[Accepted]State of the Roman Catholic Church

[Snake2512]

Type : One True Holy Apostolic Roman Catholic Church

Founding/Settlement Date (if applicable): Approx 33AD

Region of Space: Universal Church, mainly Sol and the Frontier Alliance

Controlled by (if not a faction): Holy See in Exile (currently on Luna).

Other Snapshot information:

Classification: Catholicism

Polity: Episcopal

Head: Pope John Paul V as Bishop of Rome in Exile

Founding Race: Humanity

Languages spoken: Latin, Sol Common,

Administration: Holy See via Roman Curia

Particular Churches

Latin (Western)

Byzantine (Eastern)

One for each race or still in the process of forming (depends on the lore of each race).

Archdiocese (3,832)

Regular dioceses (7,071)

Region: Universal

Founder: Jesus Christ, according to Catholic tradition

Origin: 1st century Jerusalem, Judea, Roman Empire, Earth, Sol

Members: 9.20 billion

Clergy Bishops: 13,237

Priests: 1,000,923

Deacons: 105,239

Long Description:

I think we are all familiar with the Roman Catholic Church so I will simply place in dot points what I think are the most important history and doctrines to define. The Church in general is far weaker than it once was in human society but still remains as the most consistent and unified Church that humanity possesses, thus causing skepticism amongst Xeno races as it would be seen as the most aggressive form of distinctly human culture that could one day threaten already established power structures.

- 23rd Century a wave of traditionalism comes upon the Church after falling vocations from more liberal Parishes started by Pope Pius XIV (Cdl Raphael Accar, first Guinean Pope) who instated Latin Novus Ordo Ad orientem as the ordinary form on Terra and numerous rubrics reinstated concerning distribution of the Eucharist, extraordinary ministers nearly abolished. Far more Orthodox approach to the rubrics instated by V2

- Gothic Revival architecture reinstated as the norm by Pope Gregory XVIII (Cdl Raymond Beyer, first North American Pope) oversaw the translation of the Mass into Sol Common but still encouraged Latin in the Ordinary Form. Personal crusade against Modernist Art launched.

- Pope Benedict XIX had the Rite of Roman Exorcism restructured to allow Exorcists greater freedom to freely travel between planets (formed the Sol Exorcist Corps) and extended planetary Inquisitions to operate under major Archdioceses causing the CDF to be decentralised. Major modifications to the Roman Curia to allow more robust answers to various demonic and heretical threats to Church Unity.

- All occurs between 2209 to 2296, commonly referred to as the Century of Traditionalism or Century of the Three Popes (Pius XIV, Gregory XVIII and Benedict XIX) which hails a stability that once only existed in the Early Church. SSPX formally unified with the Church as worst of V2's interpretations are abandoned, retains status similar to FSSP

- Per capita Roman Catholicism is much smaller but the Century of Three Popes brings increased fanaticism, abundant criticisms of modern moral trends creates dissent.

- 2330 sees the rise of Pope Severinus II who fiercely demands Vaticans independence, campaigning for the Papacy's temporal powers. First Luna Council is called and ended 6 years later in 2336

- Prophetic encyclicals condemning the liberal use of cloning, sacraments for IPCs, genetic modifications and inter-species romantics released from the 24th to 25th centuries.

- Papal expeditions have been centered around mainly Unathi and Tajaran peoples with other alien races being lower on the priority list, some not even yet marked for Mission Territory. Unathi and Tajaran rites in formation

- Formation of the Order of St. Boniface in 2370

- The Occupation of the Vatican (around the time Sol was formed), violating the Lateran Treaty has cause distinct hatred of the governing powers by traditionalist Roman Catholics, while modernists don't pay it much heed. This makes the Church quite popular amongst Frontier folk as many homilies have been given condemning the Sol Alliance.

- As the Papacy no longer has their temporal status, they compete heavily with various factions to be allowed to appoint their own Bishops.

- First Luna Council addresses the following:

- Genetic and cybernetic modification for aesthetic purposes forbidden by the Roman Church due to its destruction of God's image and how it was developed. violation of this leads to Latae sententiae. Medical reasons are fine.

- Due to inter-species relationships failing to bring life into this world, they are forbidden in the same way being married but having no children is forbidden by the Church. violation of this is a mortal sin.

