The College of Cardinals

Request for Ascension into Cardinalship

We, the Bishops of the PRINCIPIO RHENANIAE would hereby like to request that PETRVS ARCHIPISCOPVS FRANCORIS VADI (Peter, Archbishop of Frankfurt) is elevated to Cardinal.

We welcome Our Rhenish brother into Our college.

Basilius Primus, Bishop of Rome

His Holiness, the Pope, has dissapeared and no trace can be found of him in all of Rome. It falls to the College of Cardinals to elect from among their number a new heir to Saint Peter. The floor is open to the members of this College.

1. Cardinal Saul of Jerusalem (Judah)
   
2. Cardinal Amos of Antioch (Judah)
   
3. Cardinal Bakocz (Varasd)
   
4. Cardinal Tobias de Arlon (Austrasia)
   
5. Cardinal Benoit of Aurillac (Grand Auvergne)
   
6. An Oberst Cardinal
   
7. A Sielburger Cardinal
   
8. A Bergen Cardinal
   
9. A Tolassotian Cardinal
   
10. An Islish Cardinal
    
11. A Castillian Cardinal
    

Cardinal Bakocz:

Brothers! His Holiness the Pope has disappeared without a trace and we need strong leadership in the Holy Church... Who shall lead us in times of need?

To all who have a say in the matter: the person chosen should have the support of strong realms behind themselves, and a strong will too...

Cardinal Benoit :

May I speak, my brothers, before you, even if I am the most recent to this assembly. For the death nor the real...situation of the Pope has yet to be revealed. Two persons on the holy siee is nuheard of, and maybe we may be harshly judged if we are so quickly to declare the Pope...forever gone.

Maybe we should find a compromise, so to not disturb any more than necessary the peace of the christians realms. Maybe the one we shall elect today, should not be the Pope, but a..."Legate", of some sort, while we wait and search for his Holiness Basile, if God ever see fit to reveal to us his location, that we hope, is in this world.

I may repeat myself, but we should not be so hastly in dealing with matters of such importance and holiness. A Legate, who may become the Pope if his Holiness Basile has indeed been called back to God, but not yet. Not while the Christiandom is not ready, not while we are under watchful eyes of rivals and allies as well.

As for the question of who to elect, I want to make it clear, as the most recent member of our council, I do not feel worthy to present my candidature. I hope my words will not be unheard and I pray for the balance to be restored.

Cardinal Tobias:

"Cardinal Benoit speaks the truth. We must not be hasty in appointing one among us as His Holiness' acting successor. It is not the purpose of the sheep to lead the flock, for that is the job of the Sheppard. Yet, while we are momentarily without our Sheppard, it falls to his chosen disciples to watch over the flock - the sheepdogs. As dedicated servants of His Holiness, the Cardinals are to have faith that he shall someday return and in doing so we must guard his flock.

What I propose, my brothers, is a temporary Papal council by us the Cardinals with authority to handle theocratic matters in the absence of His Holiness, not a single elected legate. We shall combine our efforts together to strengthen our resolve and maintain the Church's presence in Christendom in this trying time. At least, long enough for God to return His Holiness to us.  What say you?"

Cardinal Bakocz:

This indeed sounds like a good idea, brothers. However, we should set a time limit on this search. If our enemies find out that the Head of the Church is missing, we will be vulnerable.

Varasd wrote:Cardinal Bakocz:

This indeed sounds like a good idea, brothers. However, we should set a time limit on this search. If our enemies find out that the Head of the Church is missing, we will be vulnerable.

Cardinal Benoit :

"Then it is too late to hide it completely. Rumours have already made it to the common men. The fact that we left no stone in Rome unchecked to find him will not help either. Any and every spies in the city, even thoses who work for private factions or guilds, know or is close to know the truth. And soon, all courts in Europe and beyond wil be informed.

But we still have cards to play. We can no longer keep ourselves clean, but we can minimize the damages. We need to send peoples to His Holiness' resort in Tivoli. Make sure rumours are heard about how His Holiness has secretly, without informing even his closest friends, left Rome to take a vacation. If spies come to verify, they'll see the castle in Tivoli full of activities and, with God's help, spies inside the castle will not be able to confirm the absence of the Pope. All of this could be put on the Pope's age. The goal is not to convince, but to distract long enough our potential ennemies. This way we can keep our College without losing in legitimacy or without doubtfull eyes cast upon us and threats will have to take more time to think and plan before they could act.

Only our best elements must be put on the search. From now on, no more mention of our actions. No more guards running around or servants left with abnormal things to discuss of. If God's gracious enough to let us find the Pope, then we need to keep it secret until we escort him back to Tivoli and there, can announce the return of His Holiness. If the Pope is found to have been called back by our Lord, then we can either announce his death of old age or, if the situation is desesperate and absolutely ask for it, we can play with some of the most extravagant rumours and say that, just like Eli in his time, he has been ascended to Heaven, still in his flesh. A dangerous move I do not recommend to use.

I hope, my brothers, that you agree with me and that we can all act together to quickly and swiftly end this, so things can come back to normal."

Cardinal Tobias:

That is an excellent suggestion, brother Benoit. Normally, our Holy Church should discourage deception, but maintaining calm within Christendom and projecting power without are imperative. His Holiness rarely makes public appearances in wintertime and a temporary trip to his villa in Tivoli for health issues would be a believable tale to dispel any rumors to his absence. It would at least grant us time to search.

As Cardinals, we possess more spies and political clout than all the rulers of Christendom combined. Surely we can cover the news long enough to either find His Holiness or prepare for the alternative. Brothers, I say we dispatch our spies to spread the word of His Holiness' trip to his Tivoli Estate immediately.

