities. A curfew in the city of Tibur has been set for 9 o'clock at night, and will be enforced by SG units and Metropolitan Police.

"It is the terrible duty of Christian Europe, but we must stare unflinchingly at evil... in this noble and holy crusade."
Luc Cardinal Dubois, Archbishop-in-partibus-infidelum of Torrence

The Holy See unequivocally condemns the use of WMDs, even in retaliation, in the strongest terms. Luc Cardinal Dubois, the Archbishop in partibus infidelium of Torrence, issued an episcopal letter from his residence in Valmy: "I mourn the victims of the senseless slaughter on the fields of Lorraine, but I also weep for my own flock in Solaren. For they are held hostage by a demonic power, induced by a Man of Sin to loose the terrible arsenal of an Antichrist. The self-styled Urban, recent heir of the pornographer and himself a walking obscenity, is doomed to destruction by the hosts of Christian Europe. It is our terrible duty, but we must stare unflinchingly at evil and meet it in pitched battle. The Federation and her allies must live up to the higher callings of a humane and Christian army as it gathers to destroy the Lawless One in this noble and holy crusade."

The Holy See has not commented on Archbishop Dubois's use of the "c-word," but is expected to back off such rhetoric in keeping with its position of permanent neutrality.
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[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . July 19th . "Urbi et orbi".
____________________________________________
The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

Pope Urges Urban to Surrender Torrence
Federation States Declare War One by One Following Lorraine Attack
Giuseppe Di Preta

TIBUR - In a rare appearance, a gaunt and frail Stephanus IV spoke in his first televised address in seven months to urge the self-styled Urban IV, antipope of the Solaris Church, to surrender Torrence. "The day of reckoning is at hand," read the pope shakily on live television, "Urban, to resist the Federation is dangerous folly, and inhumane. End the war you so foolishly began."

"Total war in Solaren would be a grave sin."
Pope Stephanus IV

The pope did not condemn the response of the various states of the Federation in his address, although he subtly distanced himself from Luc Cardinal Dubois, who called the war a "holy crusade" several days ago. "The Holy See renounces war," the Holy Father said, but clarified that secular rulers must make difficult choices to defend their people, provided that they carefully consider the welfare of the enemy population. The pope concluded, "Total war in Solaren would be a grave sin."

(Dubois, the Archbishop of Torrence who lives in exile in Valmy because of the Solaris cult's persecution of Christians, said he agrees with the Holy Father, and clarified that while he never meant the Holy See should violate its neutrality, he did see the Federation as justified in the present conflict against a clear evil.)

The pope finished his television address with a request that a neutral and Christian nation send a detachment of military equipment and personnel, naval and land-based, for the protection of the Holy See to deter any possible Solaris backlash.
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[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . July 23rd . "Urbi et orbi".
____________________________________________
The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

Camerlengo: Curia Concerned for Pope's Safety
Cardinal Sarlo Will Head Commission on Intramural Security
Gianluca Maronne

TIBUR - Pope Stephanus IV has made a marked recovery from his prolonged illness, Capitoline observers have noticed, despite official Curial warnings that his condition is one of permanent debilitation. "Since the pope will be more active, but particularly vulnerable, it is especially important to attend to his personal health and security," said Rodrigo Cardinal Sarlo in an interview. Sarlo will lead a new commission to assess the security of the Capitoline City in the coming weeks and months.

The Solaris War and particularly the slaughter of bishops and priests elsewhere in Europe, most recently Bishop Grigorij Cerar of Cazma in Carentania, has caused the Tiburian Curia to reassess the security situation in the Capitoline City and the preparedness of the Syracanthian Guard to defend Tibur.

