Difference between revisions of "New Avalon Catholic Church"
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Revision as of 13:44, 19 August 2021
The New Avalon Catholic Church is an offshoot of the Roman Catholic Church established c. 2779. A key religious organization in the Federated Suns, the NACC's fortunes have been tied with that of House Davion, who have been longstanding members of this church.
History
Foundation
When Stefan Amaris' soldiers first secured control of Terra in 2770 and laid siege to the Vatican, Catholic Pope Clement XXVII dispatched a message to the five cardinals who oversaw the Church in the Star League's other Member-States. Correctly anticipating his death at the hands of the Greenhaven Gestapo, Clement stepped down from his position and granted the cardinals the temporary power necessary to run the church in their respective domains.[1]
Clement intended for the College of Cardinals to elect his successor once the opportunity arose, but New Avalon's Cardinal Kinsey de Medici received a garbled message which he interpreted to mean that Clement had placed him in charge of the Church. Later, upon learning of the massacre of Clement and nearly everybody else in the Vatican, de Medici moved swiftly to assume control of the Church. Despite being informed of Clement's actual message, he appointed a new College of Cardinals who confirmed his election as Pope Thomas X, following which the new pontiff announced his authority over all Catholics in known space.[1]
Cardinals and other Church leaders in the other states refused to recognize Thomas X's authority, prompting him to excommunicate them all. While the war against Amaris raged this split was more symbolic than practical, but following Terra's liberation in 2779 the College of Cardinals convened once more and elected John Paul V as Clement's successor. Thomas X's refusal to submit to him or step down prompted the official break between the Roman and New Avalon Catholic Churches.[1]
Post-Schism
While the first years following the split saw conflicts both verbal and violent between the NACC and Roman Catholic churches, the onset of the First Succession War put a dampener on the struggle. The two churches have since kept peaceful, if sometimes strained, relations with one another.[1]
By 3025 NACC members outnumbered Roman Catholics in the Federated Suns by about five to one, though the latter did have much more influence on worlds closest to Terra. The conflict between the two remained a visible part of religious life on many Suns worlds.[2]
The NACC also had strong ties with the Suns' ruling family, dating back to its earliest years when House Davion supported the Church as a means of promoting nationalism at Terra's expense. One sign of this was at the wedding of Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner in 3028, which was concelebrated by one Cardinal from New Avalon and another who was Roman Catholic. Despite this relationship, which has given the NACC great influence throughout the realm, House Davion has never hesitated to defy the Church when its policies have come into conflict with the NACC.[1] [3]
Dark Age
Within a week after the fall of New Avalon to the Draconis Combine in 3146, the incumbent Pope Beneficent XVII and the College of Cardinals were executed by House Kurita's soldiers as visible leaders of an 'unsanctioned' religion within Combine territory. Other Church leaders escaped to join the Davion Assault Guards who had remained behind to resist the occupiers.[4]