- Genesis and other Old Testament stories have been adapted to explain the salvation of alien races by leading Dominican Scholars throughout the 6 year meeting.

- Multiple Jesus Theory (the concept that there exists a Jesus for each race) made a formal heresy.

- Cloning for the sake of medical purposes is allowed by the Church, individuals may place the decision to be cloned with their next of kin or local priest, however advancing scientific research for the sake of replacing the womb or for extreme body modifications with clones is thoroughly rejected by the Church. The dignity of the person is not to be violated by the advancement of such research. Incurs Latae sententiae

- The Human Race has been, being in possession of the infallible Church, tasked by the Lord to awaken the subverted forms of Christianity by the Devil within alien culture, as many stories have some similarity with the Holy Bible.

- Alien races can become clergy and be successors to the Apostles and in future possibly the Vicar of Christ for all sentient beings are made in some image of God.

- The reality of the Book of Revelation and a rejection of the Sol Alliance due to their pro-longed occupation of Vatican.

- IPCs formally declared to not be able to receive the Sacraments..

- Cyborgification is the equivalent of murder and triggers Latae sententiae

- The council led to a series of Sedevacantist schisms and splinter factions on issues ranging from Alien salvation, alien priesthood, IPC sacrament status, Multiple Jesus Theory, IPC person status, cloning, inter-species relationships but these schismatic groups are an extreme minority.

- Sedevacantism has led to rivaling papal claims but between 17 Popes claiming to be the true successor to St. Peter, between them they only have 800 members. Older heresy may have even more followers however (such as women's ordination groups)

- Catholic Priests are an extreme rarity, too few vocations means their holidays are shortened and retirement age extended.

Each point I have listed will need to be expanded with further detail when I get the time. A concise history and achievements of the Major Preaching Orders will also need to be fleshed out which I will perform next. Currently I am more concerned with defining the Doctrines rather than the Personalities within the Church, having these points agreed on first however is the most important thing before any more work gets done.

[Scheveningen]

? It's good to see that there is revived interest in this concept.

Even in real life today, atheists and detractors of Christianity always falsely posit that if 'the general standard of humanity were more reasonable', that Catholicism would've collapsed in a day. Ironically, it's hubris for them to even speak that way that they're above other humans to posit such. It's a faith that's survived for thousands of years. Even as it's dropped in growth as of the 2000s era, this is mostly due to the information era causing people to seek any form of religion rather than just their local established church/mosque/etc due to how having other options. 400 years later, it will have surely paled in comparison to the staunch amount of other religions that crop up, but as it's a religion of tradition and hereditary conversion, it stands reasonable to assume it would survive for as long as it has.

[Snake2512]

? It's good to see that there is revived interest in this concept.

Even in real life today, atheists and detractors of Christianity always falsely posit that if 'the general standard of humanity were more reasonable', that Catholicism would've collapsed in a day. Ironically, it's hubris for them to even speak that way that they're above other humans to posit such. It's a faith that's survived for thousands of years. Even as it's dropped in growth as of the 2000s era, this is mostly due to the information era causing people to seek any form of religion rather than just their local established church/mosque/etc due to how having other options. 400 years later, it will have surely paled in comparison to the staunch amount of other religions that crop up, but as it's a religion of tradition and hereditary conversion, it stands reasonable to assume it would survive for as long as it has.

 

To further play upon the realism of the situation, compare the amount of priests to the amount of faithful. There is absolutely no way in hell 1 million priests can properly serve 9 billion 'faithful'. The Roman Catholic Church in history has risen in times of persecution and fallen in times of comfort. I wanted it like this to sort of represent a bloated Church with too many cradle Catholics who don't particularly care for the faith but still care to be associated with it, since the Church has gone through its 'fall' and is suffering persecution at the hands of just about every formal faction ever in one way shape or form, the Church is actively trying to purge its excessive members. Compare this to the actions of Jack McJacko actually on station, the first thing he did was systematically accuse almost every Christian of Heresy who refused to acknowledge his authority. Such a move would seem odd for a Church that wants to grow but makes perfect sense if the Church in question is trying to cleanse itself for the next rise and domination of the Culture. Hypocrites don't inspire converts so when the Church is at its smallest yet most fanatical, it will come back decisively in this new space age.