"Christian Europe is reluctant to defend the Holy See."
Pieter Lambert, Captain of the Guard

Of great concern to the Curia is that the pope's television address last week, which ended with an appeal to Christian nations to defend the Holy See, has apparently not been immediately answered. "I presume Christian Europe is reluctant to defend the Holy See," said Captain Pieter Lambert of the Syracanthian Guard, "because the Church must be consistent with its teachings on war, and cannot give carte blanche to the Federation invasion of Solaren." Lambert claims his 14,000-strong force is equipped to defend Tibur. If no military aid is sent to the Holy See, SG units will continue the process of divesting themselves from the auxiliary role assisting the Metropolitan Police and take up defensive military positions along the shoreline and in the campo surrounding the city of Tibur.

The Federation may be loathe to defend the Holy See because of the Church's position on the legal Solaris government. In a meeting with the Ambassador from Eiffelland, the Holy Father announced that the Church could not support any postwar imperialist military occupation of Solaren on a permanent basis, and that the legal claim of the true Archbishop of Torrence, Luc Cardinal Dubois of Valmy, to rule the country must be respected as a point of international law. The claim of the archbishops of Torrence to rule Solaren dates back to the Crusades. At the time of the demise of the Holy Tiburian Empire in the late 1700s and early 1800s, a faction of rigorist priests usurped the episcopal see and declared the independence of the "Sacred Kingdom" from pope and emperor, who were viewed as conspiring corrupt powers. The pope called for a lawful restoration of power to the rightful archbishop in exile.

Rodrigo Cardinal Sarlo announced his absolute faith in Captain Lambert and the Guard to defend against a conventional military assault, and said his primary concern will be to secure the pope personally from assassination attempts and terrorist attacks.
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[Socialist Commonwealth]

Commissariate for Foreign Affairs

True legitimacy of any government can only derive from a mandate of the masses, limited only by the rights of the individual and the minorities. A socialist and democratic constitution must define the framework of post-war Solaren politics and the vote of each and every Solaren citizens can be the only base for any kind of mandate, which is only acceptable in the form of an imperative mandate. Anything else would be a step back in the history of mankind, to more barbaric ages.

 

[Gunnland]

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Secretariat of State of the Holy See.​

Civilization is differentiated from barbarism because it represents a community of laws. The Holy See respects democratic societies that are dedicated to the rule of law, but the very premise that there are rights of individuals and communities that supersede popular mandate attests to the fact that law is fundamental even to democracies.

Respecting the rightful ruler of Solaren as a matter of law is fundamental, above and beyond any regime type that shall be considered felicitous by the Solaris people.

Pax,
Middelhuis Cardinal von Haaksbergen, Secretary.

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Commissariate for Foreign Affairs
The idea that laws dating back to feudal ages are in any way comparable or of equal value to the fundamental values of human rights and the self-representation of free men and women is a deliberate confusion for political gain. Tiburs attempts to claim control over several million, as of now, brutally oppressed humans and thus deny them the freedom they deserve, is despicable.

 

[Gunnland]

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Secretariat of State of the Holy See.​

The fundamental values of human rights are in many cases laws dating back to the medieval period. Troves of contemporary scholarship support this claim.

A well-made law does not wither on the vine of the ages. In this way, the fundamental rights of European citizens have matured over time since they were planted in the fertile soil of Christian civilization.

All of these rights are respected in the city of Tibur and the pagi of the surrounding countryside, and you will be pleased to know that Tiburian families elect the council of their pagus which are in dialogue with the Capitoline City-State and the Pontifical Commission for Tibur and Its Outlying Areas.

Pax,
Middelhuis Cardinal von Haaksbergen, Secretary.

 

[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . July 27th . "Urbi et orbi".
____________________________________________
The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

Pagi Councils Decry Loss of SG Police
Dominici and Tiburians Spar Over Defensive Military Preparations
Coemgein B. Hart

TIBUR - Yesterday the City Council of Tibur held a raucous plenary session demanding the Pontifical Commission for Tibur and Its Outlying Areas (PCTOA) reverse the removal of Syracanthian Guard units from the Metropolitan Police. "Don't surrender to criminals!" shouted the councilors from a rural pagus, "If the conservatives were not in bed with the Federation, we would have no problem with Solaren, and our police could stay on the streets!"

