Multi-Race Multi-Faith - 5
The Pope’s study, to which Tanian guided us, was far more modest than I had expected. No—objectively speaking, it was downright small and compact.
Because of that, I felt the cultural difference the instant we arrived in the Holy Kingdom. Secular monarchs and nobles believed the taller and more splendid their castles, the greater the authority and power they could flaunt. Yet the Pope, said to stand equal to the Emperor himself, lived and worked in an office that, at best, matched the home of a well-to-do commoner.
Doesn’t seem like he’s doing this out of frugality.
If the current Pope simply had a modest nature and preferred a cozy space, I could have accepted it and moved on. But I had been told this study was a place of deep history, used by successive Popes. It was tradition of the Church, not personal preference.
No need to show off, then?
The thought struck me suddenly. Unlike the blue-blooded nobility who inherited everything by blood, Popes and Cardinals were chosen strictly by ability. Everyone already knew their exalted status without any display; a small, plain office simply did not matter.
Once I thought of it that way, I even felt a touch of awe. Modesty born of confidence. Far more impressive than gaudy excess.
“Honored guests have arrived.”
In any case, the Pope rose from his seat as we entered and approached with a gentle smile.
“In my heart I wished this old man could have greeted you at the harbor himself, but of late I have been rather busy with one matter and another. As a result I have committed the discourtesy of receiving the Apostle while seated.”
“Your Holiness’s busyness is known to the Lord and to the entire continent. How can you say such a thing? Merely being granted an audience with Your Holiness is glory enough.”
I calmed the twitching corner of my mouth at the unexpected formality and returned the smile.
Of course he was joking, but if the Pope had truly come down to the harbor it would have been the real discourtesy. Excessive ceremony is a merciless rudeness that devours the other party’s nerves…
“As expected, the Apostle’s heart is warm. You truly live according to the Lord’s teachings.”
“You flatter me.”
I laughed awkwardly along with the Pope’s chuckle.
Live according to the Lord’s teachings? Please.
I could barely remember the last time I had even set foot in a church.
Of course the Pope had only spoken the customary words, so I saw no need to ruin the mood by pointing it out. What mattered now was the simple fact that the Pope was meeting Trixie and me face to face.
“Sister, it has been some time as well. Since the abdication ceremony, I believe?”
“Already a year ago. I am glad to see Your Holiness has been well in the meantime.”
After our brief exchange the Pope turned his gaze to Trixie and offered a polite bow of the head.
A bow, is it.
I glanced at Trixie; she returned a thoroughly professional smile at the sight of the Pope lowering his head even slightly.
There was definitely something here. It could have been mere courtesy toward an elder and a giant of the magical world, but considering the Pope’s station it was “courtesy one need not necessarily observe.” That he had gone so far as to bow first meant he intended to make a request of us.
“I shall now attend to the two of you, so Brother Tanian may take his leave. You have worked hard.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
Tanian bowed respectfully and withdrew at the Pope’s words.
“Ah, I have kept such distinguished guests standing far too long. Please, be seated.”
The Pope gestured us to our seats with a smiling face—yet his eyes alone shone brightly.
“Thank you, Your Holiness.”
Looking into those eyes, I knew at once. We were about to hear the true reason the Pope had invited us, the reason he had assigned Tanian as our guide and laid on such splendid ceremony.
…That said, jumping straight to the main topic the moment we met was convenient for me, but still a little startling. Wasn’t the proper form to probe and feel each other out first? I had rarely seen people of advanced age and high rank stray from that orthodoxy.
The Holy Kingdom must be having a rough time of it.
That unconventional style let me glimpse the suffering of the Holy Kingdom. When a superior who already possessed both experience and ability was also radical, the subordinates had no choice but to drop dead from overwork.
I offered a silent prayer of condolence for the clergy of the Holy Kingdom.
The Ecumenical Council opened under the name of the Fifth Enestiye Council in St. Togra Cathedral.