[Zundy]

Sounds good to me. Feel free to write as much as you like but understand it might be reduced to not be wall-o-text info. Also try and focus on how all this effects Tau Ceti. Who's the Catholic authority there, what's the history of Catholicism in Biesel etc etc.

If anyone is a bad enough dude/dudette to tackle the other religions from a position of knowing them by all means go for it.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Having a bishop of tau ceti would be neat

Why did the Alliance occupy Vatican City? It would have had to have joined the NWO when the Alliance first formed and became the one world government - all nations had to join it. It wouldnt be an occupation moreso than an annexation into the greater province of italy.

[Snake2512]

Having a bishop of tau ceti would be neat

Why did the Alliance occupy Vatican City? It would have had to have joined the NWO when the Alliance first formed and became the one world government - all nations had to join it. It wouldnt be an occupation moreso than an annexation into the greater province of italy.

 

I can only imagine a occupation would be necessary as Vatican itself would refuse to lose its independence as a major point of its existence is to be free from any and all political powers as it is itself a rightful temporal power. The Lateran Treaty of the 1920s meant that if Vatican renounced its formal claims on Rome it would be left alone to act independently of Italy. Given the biblical reasons for refusing an NWO, corruption reasons of refusing to have their archives examined by a third party and practical reasons of losing absolute control of important buildings and relics there is simply no way I can fathom the Holy See willingly complying with the Alliance. They would need to of been occupied or granted absolute autonomy.

[Sytic]

This is... a lot of fucking work, holy shit. Moreso than I ever expected. As per usual, I'm all glad for expanding the lore on a given company, a sect, a government or even a civilisation itself, and this is not even work based on just any sort of idea by the player making the lore, rather based on history itself (and he knows his history). I'm convinced Snake knows his shit- he's shown it, and has become a community pillar through Jack McJacko in the few short weeks around. Giving him some lore he can spout that is recent (despite the bloat over time, there's bound to be some interesting tidbits- this can be seen with the First Luna Council referenced in the original post) is well deserved, especially given the fact that Christianity is well and alive in space, as characters before McJacko has shown. +1

[Snake2512]

Due to the spread of the Catholic population amongst the stars and as Biesel has little significance in the Catholic world, it would be home to only three Archbishops who's ecclesiastical province encompasses the entire planet and their Seats would be divided between Scottsdan, Phoenixport and Mendell City. Suffragan Dioceses would encompass the rest of the Cities divided between 7 Auxillary Bishops. Given it is however a strategic area a total office of 7 Inquisitors, including one Inquisitor Superior and each Bishop would have a personal Exorcist on hand, totaling 10 as well as being apart of the Sol Exorcist Corps, would bring their number up to 53 dedicated Exorcists for the planet. One Cardinal will however be assigned to the Republic ltself for the sake of formal diplomatic matters between Church and State.

Archdiocese of Mendell City

-

Faction: Republic of Biesel

Rite: Latin

Cathedral: Our Lady Queen of Victory, Gothic Revival

Patron Saint: St. Mary, Mother of God.

Pope: John Paul V

Archbishop: Raymond Ratzinger

-

Archdiocese of Pheonixport

-

Faction: Republic of Biesel

Rite: Latin

Cathedral: St. Dominic, Romanesque

Patron Saint: St. Dominic

Pope: John Paul V

Archbishop: Tomas de Sonseca, O.P

-

Archdiocese of Scottsdam

-

Faction: Republic of Biesel

Rite: Latin

Cathedral: St. Benedict of Nursia, Gothic Revival

Patron Saint: St. Joseph

Pope: John Paul V

Archbishop: Busara Yahya

-

Holy Office of the Roman and Universal Inquisition For the Ecclesiastical Province of Biesel

Inquisitor Superior: Msgr. Seamus Murphy

Inquisitors:

Fr. Maximilian Walsh

Fr. Aleksandar Panjić

Fr. Breno Fernandes Damasceno

Fr. Francesco Rosellini

Fr. Ashton O'Brien

Fr. Benjamin Mueller

[Zundy]

Now this is pod racing.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Why does the church need inquisitors [mention]Snake2512[/mention] ?