Inside the Holy See, the liberal Dominici faction has downplayed the need for Syracanthian Guards to take up military positions and insisted the Holy See will remain neutral. The conservative "Tiburian" faction, meanwhile, is rumored to be engaged in machinations behind the scenes to influence the Federation invasion of Solaren, pressuring Pope Stephanus to claim rule over the country via the "true" archbishop, Luc Cardinal Dubois, a retired diplomat who lives in Valmy. Many worry this increases the likelihood of a Solaris attack upon the Holy See.

Currently 9,000 guardsmen work for the Metropolitan Police, mostly in special units. The PCTOA sent a letter to City Council and the seven pagi last week saying that as many as 5,000 Syracanthian Guards might see military service defending the Holy See. The announcement proved unpopular with the people of Tibur, who complain already that the Metropolitan Police is undermanned and stretched too thin.

This latest fracas is yet another example of fraying relations between the city and pagi councils - which only have advisory powers - and the undemocratic hierarchy of the Holy See. A broad majority of Tiburian citizens are in favor of more council control over the city's affairs, which are currently managed by the PCTOA. No representative from the Pontifical Commission was present at yesterday's meeting.

A press release from the Secretariat of State this morning has said the arrival of a Montelimarine flotilla is likely to protect the Holy See, which will allow the 5,000 SG men slated for military service to remain on the job with the Metropolitan Police.
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[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . August 12th . "Urbi et orbi".
____________________________________________
The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

Curia Quiet As Meridian Europe Engulfed In War
Montelimarine Flotilla Protects Holy See; Secretariat's Awkward Diplomatic Position
Giuseppe Di Preta

TIBUR - Last week a flotilla of the Montelimarine naval forces arrived to protect the port of Tibur. Back then, the Curia could have hardly imagined what would happen just days later, namely the Engellexic attack on Montelimar. The francophone courts of the Federation, Montelimar and Lorraine, now face a two-front war.

Montelimar also faces insurrection in colonial Radilo.

Pope Stephanus IV has publicly thanked Montelimar for its historic commitment to defend the Holy See, but he has also taken pains to continue the historic neutrality of the Capitoline City State. Tibur has not fielded an army in battle since becoming independent of imperial rule (Montelimarine imperial rule in its final chapter) in 1826. Indebted to Montelimar but unable to help as the Kingdom faces three very serious enemies, the Tiburian Curia is in an awkward position.

Rumors of dissension within the Church hierarchy have spread like wildfire. Luc Cardinal Dubois, Archbishop of Torrance i.p.i.*, has roundly supported the Federation's invasion of Solaren. Oswald Cardinal Millbank, of Engellex, is rumored to favor the end of the Federation's "stranglehold" on the region. The Secretariat of State has not issued a comment on the Engellexic attack beyond a generic condemnation of war for political means.

​

*in partibus infidelium.

 

[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . August 12th . "Urbi et orbi".
____________________________________________
The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

Germanian Inquisition Meets to Try Oelarian Ruler
Camerlengo Calls First Meeting of Germanian Inquisition in 443 Years
Michael Morzetti

TIBUR - In a bizarre turn of world events, Sigbjorn Dmitrisson Obstfelder of Olmolungring arrived at Marcus Clemens II International Airport in handcuffs, led by blue-uniformed Oelarian military police. Mr. Obstfelder is charged with impersonating Thorlakur Feargusson Gunn, the late Lord Rigpa of Olmolungring, and ruling the sparsely-populated mountain nation as an impostor. The formal charge, according to prosecutors for the Apostolic Camera, is usurpation.

In reality, the consensus upon Mr. Obstfelder is that he was a placeholder for Oelarian bureaucrats afraid that news of the rigpa's death would destabilize the country and derail its modernization efforts.

