Habebimus Papam

[Gunnland]

Cardinal Stewart had sat with his head in his hands, massaging his temples, feeling a headache coming on. His reward for avoiding the sin of self-murder? Hearing the Eiffellandians openly defy the Church and her sacred doctrine. He swayed wearily as he stood.

"Cardinal Strelecki, I am surprised at your boldness. Not that you defy the laws of God, but that you tell us so with pride. As for the..." He waved dismissively. The velociraptor with frozen eyes and a beak nose was done playing politics. "...frontier faction I have thus far supported, I am no less shocked at your own ignorance of the Church and her laws. A cardinal under penalty of communication latae sententiae acts illicitly but validly. Nothing we can do can stop the cardinal from electing pope or, God forbid, being elected pope. He would not be the first pope in hell, I am afraid."

He sat, gathering himself in his red robes, but still speaking. "There was a time, you all know, when I would have submitted myself as a compromise candidate. But now I am greatly dismayed. The laws of the Church seem not to be known, understood, and respected here. I hope Brother Meyer will set matters straight, and show some leadership. Otherwise I shall be forced, henceforth, to actively abstain in the voting, until a more suitable compromise candidate emerges."

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Tafts eyes narrowed as Stewart spoke. He hadn't trusted the man, now he knew why. His ambitions had always meant, Stewarts loyalties lay only to himself.

"Brother Stewart, you acknowledge as much as I and Cardinal Juun that the Cardinals Strelecki and von Aschenbach communicated to us acts that carry in themselves the punishment of excommunication. We are bound by the laws of our church to acknowledge that this excommunication has happened, no matter how much more troublesome it makes our duties here.

Indeed, were either of them to gather majority of votes, there would be little in our power to stop them. But luckily the assembled men here are not as depraved as to have such a disgrace occur. The question is, whether or not von Aschenbach and Strelecki may vote. Canonical law is clear on the matter. An excommunicated man can not vote. You acknowledge as much as the rest of us that Strelecki admitted to us their excommunicatio latae sententiae.

There is one man here who has the power, no, the duty not to allow those without the right to vote in the papal election to do exactly that. Brother Donnet. I only ask him to do that duty, no matter how difficult."

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

Donnet had listened carefully. He was aware that there had been murmurings but nobody had come to outright bring such an issue to the surface. He inhaled sharply and his brow furrowed as he weighed the words. It was a tough task to take on the job he had but it was by the will of Christ he was now in this position. He stood slowly, his hand extended in a gentle position of 'stop'. "This is an issue that I fear may not have touched Holy Church for.......centuries?" he began, pausing to stroke his chin. "You will excuse me for a moment Brothers while I digest this". He knew his response would probably be divisive but it was the only way. Even if divisive, the Cardinals would understand the need for a careful consideration.

 

[Rheinbund]

Strelecki frightened up. This was not what he had expected, Taft announcing his and Von Aschenbach’s excommunication. He decided not to speak up until Donnet would return. He indicated to Meyer and Von Aschenbach not to speak up, either.
Meanwhile, Meyer enjoyed the situation one way or another. Before the Conclave, Strelecki and this man from the Staatsschutz threatened to lock him up, basically turned him into Strelecki’s personal prisoner. Then he suddenly became papabilis (which Strelecki liked, because then the Pope would become his puppet), and now suddenly Strelecki was in the dock. Not that it would solve his issues. He would still have to retire when he would not become Pope. It would be the Papacy for him, or a luxurious jail.