“The Lord’s warm light shines upon the entire continent and every people. We humble servants who follow the Lord’s teachings have revered His noble will and striven to spread far and wide the banners of love, peace, and salvation.”
Seated in the highest place of the great conference hall prepared within St. Togra Cathedral, the Pope recited the opening address with a devout expression.
“Yet unlike the eternal, perfect, and flawless will of the Lord, we humble servants are all too lacking and are beings who must pursue change. In order to draw even a little closer to the Lord we must once again transform ourselves. Thus, in the capacity of the 172nd Pope, Baltsack XXXVII, I declare this Ecumenical Council open.”
At those words the Pope, the Cardinals, and the theologians who had been seated rose as one and made the sign of the cross.
“That we may draw nearer to the holy will, we swear to be without concealment and honest before the Lord.”
“That we may draw nearer to the holy will, we swear to be without concealment and honest before the Lord.”
Nearly three hundred people swearing an oath before God in unison looked sacred even to someone of my meager faith.
…Yes, it was certainly sacred, and yet…
“You call that an argument? His Holiness Matten IV, the 27th Pope, declared that the teachings of the Mass must contain not a speck of distortion! And now you speak of considering each region’s culture? ‘Cultural respect’ is a fine phrase, but in the end you will clearly be delivering different teachings in every diocese!”
“That was when the dioceses scattered across the land could not communicate smoothly! Today magic and technology have bound the continent into one, and we have reached the level where any distortion of teaching caused by cultural respect can be instantly detected and prevented! His Holiness Gernicio VIII, the 78th Pope, himself expressed concern that teachings without change risk stagnation of the Church!”
Pointing fingers and roaring at one another was the bare minimum.
“An apology for radical and extreme actions? Is that even necessary? Of course, if we look at the actions of that time by today’s standards there were some problems, but ignoring the spirit of the age is far too hasty. During the Religious War, order was maintained by blood and power; our suppression of heresy by force was not unusual—it was only natural.”
“I concede that the actions of the time were natural and unavoidable given the age. But did that naturalness end with that era? The victory purchased with blood became our foundation, and upon that foundation the Church has advanced to this day. Can you truly claim that in the process we never inflicted excessive exclusion and oppression upon the descendants of heretics?”
“And if we did, is that a problem? The descendants of heretics refused to accept defeat and launched countless acts of terror against the Church. Choices made for the stability of the Church and the peace of the faithful cannot be called wrong. Or have you, after studying heretical cultures, become so immersed in them that you now speak for their side?”
“What did you say?”
The religious trash-talk of “Are you a heretic?” was thrown in for free.
“Hey, you bastard, what class were you in at seminary?!”
“Hah, is it something to boast about that at your age you’re still on the same level as the juniors?”
At some point even pure curses and sneers were flying back and forth.
What the hell.
They called this an Ecumenical Council. This wasn’t a council; it felt like I had arrived in hell.
In my confusion I carefully took Trixie’s hand beside me. Without even that small contact with my beloved wife I doubted I could keep my sanity.
“Karl… are the Masses these days… all like that? It’s been a little while since I last went to church…”
Fortunately Trixie seemed to share the same feeling; she did not reject my hand and spoke in a slightly trembling voice.
“No. I don’t understand it either.”
I answered her as warmly as I could.
I could not make sense of the scene before us either.
“That is normal. In truth even I am sometimes startled when I see that spectacle.”
Amid all of it, Tanian—who had been standing a step back from the inhuman battlefield—approached us.
I grew even more confused. The next Saint-to-be was allowed to just sit and watch? Shouldn’t he be throwing himself into that hell to achieve his will?
Sensing the look, Tanian let out a short laugh and sat down beside us.
“We swore at the opening ceremony, did we not? To be without concealment and honest before the Lord. That is why they speak so freely without regard for face or etiquette.”
“No.”
That had already passed the level of honesty. Even Enen would probably beg them to hide something if he saw this.