Mr. Obstfelder was arrested by his own palace guard, the Einherjar, early this morning. He was taken from his state residence, the Freehold, in the mountain town of Yungdrung Gutsak, by helicopter to the southern city of Knytlingsfort. There, the Oelarian air force, the Skycommand, flew him to Tibur. According to the only precedent in the country's traditionalist law code, the Doom, the rigpa may be arrested and brought before the pope in the event of grave misconduct, such as usurpation. There is one obscure instance of this in the 1300s, although Lord Rigpa Ulmas died on the lengthy journey to Tibur.

Today, the rigpa is a ceremonial ruler as a practical matter, but a near-absolute monarch in law. The reactions of the Oelarian government, which is democratically-elected on a postdelegationist model and principally concerned with modernizing the national economy, are as yet unknown.

"Oelarian authorities initiated this trial."
A spokesman for the Apostolic Camera.

Cardinal Camerlengo Von Haaksbergen will preside over the inquisition opened on the matter. The Germanian Inquisiton has not convened since 1568, at the end of the Wars of Reformation. "This is a strange and special case," said a spokesperson for the Apostolic Camera, "one in which Mr. Obstfelder has been brought to us for exigent reasons without our summons. Oelarian authorities initiated this trial."

The primary purpose of the Germanian Inquisition was to investigate the early Lutheran schismatics. The last inquisition court to meet was the Gallian Inquisition in 1826, which famously found that the pope had the princely authority to rule Tibur in lieu of the faltering Holy Tiburian Empire. The original purpose of the Gallian Inquisition, however, was to root out the Solaris Cult beginning in the mid-1700s. Popes since that time have used the tools of inquisition and military force to suppress that violent and heretical faction.

The first order of business will be to see if there is case for a trial. If so, the camerlengo will be joined by a handpicked Oelarian cleric - probably the abbot of Mimir Abbey, in this case - and the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Gaspar Cardinal Puopolo. The camerlengo has expressed his hopes that the trial will show the world of Meridian Europe the strong emphasis the Holy See puts upon international treaty and international law, no matter how antiquated.

Prosecutors say they intend to charge Sigbjorn with usurpation of lawful power and conspiracy to usurp lawful power. If conspiracy charges stick, the Inquisition could end up issuing warrants for dozens of Oelarian leaders, and possibly even foreigners implicated in the alleged usurpation by Obstfelder. No arrests in connection with the event have been made yet. Because of the startling lack of modern precedence for the case, it is unknown whether foreign nations will cooperate with Inquisition warrants.
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[Great Engellex]

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DULWICH, FRIDAY, 12th AUGUST 2011

The Right Honourable The Secretary of State has received the Command of Her Engellexic Majesty The Queen to make known the following gracious Statement of her Engellexic Majesty to the Secretariat of State of the Capitoline City State.​

Extension of The Queen's Statement in Council.

TO THE SECRETARIAT OF STATE OF THE CAPITOLINE CITY STATE

I am instructed to EXPRESS on behalf of her Engellexic Majesty;

Your Excellency will inform his Holiness Pope Stephanus IV of the Great Dissatisfaction which all the proceedings of the Capitoline City State, in regard to the allegiance of the Holy See to the European Defence Federation, have caused her Engellexic Majesty the Queen.

Great doubt has been cast over the ability of the Holy See to act with propriety in relation to regional and religious affairs. The imperial metropolis of Dulwich has been forced to acknowledge the lesser position in which the Holy See perceives the Union of Great Engellex, particularly when relations with the Federation are concerned. It is correct of his Holiness to not recognise Great Engellex as a Catholic state, but doing so will be, without doubt, destructive to the public opinion held of his Holiness by the thirty-million adherents to the teachings of the Tiburian Catholic Church. It has already been received by his Grace, the Grand Duke of Wantage, of the ignorance displayed by the Holy See to the systematic persecution of adherents to the Solaris Church residing within the Federation. This was conducted publicly by the government of Eiffelland; Aquitania; and Guiana.

