Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 170 The Judgment of History is the Final Judgment
This cathedral, the seat of Bishop Amedai in Karak, has a towering bell tower.

This type of bell tower is usually equipped with large bells that ring regularly to tell the time and call believers to attend mass or other religious activities.

Now, on the bell tower of the church, an excellent viewing point, two people are looking down at the farce happening in the square.

"To be honest, Antoine, I never thought that Etienne and his gang would actually think of hiring someone to kill someone, and to kill me..."

As soon as he reviewed the whole incident, Garys felt that there was something wrong with these people's brains.

Indeed, assassinations have never ceased in human history.

Even eight hundred years later, Archbishop Salvador Romero of Latin America, who supported liberation theology, was shot dead while celebrating mass.

But who shot Archbishop Romero? It was the secret police of the El Salvador military government!

Even the Salvadoran military government ordered soldiers to shoot at the people at the funeral of Archbishop Romero, a funeral attended by 25 people!
What a heinous crime and what a disregard for the church!
Compared with the later Salvadoran military government with secret police and professional army, what did these half-baked congressmen have?
In addition to the money, the so-called status of parliamentarians did bring them some privileges, but it was not enough to allow them to join the ranks of powerful aristocrats.

Compared with Saladin, Reynald... and those other characters, this group of parliamentarians are nothing but a bunch of kittens.

They looked ferocious, but in fact they were vulnerable. If they lived outside the city walls, even a tax farmer family like Ahmed could easily slaughter them all.

It can only be said that it was the suffocatingly wealthy life of the past, coupled with the ability to take whatever they wanted from the world within the city walls, that made these frogs in the well really think of themselves as important people.

As for the citizens, it had actually been planned long ago. The funeral was a drama from the very beginning.

The congressmen were dragged onto the stage to act as clowns without realizing it. Lame Albon and six others became tainted witnesses and told the whole story.

As for other witnesses in this process, they were all found in advance.

Once the emotions are built up, as long as someone takes the lead, the citizens who are caught in a state of group empathy can easily trample on the seemingly deep-rooted authority of the past.

"Prophet, can this cleanse the sins of the city?" Father Antoine expressed his confusion.

"It's not possible. It's far from enough. This is just the beginning. I can only say that when the people can trample on the authority of the past once, they will naturally trample on it twice, three times, four times... countless times."

As he said this, Gaillis couldn't help but think of France in later times.

Since the French Revolution in 1789, France has maintained its revolutionary roots for a full hundred years.

The old princes and nobles fell from grace in dozens, and various attempts to restore the dynasty's autocracy were overthrown one after another by the French people...

What he was doing now was just to make the citizens of Karak break their fear of the upper city and those parliamentarians.

Garys doesn't want to be a judge himself, but he wants to make these citizens realize that there is no such thing as a judge worthy of their fear.

However, just as the people below were venting their anger.

Gailis noticed two things. One was that there was movement in the Adil military camp in the distance. The other direction was Karak Castle, and the drawbridge leading to Karak City was lowered.

A team of 50 armored soldiers lined up neatly and marched towards the city. Behind the 50 soldiers was another old acquaintance - Stephanie.

……

Theoretically, the relationship between secular lords and bishops of the church should be parallel.

The priests obey the bishops, and the bishops obey the Pope.

Lower-level lords obey higher-level lords, and higher-level lords obey secular kings.

Whether it is the king or the secular lord, in theory, they do not belong to the Catholic Church.

Of course, this is only theory. In reality, the power to appoint and dismiss bishops has long been a focus of contention between secular monarchs and the Pope.

However, since there is a process of competition, it means that things here are not absolute.

When Bishop Amedai met Reynard, although he was inferior to him, his influence in the city was greater than Reynard's.

After all, the union between the church and the laity is far closer than the rule of secular lords over their subjects, and it even makes people willing to serve.

Therefore, Bishop Ame's long-term refusal to surrender has almost the effect of a veto.

Such a stalemate was undoubtedly a torment for Stephanie.

Compared to the safety of this city, Humphrey is of vital importance to her.