Strelecki and Von Aschenbach started to whisper to each other. In Aachener dialect. Both grew up in that city, and both still knew the dialect.
“Sorry that I dragged you into this,” Strelecki whispered.
“I stand for what we did. Maybe we committed a sin ourselves, but we did so to prevent others from committing sins that I consider worse than stepping over a Church Law. We were the Holy Joseph for many children in Eiffelland. I think that is a better end result than Taft’s pathway of sticking to the Law and watch Evil happen,” Von Aschenbach whispered. “And don’t forget, nobody is without sin.”
“Not even Taft, although he seems to think so,” Strelecki whispered.
“But what are we going to do if we are indeed excluded from voting, or if Donnet forces us to ‘repent’?” Von Aschenbach whispered.
“I think we should stand for what we did, because we did it with the best intentions,” Strelecki whispered. “We will have to say so if indeed Donnet lets our voting rights depend on ‘repenting’ in front of the other cardinals. If we repent, Taft’s faction will win, and he will determine where the Church will go to. And each and every chance on a Church reform will be zero for the coming decades, after which the Church will be insignificant. If we do not repent, Taft will become Pope as well, but we will be able to enforce something in that case.”
“In which way?” Von Aschenbach whispered.
“By seceding,” Strelecki whispered.
Von Aschenbach’s eyes widened. He visibly looked frightened.
“Look at it this way,” Strelecki whispered. “When Taft becomes Pope, he will lead the Church into a direction it should not go to. That is something we agree on, corect?”
Von Aschenbach nodded.
“Then we should take the opportunity to lead at least a part of the Church away from the path to the ravine,” Strelecki whispered.
“But how are we going to organise this?” Von Aschenbach whispered.
“If we indeed loose this, the first thing we do is call Von Seydewitz. For the remainder, I think that the vast majority of the Bishops and Priests will follow us,” Strelecki whispered.
“But what about the coronation of the Eiffellandian Kings?” Von Aschenbach whispered. “How can they be crowned if there is no Archbishop of Weissenfels?”
“There will still be an Archbishop of Weissenfels in my plans. The only thing is, that it won’t be an Archbishop of the Tiburan Catholic Church. But that is not a problem according to the dynastic rules of the Throne of Eiffelland. Indeed, the King of Eiffelland must be crowned by the Archbishop of Weissenfels, but the dynastic rules do not stipulate that it should be an Archbishop of the Tiburan Catholic Church,” Strelecki whispered.
Von Aschenbach had some trouble to not visibly laugh, but he managed to do so. He whispered: “I never constructed that train of thought, and to be honest, I would never have considered you capable of constructing such a train of thought.”
“Even at my age you sometimes have to surprise people,” Strelecki whispered with a naughty tone in his voice.
“But what if Taft appoints a new Archbishop of Weissenfels? Then there will be two Archbishops in Weissenfels, and maybe even two Kings of Eiffelland,” Von Aschenbach whispered.
“And that is why we need Von Seydewitz. He will have to make sure that legally only the King we crown can govern Eiffelland. And of course we need him to get the churches,” Strelecki whispered.
“One question, Strelecki, did you plan this up-front?” Von Aschenbach whispered.
“Believe it or not, Von Aschenbach, I thought this all up on the spot,” Strelecki whispered. That was true. “Solving ten Sudokus a week does sharpen your brains, you know.” In Strelecki’s case, that was also true.

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

For Donnet, it had been a rather wild conclave- Cardinals slamming wine, yelling, threats, medieval rhetoric. All happening under his gaze. Frankly, he had lost most control. Yet, the Conclave could not continue without him. He still directed much and had to carry it on and forward. The abrupt accusations and shattering rhetoric left him so that he required time for prayer and contemplation. After a few moments, he walked to the center of the room and waited until silence reigned. He looked about him. "God has challenged us all but it is our duty to do what is necessary. There is nothing which prevents the Cardinals from voting" he said, with much stress on the word 'voting'. Some Cardinals looked at each other in wonderment. What did Donnet mean by this? "We will move to an immediate vote. There will be no debate or discussion, only voting" he said quietly.