[Snake2512]

We have Inquisitors today in the real church but because its entirely centralised they are referred to as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. However, in Auorora's lore its logistically impossible for a centralised congregation to keep track of the universes orthodoxy to Church Dogma, the CDF would become de-centralised and they would change their name back to the Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition.

This is why the Pope Benedict in the lore is such a significant man because he brought in the bulk of the reforms to the Roman Curia that would allow them to manage themselves, this of course means however the Holy See does not have as authoritarian as a grip as it once had in our current time. Its now far more likely for them to become corrupt when outside the eyes of the Holy See.

[Snake2512]

I would also like to request the following news headline as well.

Papal Legate arrives in Emperor Boleslaw's court; Tribunal stunned as Dominia collapses overnight

 

In an unprecedented move, the Vatican has dispatched a team of ten theologians and Canon Law experts to Dominian space, as expected they were immediately captured and dragged before the Tribunal.

However it is reported that it was not the Catholics who were toppled that evening, in a move that tore through the Tribunals very foundations, Cardinal Nowicki stood up and said, "You know you guys are quite literally ripping off of Aristotle's Metaphysics and not even doing it properly, right?" To which the Cardinal had tossed a package towards the Priests of the Tribunal, inside a copy of 'Summa Theologica'.

As the Priests of the Tribunal began reading the Catholic Saints work it is reported they all began nodding slowly, glancing nervously at each other. According to sources one Priest even exclaimed, "Huh, yeah, despite us coming 1200 years later after this guy, we've come up with nothing he hasn't already said or refuted.' Another priest apparently claimed 'This St. Tommy Aqua guy is alright.'

However not all were happy with the systematic rebuke of the Dominian faith by a man who lived 1200 years ago, many demanded more evidence of Emperor Boleslaw's deceit, to which one priest, Fr. Gregory responded, "Yeah, okay so you claim God has appointed Boleslaw alone to lead the stars to greatness yeah? And your God is the true God? Right, if this was true how come, with the aid of God Himself, Boleslaw is utterly unable to outmaneuver a race of people that is still recovering from declaring war on itself?' At this point the Tribunal broke into hysterics and the Papal Legates barely made it out alive in the ensuring chaos.

At the time reporters pressed Pope John Paul V, who was found in his holiday home on Luna, for his thoughts on the work of his Legates to which he responded, refusing to get up out of his sun chair that 'The Dominians made the classic theological mistake of not doing a single intelligent thing' and that 'Dominians arent even worth fighting anymore' and instead claimed that 'those IPC sexbots are the biggest threat to our youth since small pox and I won't rest til the matter is resolved' to which he immediately closed his eyes and napped in his sun chair.

Officials from the Roman Curia denied the Pope owning a holiday home on Luna.

[Sytic]

I would also like to request the following news headline as well.

the rest of this is snipped

 

this better be a meme, i dont think you'll pull through with obliterating an entire faction in the lore that's just becoming popular

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Hello,

We are still passing this around in the lore chat. This is a busy week!

So far my main criticism is the return of the Inquisition. Personally when I hear the word "inquisition" I think of the persecution by the hands of the Spanish Inquisition. and otherwise pretty messed up stuff. In our setting, the only two major inquisitions are clearly antagonistic forces. There is a lot of baggage.

You will need to remove or rebrand your inquisition to not have it attached to really messy connotations.

[Scheveningen]

The Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office (CDF for short) in real life is not the Holy Spanish Inquisition that burned multiple non-Catholics to the stake for their beliefs. The CDF is offhandedly called the Inquisition due in part to the fact that it was part of the reformation of that branch of the church. Mostly due to the issues of false positives and multiple canon decisions being passed that realized how extreme the Spanish Inquisition was in its quest for quelling heresy.

Throughout 150,000 total individual prosecutions that the Spanish Inquisition investigated, some authors speculate only 2% -- Nearly 3,000 people, were actually executed. Other authors disagree and put this range between 1% to 5%. When taking into account archived documents from the Suprema, in which there were nearly 45000 judgements that were documented, 800~ executions were done in person and 750~ were done on a burning effigy. This is significantly less than how many were burned for witchcraft during the same time period. This is hotly contested by historians that claim either more or less in terms of numbers. There are other concerns about the validity of the Suprema as evidence given they only provide information about the processes which took place prior to 1560.

