Tang Qi Tan

Chapter 507 The Church
In the holy land of the kingdom/the ancient city of Lance, the solemn and solemn hymns and eulogies resounded faintly in the streets and alleys, as if they had not been affected by the rebels approaching outside the city at all.Except for the armored soldiers patrolling the streets and the armed warriors leading the team.

As one of the recognized religious holy places in the Western Continent, it is the fourth largest pilgrimage site after Jerusalem in the East, Rome in Italy, and Santiago in the Iberian Peninsula; in the Palace of the Cross in San Antonio, Giovanni, the archbishop of the Northwest, just finished for several hours morning prayer.

The sun shines through the colorful mosaic skylights painted with religious stories, like a colorful halo, gathering on Giovanni in front of the altar, which looks quite sacred.His face is full of dimples like knives and axes, his body is thin and his gray beard is disheveled, only his eyes are bright and wise.

Although he only had a thin linen robe, which had already been soaked by the morning dew and sweat, it did not shake or affect him at all, every single word of the last prayer.Despite the months-long sacrament, Jokino still failed to receive any revelation or sign.

However, the living habits he has developed step by step for many years, and the experience of reading church classics and historical documents have made his heart as firm as a rock, and his faith as stable as a mountain.In fact, Jokino's background is also different from that of the other archbishops of the kingdom.

Among them, as the candidate for the archbishop of the capital region, in the default political rules of the kingdom, he must come from the royal family or a member who is closely related to the royal family, such as the "Mr. Terrible" who has assisted three generations of the royal family as a teacher and has been in power for decades. Li Xingke is a typical example.

When his authority was at its peak, he could even directly dismiss the clergy at all levels below the other four archbishops in the exclusive Kingdom Religious Committee; or question a certain Kingdom archbishop in the imperial meeting and ask the king to remove him, And restart the holy election ceremony.

The long-term influence of the Roman Universal Church in the Kingdom was also gradually eliminated and disintegrated under his leadership; finally, after the Battle of Turin, an interference war against the succession rights of northern Italian princes, the Universal Church was forced to The Holy See of the Church reached a compromise.

Even in the transfer of church personnel below the archbishop of the Kingdom, the Holy See has only the last symbolic right of civil service; that is, as the witness and supervisor of the election ceremony of the Kingdom Church.In theory, you can raise objections and doubts, but most of the time, you are just a spectator.

Usually it is to endorse and prove with the envoy of the Holy See that the universal church and the rule of the kingdom are always inseparable from each other.Of course, as compensation, after each election ceremony is completed, in the name of the Kingdom Church, donations and gifts will be made to the Holy See in Rome.

There are occasional exceptions in history, but such doubts and objections from representatives of the Holy See have little substantial impact on the Church of the Kingdom; The fuse that broke out the civil war of religion.

Since then, the ruling cardinals of successive dynasties may have encouraged the royal family to show favor to the Holy See, and reopened some church restrictions, and even recognized some honorary priesthoods appointed by Rome; But it is far worse than before.

The result of the secular localization of the church has also brought about another trend, that is, the penetration and influence of the princes and nobles of the kingdom on the church; Come gods and parish mandates, unite and bribe the nobility.

Then, all kinds of pleasure-seeking, corrupt and depraved atmospheres quickly spread among the middle and upper classes of the church.Although, prior to this, various abuses such as corruption, violation of precepts, and cronyism were not uncommon within the Roman Universal Church.But the nobles of the kingdom made it public.

As a result, all kinds of jokes about the number of mistresses and illegitimate children in the upper class of the church, priests and nuns breaking the precepts, clerics drinking and lying, began to be popular in the streets and alleys along with various popular folk books and rumors; and even became a recognized chronic disease in the kingdom cancer.

And after Sir Terrible, candidates from the five major archbishops of the Kingdom and their parishes, major monasteries and branches have long been dominated by candidates recommended and supported by great nobles or royal branches; This gave birth to the Sworn Sect, who hated it in the church.

And Giovanni is such a priest who advocates returning to the simple and clean traditions of the past, and a priest with a pious background; at the same time, he is also a member of another religious jurisprudence group in the church-the Holy News Society; but he himself is just a person from Descendants of wealthy fishermen in the Netherlands.

He was sent to the church when he was young, and then he started to practice step by step from a servant boy. After becoming a trainee priest, he studied in a seminary for many years and followed many mentors from different factions; he also witnessed the invasion from within the church. War and struggle, even wanton debauchery.

As a result, he also became a member of the Sworn Sect and volunteered to come to the local parish; from an unknown village priest to a county bishop;Because he wants to be the metropolitan of the province, not the auxiliary bishop in name only.

It is not enough to have a respected reputation and prestige.It is also necessary to get the support of the minister of the kingdom as a backer, one of the local nobles; and give the corresponding report to the other party.Therefore, transferring to a certain monastery as the vice-principal, and killing the elderly principal is the best choice.