Brother Christian

A man walked into the room, dressing in the clothing of a priest.

"Greetings brothers, I am Christian of Sielburg. I've been sent by Archbishop Peter to ask that I am placed at the position of cardinal, so that I may be the official Sielburgian cardinal. If I am selected, I'd like to voice my opinion on the matter of the Pope. Now, we don't know what happened to the Pope, but I suggest we move on. We cannot continue lying, brothers. It is wrong and unethical. I propose that we elect a Pope, and say that God has officially called His Holiness to Heaven."

Cardinal Amos of Antioch

"It is a distressing circumstance that we find ourselves in. I am hesitant to support a lie to all of Christendom, but this a delicate situation. For now, we need to show that leadership of Rome is unbroken. It is true that it is God's own hand that moves us in our selection of Pope and it is further God's own hand that moves the hand of the Pope. If from among our number we were to select a... Vice Chancellor, then surely this would be the will of God and the Pope. And if the Vice Chancellor is guided by our hands which are guided by the Living God then surely this too is by the will of God and the Pope. This allows us a continuity of leadership and allows us time to more fully investigate the circumstances of the Papa Basilius's disappearance.

"And while I am speaking, allow me to be the first to welcome our brother Cardinal Christian of Sielburg."

Cardinal Bakocz:

Brothers! I agree with Cardinal Amos but again, we will need to put an end to this search after some time. Even if we elect a Vice Chancellor, without a Pope God's Church is headless.

Cardinal Amos of Antioch

"Assuredly, Brother. And we would not leave ourselves so needlessly for long. If we can find nothing, then assuredly the priest who attended Papa Basilius is correct and the sainted Holy Father has been raptured to Heaven by the Living God and we shall then elect a new Pope. Patience and methodical steps will reward the Church. Panic will not."

Cardinal Christian

"Very well. If a Vice-Chancellor will help maintain the true Church of God, then I gladly agree. But, we must vote one in. I do not believe I would be fit to hold that position, and thus, I shall not run for it."

Cardinal Bakocz:

Then let the nominations for the position of a Vice-Chancellor begin. May God guide us when making our choice!

Cardinal Benoit d'Aurillac :

"Well, if a Vice-Chancellor is needed to attend the matter of the Church while the Pope is gone, then I, Benoit of Aurillac, humbly offer my candidacy for this exceptional position while we wait for his Holiness to return.

While I believe it is the Pope's role to restore Order in the world, to reunite Christiandom, I also believe it is not a Vice-Chancellor role to do so. I promise to do everything in order to keep the matter of the Church attended, its independency complete, to listen to each and every problems that might come to us in thoses troubled times and to resolves them with justice and impartiality, in the interest of the Church and Christiandom first and foremost.

If His Holliness return to us, then I promise to step back and return to this assembly the powers it would have given me. If no sign of his Holiness is to be seen in the five years folowing my election, I would step back as well and let this Assembly elect a new Pope with the guidance of God.

I would also make sure to be held accountable for my action as Vice-Chancellor. If this assembly does decide I wasn't doing the best for the Church and our Peoples, then I would step back and let this assembly elect a new Vice-Chancellor or a Pope, depending on God's will.

I pray for God to rigthly guide our hands, and for our Faith in Him and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to never yield, even in this test He has lay before us."

Cardinal Bakocz:

Brother, I approve you! You are undertaking a heavy burden, and we are glad that you accept it with humility.

Cardinal Saul of Jerusalem

"After much thought and prayer, Cardinal Amos and myself agree that, were Basilius to give voice to the selection of his regent, he would find Cardinal Benoit has the requisite strength of faith and nobility of spirit and we wholeheartedly support his selection as Vice-Chancellor. Though we of course would hear from our other brothers, those supporting the candidacy of Cardinal Benoit now form a majority and so he shall take office as our Vice-Chancellor."

Brothers, We, Vice Chancellor Benoit, in the absence of His Holiness Basileus the First, Bishop of Rome, summon the College of Cardinals to discuss matters that have come to our ears.

Firsty, is the question of the Assemblies of Peace. As you know, with the absence of strong powers to protect the peoples, members of our Church, in the past sixty years, have organized councils with the nobles and free men or their dioceses to make them swear to respect the "Peace of God", a set of rules protecting the peoples and the Church properties by declaring excommunicated any transgressor. Recently, theses movements got out of the Gauls from which they came and into Italy. If we speak of it to you, august assembly, its because yesterday, three letters, signed by nobles and bishops from the Latium, Tuscany and Umbria, came to us, asking for the Holy See to recognize theses rules and the right of the deacons to promulgate the anathema on whoever break the "Peace of God".

We thought of it, and are favorable to this demand. We think it is in our roal, as sheperd of the peoples, to establish a Peace of God respected by all in the Church, so the times of darkness we have known can come to an end. But we came to the decision to let this august assembly decide of the question itself. Speak, brothers, and let the simple majority of you decide for the yes, or the no.

The second question is of the demand of Berenger "Longcrin", Duke of Auvergne, to be crowned King of France by the Archbishop of Clermont Etienne. We are also favorable to see this demand answered positively, but in the absence of the Pope, we come to this assembly to give its decision on it. Once again, the simple majority of you shall decide for the yes, or the no.

Cardinal Bakocz:

The Cardinal stood up after thinking about the matters for a minute or two, then said:

"I wholeheartedly agree with these motions. However, as this College suggested before at the crowning of Kings - the right of investiture should be in the hands of the Church."

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