“And when Cardinals gather, that degree of honesty is required for equal debate to be possible.”
For an instant the words “What kind of nonsense is that?” rose to the tip of my tongue.
I was more accustomed to one-sided orders than debate, so I had no right to lecture, yet I had always believed debate should take place in a rational, elegant atmosphere with polite questions and answers. Even if that was not the case, it at least should not be this hell.
“A Cardinal is a seat one can reach only after proving ability thoroughly, starting from novice priest.”
Once again sensing my confusion, Tanian continued his explanation in a calm voice.
“Those who vowed to follow the will of God have walked that path alone for decades. The thickness of the values and convictions they have built needs no further words. Anyone soft enough to abandon their will through ordinary debate would never have risen to Cardinal in the first place.”
“Huh.”
A sigh escaped me of its own accord.
There was a certain persuasiveness to it. Even ordinary people become conservative and firm once they acquire convictions of their own. How much more so for men who climbed from the bottom to the top by their own ability rather than by blood? They became Cardinals because of immense conviction, and by becoming Cardinals they gained the certainty that they had been right all along.
And hundreds of such men had gathered in one place. Certainly no one would change—or could change—through ordinary debate. Only by pouring everything out in this no-holds-barred final debate could any result emerge at all.
…
Still, this is a bit much.
I sighed as I watched Cardinals who looked ready to come to blows at any moment.
I had heard the Cardinals’ red robes symbolized the blood of martyrs, but perhaps they actually symbolized the blood spilled at Ecumenical Councils? I knew the thought was blasphemous, yet after watching this…
Hm?
Then a peculiar sight caught my eye.
The Pope who silently held the seat of honor was one thing, but the elderly man seated near that place of honor sat with his arms folded, merely observing the chaos. While every Cardinal—even the Prefects—was shouting his own claim, he alone remained still.
“That is His Eminence Cardinal Pedro Otbaya, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
Tanian’s quiet addition as he followed my gaze told me the old man’s identity.
“He is as good as the leader of the conservative faction within the Church. You may regard him as His Holiness the Pope’s political rival.”
“I see.”
And of course the department he headed had to be the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. I had heard that in the old days it was the Inquisition.
“His Holiness must have found him quite a headache.”
“He regards it as his calling.”
I nodded at Tanian’s words and raised my hand.
It was time to move as the Pope had requested.
As expected, the Council fell into chaos.
Just as I thought they would come out like this.
When I looked down to my left at the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he met my eyes and offered a slight bow of the head.
An easy man to understand and a difficult man to handle. The moment the Council opened, the conservative Cardinals had poured out hard-line remarks in unison and thrown the assembly into unmanageable disorder. For at least several days there would be nothing but unlimited verbal combat without a single productive discussion.
The Prefect’s aim was almost certainly to foster antipathy toward the reform agenda among the neutral Cardinals. Once harsh words and shouting flew back and forth, the neutrals would inevitably grow sick of the very cause itself.
Since he could not prevent the Council, he will bury it from within.
Simple, yet certain. The conservative Cardinals still possessed full speaking rights. So long as those legitimate rights were not restricted, the Prefect’s scheme could not be stopped.
But it was a method I had anticipated. Therefore I had prepared a countermeasure as well.
“Pardon me. May I speak for a moment?”
At that very moment the countermeasure raised its right hand and requested the floor.
“Of course. The Apostle is an honored guest we ourselves invited; please speak freely.”
The moment I granted the floor, even the Cardinals whose heads had grown hot began to close their mouths.
After all, interrupting a reference witness—especially a living Apostle—when he wished to speak would have been far too rude.
“I was invited as a witness who beheld the revival of the World Tree, yet the words now being exchanged have nothing to do with the World Tree.”
At the words of the Apostle, Count of Tailglehen, the expression of the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith twisted ever so slightly.
In contrast, both my face and the Apostle’s remained perfectly calm.
From this moment on, the Council would be ours to lead.