While there may be a state of war between the Federation and the Kingdom of Solaren, it has not been interpreted by civilised nations as a cause for persecution of the followers of the Solaris Church. The Holy See is implored to acknowledge their grave error of judgement in not recognising this blatant disregard for religious freedom, and make use of its respectable office to dissuade the Federation from acting as such.

On behalf of her Engellexic Majesty I appeal to the spirit and humanity of the Holy See to dismiss the immediate interest of the Capitoline City State to endeavour always to fulfil the responsibilities deemed of it by the member states of the Federation. I need not to trouble your Excellency with the possible consequences of not doing so to the influence and status of the Holy See outside of the Federation.​

By the Grace of GOD, of the UNION of GREAT ENGELLEX, CHARLOTTE, the QUEEN, through the SECRETARY of STATE, Sir ANTHONY PELHAM-HOLLES​

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[Gunnland]

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Secretariat of State of the Holy See.​

First;

The Church asks all states of Europe, particularly those of the Federation, to respect the freedom of conscience of all people. Religious liberty is a central principle of the documents of the Concilium Dominici (1963 and 1965). In these grave times we ask for the liberty of the adherents of the Solaris Church.

We also call upon the antipope Urban to respect the religious liberty of Christians - Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox - as well as non-believers and adherents of other faith communities. The refusal of Solaren to respect religious liberty is a hallmark of barbarism.

Catholics in Eiffelland and Aquitania should make a brave stand for religious liberty in their countries. It is what separates us from countries controlled by the Solaris cult.

Second;

We also take this opportunity to condemn Her Majesty's recourse to war. Armed conflict for political aims - regardless of the validity of those aims - is an abominable crime.

We call upon all belligerents in Meridian Europe, Great Engellex, Montelimar, Lorraine, Solaren, &c., to find a just and sustainable solution to their differences in a peaceful manner.

We call upon all Catholics in good conscience not only to make a stand for religious liberty, but also one for peace. We do not lightly remind our brethren that the King who will come to hold us to account is neither a potentate of the Federation, nor an sworn enemy of the Federation, but is yet to come. And He shall deliver this world from war and those who wage it.

Pax,
Middelhuis Cardinal von Haaksbergen, Secretary.

 

[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . August 13th . "Urbi et orbi".
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The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

As Inquisition Begins, Frison Installed As Oelarian Bishop
Is the Curia's Sudden Interest in Olmo Lung Ring Part of a Long Game in Solaren?
Coemgein B. Hart

Yungdrung Gutsak, O.L.R. - Hippolyte Frison of Ambricourt, Montelimar was installed as the national bishop of Olmo Lung Ring, the sparsely-populated mountain country north of Franken, this morning. The sudden announcement follows the unexpected retirement of Bishop Zebulon of Karlljon, the longtime Oelarian primate. Frison served previously as the secret papal chamberlain to Marcus II, and most recently as an envoy of the Secretariat of State to Olmo Lung Ring.

The timing of the announcement coincides with the first meeting of the Germanic Inquisition since 1568. The Inquisition will try Sigbjorn D. Obstfelder, an Oelarian national, with impersonating a bishop, in this case the Oelarian rigpa. The rigpa is a political figurehead and a religious leader equivalent to an auxiliary bishop.

Zebulon's reign as bishop was spent protecting the autocephaly of the Oelarian Church, particularly the right of its priests to marry which has long been contested by Tibur. Oelarians are Catholics, but the national church was largely cut off from Tibur after the Wars of Reformation. In 1981 an official hearing with Pope Clemens IX (where I served Bishop Zebulon as theological adviser) on the status of the Oelarian Church was cut short by the Holy Father's death. Opposing the Oelarians' autocephalist delegation was the present camerlengo, Middelhuis Cardinal von Haaksbergen. Von Haaksbergen will lead the Germanic Inquisition. I know the camerlengo and his conservative allies have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.