But at this time, the political wave of the last radical reform in the last dynasty also broke out.In order to expand the scope of financial resources and sell officials and nobles, he began to secretly sell the church's gods and clergy in a disguised form to fight back against the former cardinal, the "quick changer" Arend;
Giovanni, who has a good daily conduct and reputation, is also promoted by the Sworn Sect, and is regarded as one of the models established by a certain church; and was recommended by the royal family as the Metropolitan of the Central Provincial Diocese/Archbishop of Bourges; And began to tidy up the parish with the help of the Sworn.

In the end, a few years before the royal family announced his abdication, he was also transferred by the royal family to the Northwest archbishop's jurisdiction because of his major actions in the central province and the serious confrontation with the local nobles and some church members. Became Assistant to the Archbishop/Secretary of the Synod of Bishops.

However, a series of political events in the capital also completely disturbed and destroyed the upper echelons of the Kingdom Church; as the archbishop of the capital, who was eligible to attend the imperial council, fled abroad, several other archbishops were either hanged on the street or killed in riots. missing, or imprisoned.

At the Federation of Bishops in the Northwest Region, Giovanni, who was impeccable in character and qualifications, became the Acting Archbishop of the Kingdom's Northwest Diocese through a special election ceremony.Immediately afterwards, the charter government in power in the capital couldn't wait to ratify him as the archbishop of Northwest China.

When the Blood Moon Incident broke out, the five dukes were in power for a short period of time. Because of the intensification of internal and external conflicts, it turned into a melee; the republican government formed by the various forces that worked together to repel him also invited him to take over the capital. Regions, and by this means rectify the Church.

Giovanni also hesitated and moved for a short time, which seemed to be only one step away from the career he expected in his heart.However, the church swearing-in movement that followed broke his only expectations.Although, only a few clergy took part in the oath taking.

But it also caused a big split in the Kingdom Church from the central to the local; and it was even more unacceptable for Giovanni.He once swore allegiance to the royal family, but he had never heard of any illusory people, let alone using secular rights to force the church and destroy the unity of the church.

What happened later also caused him to further deviate from the capital government.Because in the name of rectifying the church, they wantonly confiscated and confiscated the property and properties belonging to the church; and then sold them at a low price to those reformists/new nobles, wealthy businessmen, etc., just to enrich their finances.

Even the Sworn Sect, from whom Giovanni was born, also advocated the cleansing of the system from top to bottom and a return to piety through self-cleaning within the church.Instead of letting a group of secular councilors covered in copper stink, or with mud on their feet, to judge and decide the merits and sins of the church.

Therefore, under his continuous call and influence, the Northwest Archdiocese has become de facto self-reliant in the territory of the kingdom; even the priests sent by the capital governments of successive dynasties cannot truly perform their duties.When the Burgundy family marched to the capital, they also wooed him.

However, Giovanni's response was to avoid seeing them. At the same time, he mobilized the materials and wealth of various monasteries to arm the local self-protection; and continued to maintain the neutrality and detachment of the Northwest Diocese.Until the heretics who reemerged in the south of the kingdom, the rebels supported by them went north.

It is even more impossible for him to seek peace and compromise with it.As a sworn sect in the universal church, the religious tolerance proclaimed by the rebels is one thing, but it is another thing to allow those heretical factions banned by the universal church to be openly active; Sanctified in righteousness.

Without any identification and testimony from the Holy See of Rome, dare to proclaim someone as a saint walking in the world; what kind of insane blasphemy is this!This is a super heresy that is inferior to all the Arians, Purists, and Neapolitans in the south combined.

In contrast, these rebels appointed themselves as child's play, and the absent archbishops of the Southwest and Southeast regions were insignificant.Therefore, Giovanni secretly instructed the members of the church to provide a considerable degree of help to the Prince of Comte who was guarding the city of Dijon.

After the results of the Battle of Dijon came out, they resolutely abandoned the provincial capital of Chalons, which was not conducive to defense, and called on many followers to transfer to the Holy Land/Lance, which had more believer roots, along with a large inventory.When Giovanni slowly reflected and recalled, he walked out of the chapel.

I saw many priests who had been waiting here for a long time, flocking up to him, putting on a reddish-brown holy garment with gorgeous patterns and embroidery, a high brown crown decorated with gold and silver, and a ring and necklace of precious stones.When he left the auditorium, he had a different appearance holding a scepter in his hand.

Although Giovanni insisted on a simple life in his daily life and disliked the extravagant comparisons of the church; but what made him helpless was that under the influence of long-term inertia, most of the kingdom's subjects still liked to respect a lavishly dressed and high-sounding priest people, not simple ascetics.

And it is rare for him to wear such a grand outfit, and it is also to preside over a public trial, and to publicly execute and publicize the spies sent by the southern heretics/rebels.At the same time, it is also for the purpose of combating and deterring. There may be potential accomplices, accomplices, and sympathizers in the city of Reims.

Thinking of this, he confirmed again: "Has he not pleaded guilty and signed the affidavit to repent?"

(End of this chapter)