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

Donnet frowned as he watched the scrutineers examine every piece of paper as if were a holy relic. It was not that he did not appreciate thoroughness but it seemed as if time was being drawn out. He had watched each Cardinal vote as if it were in slow motion. He still did not know how to handle the Cardinals from Eiffelland. The accusations had been serious though he could personally and professionally not agree they had violated Church rules. Furthermore, he had no detailed knowledge of a formal excommunication. He had weighed the arguments carefully. He had decided two things. First, even if they were excommunicated......he could not stop them from voted at this point. Second, it would be a distinct possibility, in the event that nobody won in this round; he would have to reconsider their position. Perhaps allowing them to vote and voiding their votes ex post facto. That was something he had little control of and would have to take unprecedented steps. Yet he still had an ace up his sleeve he could play. It was not a delightful or charming prospect but one he could play. It may very well result in being ostracized. He had worked his entire life for the Mother Church. He had climbed from a lowly parish priest to Bishop to Cardinal. He had been a Cardinal now for 2 decades. He was deep in thought when his eye caught the movement of the scrutineers gathering the votes for destruction. It had been done. Lagier watched him anxiously and he became aware that Lagier had been watching him for some time. Lagier was not only the most corrupt man in the Church but was known to have extreme influence among the lower levels of clergy- especially Jesuits. 'What game is he playing?' wondered Donnet as he rose.

Donnet pursed his lips as he heard the results and nodded slowly. He looked round the room to see anxiety as he nodded a 'thanks' at the information. Donnet once again crossed to the center of the room. "Brother Cardinals. We again see that we have not come to a resolution. Taft and Meyer remain tied with Taft leading by a single vote. I received a single vote which I must give thanks for but......." he trailed off as he saw exasperated looks on the faces of other Cardinals. "But we must continue. We will open the floor for speakers at once. Be prepared to vote immediately following". Donnet went to return to his seat and spied something curious. Lagier was grinning. The hairs on the back of Donnet's neck stood on end.

 

[Rheinbund]

“Thank you Brother Donnet,” Strelecki said. “I want to react on Cardinal Taft’s accusation that Cardinal Von Aschenbach and I would have committed sins by ignoring Church policy and Papal edicts. Let it be clear that I was talking about Church policy we did not follow, not about Church laws we did not follow. I was not talking about Papal edicts we did not follow, either. The Church policy I was referring to has never been turned into Church law or a Papal edict. Therefore, ignoring that Church policy is not a sin and can, therefore, not lead to excommunication. Furthermore, the women we helped all repented for their sins and were eligible for absolution because of that. Perfectly according to Church law.”

Strelecki paused for a moment. Then he continued.

“Cardinal Taft asked us to indicate what he had to promise to gain our votes. Maybe we have to make that question a bit wider. Let’s think about what kind of Pope we want, and then see if we know the person who fits with our ides about the kind of Pope we want.”

 

[Gunnland]

Stewart shook his head. He would continue to vote for Donnet until the situation improved. Only he could not see how the situation would improve. Perhaps the cardinals would agree to elect drooling old Espinoza, who would surely be dead by summer. But Stewart was too proud to propose this now.

While Donnet was speaking, Stewart saw Lagier grinning in the corner of his eye. He leaned over and spoke in a low voice.

"What is there to smile about, Phillipe?"

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

Lagier simply winked in reply.

 

[Holy Frankish Empire]

The session had been grueling so far. The gridlock was beginning to wear on all the Cardinals, especially the elder ones. There was no real direction Donnet could take it. As far as he knew, no Conclave in recent history had come to such a gridlock. Not to mention there were whispers of schism among the College. How could Donnet let this happen? Well, he had no real control other than telling Cardinals when to piss and when to vote....but still, he felt like the world was on his shoulders. A schism would no doubt fracture Burgo-Eiffelland relations to some extent and who knew what other nations might follow. A fractured world would become more fractured. Donnet did not care for Taft, it was no secret but he did present a strong message for the church. He had to think. There had to be some way to move forward. "Gentlemen" he began, his voice raised before leaving his seat. "I cannot order you to do much. I can call for prayer. I cannot suggest you use this time to settle differences. Find a solution" he said. "We will break......for prayer" he sad, cryptically. "We will take 15 minutes....then we will possibly vote" he said, visually annoyed. He had to talk to Taft. Donnet made his way straight to Taft. "Shall we pray together?" he asked, no smile on his face.