History lesson aside, the current CDF/Inquisition in the modern day, to my knowledge, does not actively burn either witches or heretics at the stake. Its current role in the church structure is to, quote by John Paul II, "The proper duty of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to promote and safeguard the doctrine on faith and morals in the whole Catholic world; so it has competence in things that touch this matter in any way."

The CDF actively investigates the most grave violations of canon such as adultery committed by a priest, crimes against the Eucharist, and other things pertaining to internal investigation of members of the Catholic Church. It's the executive authority that looks into and investigates such crimes and doles out its own judgement such as recommending anathema.

The CDF also actively attempts to keep doctrine modernized and relevant to the context that it is applied. There are plenty of other associated duties to the modern-day CDF but none actually constitute as "actively go out of your way to burn witches or adulterers." They mostly just yell, scream, and bureaucratically ruin the standing of already-Catholic individuals in their communities.

Jump 400 years into the future and I highly doubt they'd regress to that former state of outright seeking people to persecute and murder for their crimes. Even then, 2.5% average (assuming the worst that historians say) of people actually committed to death for their actions by the church authority is a number that isn't significant enough to identify as something that'd be a recurring issue.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Im well aware of the technical terms. It does not change preconceptions and connotations. Its not going forward as an inquisition informally or not.

[Scheveningen]

I don't see how worst-case stigma or stereotypes would reasonably factor into roleplay without consequences. If someone takes the CDF as a witch-burning branch of the Church and actually applies it to be part of their character, that sounds like an individual player issue.

Dominia outright has a Holy Tribunal that brazenly executes people for violating edicts. We apparently have a Dominian character that bragged about participating in six different stoning attempts and nobody really blinked an eye since that is apparently established lore. I did ask if that was a thing, even looked at the wiki and it's pretty much confirmed as an actual thing.

Assuming your concerns are valid in this case, what's the issue of implementing an inquisition branch in an environment where atrocity is pretty par for the course? Is it the part that the Catholic church is real IRL, and the fact that Dominia is fake, so the whole witch-hunting thing is only problematic when it associates with a real organization that's done it before? Even saying that is pretty dodgy because few Catholics today would associate the result of the Spanish Inquisition as an alright thing to do. I'd say it wouldn't really matter either way because at the end of the day, none of this is real, it just establishes precedent for the world that everyone expects their characters to play a part in and express themselves.

I'm not saying the RCC's inquisition should be characterized as witch-burners. Far from it.

[Snake2512]

Well, thats just it Schev has it completely right.

The Inquisition is just a name and in this canon they aren't going to be going around killing people, they are quite literally just the CDF but de-centralised so it doesn't make sense to call them a 'Congregation' as this isn't a centralised office of the Roman Curia anymore but now a vast and complex tool of it. It makes absolutely no sense for the Inquisition to keep their former name and quite frankly I don't know what else to call them, they are Inquisitors tasked to preserve Orthodoxy and adapt the Doctrines when necessary, they won't be going around killing people for it they just have authority to dismiss Lay and Priests from the Church and rebuke Bishops who step out of line.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

You are right in that we have a tribunal inqusition. The fact our setting's only two inquisition groups are actively antagonistic was the main point of my argument. Inquisition has negative baggage and it is invoked when we need a shorthand to describe a group being nefarious. It may be a false equivilancy but to try to make you understand where I am coming from, imagine a group called The Puppy Skull Crushers want to buy your puppy orphanage. Sure this group might be nothing but a net positive for animal activism, but their name has a lot of baggage that invokes immediate preconceptions about their intent and methods.

You can still call it a Congregation.

No inquisitions or inquisitors. Give them a better PR name.

[Scheveningen]

I'm not sure if "Catholic Inquisition" is really that equatable to crushing the skulls of puppies, even when considering the horrible deeds that the Spaniard sect of the Catholic Church conducted upon the Berbers, Moors and even Protestant people of Spain. We can't judge all communists based on the actions of Stalin, if I might present an extreme example. Such as we can't judge the entire Catholic Holy Inquisition for the actions that several extremists brought about. At most, the deaths incurred as a result of the Spanish Inquisition only accounted for, at most, 5% of all judgement cases relating to heresy. Witch-hunting was a completely different ballpark and I couldn't really pull statistics up for it as even those numbers are dodgier and more hotly debated than as to what historians claim were casualty numbers as a result of the Spanish Inquisition's actions. The inquisition was hardly responsible for witch-hunting as much as the established monarchs during the late medieval ages prior to the Renaissance era that took part in the witch-burning on a widely organized scale.