At Stephanie's age, it is impossible for her to have a new son!
Finally, the time has come, and Stephanie has decided to use her status as a lord to express her attitude.

Accompanied by slightly messy steps and the rustling sound of chain mail.

The 50 soldiers stepped into the square in front of the church, their swords and armor shining in the sun.

First, some citizens in the outermost circle noticed the approach of the soldiers, and they reminded the citizens in the circle that something had happened outside.

Then, the church bells suddenly rang again. The low and solemn sound instantly broke the noise in the square.

The citizens who had beaten the councillors to a bloody pulp woke up from their collective frenzy and noticed the changes around them. The atmosphere was a little cold, and the citizens were adjusting their positions, while the guards who had been maintaining order at the funeral.

To be precise, the city guards who had received training from Garys took the initiative to stand in the front row of the crowd.

If we talk about the soldiers under Stephanie, they are all fully armed with armor and swords and their job is to kill people.

However, the city guards on the citizens' side are much more shabby.

Only less than one-third of the people were wearing armed clothes or cotton armor, and the weapons in their hands were mostly spears. They looked like a mob.

During this confrontation, the siege horn sounded outside the city, and Adil's army marched towards the city wall.

However, the soldiers who were supposed to stand on the city wall and guard Karak Castle stood in the square in front of the church and confronted the citizens.

Stephanie put on the armor herself, her eyes were cold and ruthless, and there was no mercy on her face.

She walked from the sergeants on the side to the front row and stated her demands to all the citizens present.

"Listen! If you don't surrender to the army outside the city, I will kill you all without mercy!"

The secular tyrants, as always, have relied on their armies to wantonly abuse the closely united people.

Alarm bells rang from the city walls, indicating that the city was now being besieged by a large army. The church bells rang again with continuous, melodious and tragic tones, as if foreshadowing the fate of the city.

The citizens did not respond to Stephanie's words, after Garys had preached over and over again these days.

In fact, they all understood their situation, and Adil's request for surrender was unacceptable to them.

Once they surrendered to the Saracens outside the city, those who were unable to pay the ransom would be reduced to slaves and sold in Egypt, where they would face the most miserable future.

Whether it's the councillors of the upper city or the lord Stephanie in the castle...

These guys, who were once high and mighty, never cared about the fate of the poor people in the downtown area.

They are the abandoned, the forgotten, the humble ones who have only a few words in history books...

Gellis had already mentioned to them in his sermon how future generations would record it.

[The city was broken, but Adil's army did not harm anyone, no one suffered misfortune, Stephanie and her son Humphrey were escorted out of the country, and the property of those who paid the ransom was properly treated...]

The anger has been pent up in my heart for a long time, and today's funeral is just an opportunity for it to explode.

They cannot tolerate being betrayed by the rich people or lords of the same clan!

【Man is created in the image and likeness of God, so the groans of the people are the sound of God.】

【God is not the Lord of death, but the Lord of life who listens to the cries of His people.】

【The judgment of history is the final judgment. What is done to the poor and humble is what is done to Jesus.】

【The Savior in whom Christians trust is hidden among those whose faces are distorted by poverty.】

【Therefore, Christians cannot stand aside and remain indifferent in the face of this historical judgment. 】

[We must keep our feet on the ground, take up the cross of history, and fight for each other, for the lives and liberation of our brothers and sisters! ]

——Excerpt from the first volume of "The Words of Gaillis"

Amedei squeezed out from the crowd of citizens and protected the believers behind him.

"Amadeus, are you sure you want to do this?"

Stephanie's cold question received a response from the bishop that she had never expected.

"Martyrdom is a gift from God, and I don't think I can get it."

"But if God accepts the sacrifice of my life, let my blood be a seed of freedom, a symbol before the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven."

"Stephanie, a bishop can die, but the Church of God, the people, will never die."

Today, no one can break Amedee's faith in Christ.

He increasingly understood why the forefathers of Christianity could remain calm when faced with martyrdom.

More than ever before, he was proud to be a bishop and to be at the forefront of the faithful.

"Attack!" Stephanie ordered coldly, her voice as chilling as a chill wind.

　The second update, and the extra update for 700 monthly tickets, will be done tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)