I fear Bishop Zebulon has been pushed aside in order to bring Oelarian Church more firmly under the rule of the Tiburian Curia. Frison, the new lackey of the Tiburians, will have political leverage, too, in electing the new rigpa. All at a time when Franken is powerless to stop this from happening.

The Inquisition, I expect, seeks a precedent to increase the Church's temporal authority upon a medieval legal basis. It's the wildest dream of those anti-modernist writers - L. H. Strauß, V. V. Perseifur, and Oswald Cardinal Millbank - who have droned on for the past thirty years about the need for a new Empire or, failing that, a strong papal alliance. If the Germanic Inquisition succeeds, it will not be long before we see the Gallian Inquisition call Urban IV an impostor in Solaren, and grant the archepiscopal crown to Luc Cardinal Dubois. The laws of succession from the Holy Tiburian Empire dating from the early 1800s must appear to be a firmer legal basis - at least in the Tiburians' wild imaginations - than the law they are currently plying in Olmo Lung Ring. Von Haaksbergen has been too staid to indulge these wild anti-modernist fantasies in the past, but this must be tempting!

I do not stand with Solaren in their 250-year-old war against the true pope. But I am concerned that we may see the re-emergence of "Guelf" princedoms across Europe allied with the pope, perhaps bold enough (as Cardinal Millbank seems) to ally with states like Engellex against the "Ghibelline" Federation.
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[Gunnland]

Acta Sanctæ Sedis
Capitoline City, Tibur . August 28th . "Urbi et orbi".
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The Independent Tiburian Newspaper of Record . Since 1862​

Making Sense of the Second World War
Why Has the Pax Franconia Failed Now, Of All Times?
Giuseppe Di Preta

Queen Charlotte has launched a full-scale assault on the Federation in Montelimar. Just months ago, that would have been unthinkable. Now, not only has it been carefully thought out, it has been carried out by the legions of Great Engellex. Why?

Acta Sanctæ Sedis goes through a few developments that led to what many are already calling the Second World War.

The end of international politics. Hamstrung by its lack of power and domination by alliance blocs, the Council of Nations has atrophied completely. No regulatory body exists that could have deterred this war. The war is an surprise assault on Augsburg, the Federation-dominated Council, as much as it is an attack on Neunhof.

Stability. Likewise, power politics in Meridian Europe has ground to a halt almost entirely, by design of Federation politics, in the name of stability. With no channels to expand their influence, rising powers like Great Engellex and Carentania may have had no recourse short of war to counterbalance Neunhof.

A great paper tiger? The Federation has dominated Meridian Europe since it coalesced in 1950 at the end of the last great war. But now the Federation is stretched thin in Solaren and across Oceania. And no nation has seen the military capabilities of the Federation on display in many, many years. Engellex is gambling on the Federation's weakness.

Economic independence. Engellex faces the non-alligned nations of the Far West and has access to the rich bounty of Oceania. In a new global economy, countries like Engellex are less dependent on goods from the old industrial centers of Meridian Europe. Bombing them, suddenly, is imaginable.

Betting on the antipope. A great question is whether, and how extensively, Solaren will wage total chemical and biological warfare on Lorraine. If the Solaris Army turns out to have extensive stockpiles with good capabilities - and intelligence on Solaris WMDs are spotty - Urban may have a surprise advantage that will prolong the war to Engellexic advantage.

The Holy See has realized its irrelevance in the conflict, and beyond issuing formal condemnations, has remained on the sidelines. Save for its quiet liaisons with the Oelarian air-force and the ongoing inquisition against the Oelarian leadership, it is not clear the Secretariat of State is making any moves of international significance at this time. But surely the Tiburian Curia is terrified that control of the Long Sea will fall to the resurgent communist powers - Carentania and Coronado - from the Engellexic Zadar-Istrian Islands to Solaren.
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