I understand where you're coming from in regards to the stigma that "Inquisition" brings to the table because most people not particularly familiar to the structure of the Catholic church will immediately relate it to the Spanish Inquisition. 3000 people killed on heresy charges alone is significant enough to be considered an atrocity when you compare it to the current times. It's barbaric to consider now and you may be right in that the barbaric stigma associated to the name might still stick. By and large it isn't going to affect anyone other than people not familiar with the Catholic church.

As mentioned, "Congregation" is not going to work out as it isn't an official office of the Vatican but an integral, de-centralized expansion upon it, posed as a more broad form of an internal affairs branch of the Church practically attached to every single community to better hold their own numbers accountable in the event they commit a carnal sin. Especially those related to sexual crimes and etc.

I honestly think in spite of the real life stigma that the very title of Inquisition possesses, it could create some interesting IC conflict of its own in which people generally unfamiliar with the inner workings of the post-modern Roman Catholic Church can have their own outrage against the terminology. This is one of the many facets of the overarching concept that would help characters pick their own sides in terms of how they position for it or against it.

But that's my position, honestly. If Snake would like to budge, that's his call as it's his suggestion. I hope my reasoning was understood.

[Snake2512]

But theres no reason for the Church to try and hide from 'real life stigma'. Your argument hinges on the fact that it wouldn't look good to the outside world but why would the Catholic Church care what outsiders thought of them considering those outsiders would never have to deal with the Inquisition? Not to mention it makes even less sense in our Canon considering the whole 'blackout of information' and so the main source of slander against the Inquisition has been wiped except for Protestants in the 18th and 19th Century harping on about them, even so a Church in the 25th Century wouldn't care for them and the people in it would probably never even come into contact with this information as any modern historian would dispel it as mostly myth as we see today. An especially conservative church in a time of persecution has always had a bunker mindset to them.

Unless you are saying that it would offend people OOCly?

Edit: The comparison is especially dumb because nothing about the name 'Inquisition' is inherently violent or brutal, it is quite literally a system of courts for Canon Law. We can't call it a Congregation because that isn't what it is. This point is made even more glaringly obvious when the entire feel of the Church in this setting is one thats trying to get rid of their bloated numbers, there is a serious crisis it faces in the rapidly liberal world and it would be a direct policy of the Vatican to try and return to its older self, if you just inflate and get too many numbers that your clergy can't handle then you will be so horribly inefficient as a Church (See: 1 million priests to 9 billion Catholics) all in all the Church really wouldn't care about the stigma (i'd even argue the stigma doesnt even exist among secular people, maybe amongst protestants who know Church history due to the information wipe as the bulk of the negative stigma the Inquisition has is due to pop culture really.) because the Church is in the process of bunkering itself down to re-establish itself.

[Zundy]

People will see inquisition and absolutely invoke the stereotype of an inquisition which is killing heretics. Dominia is proof that people will take incorrect lore, run with it, date it, marry it, spread it around and use it. It'll then be an uphill struggle to stop it.

No where in lore does it say Dominians stone people nor is their actually a Tribunal Inquisition, it's just law, yet here we are with it being posted on the forums as fact. You even said you read the wiki where none of this is written. This is what will happen when you canonise (pun intended) the Catholic Inquisition. Just change the name to not immediately provoke shitters and everything else is hunky dory. The whole "waning church" is what I was envisioning when I was talking to snake about it all those months ago.

[Snake2512]

We quote the Dominians as stoning people because one of the Dominian Chaplains said they stoned people to death. This has nothing to do with the quality of the lore or how it fits in the setting this is simply a human factor where people get things wrong, trying to pull a name because of this factor is completely silly.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Guest

[Snake2512]

Honestly, the reason is now becoming it is to OOCly protect the Catholic Church in this setting? But thats precisely what Catholic characters need, nothing improves the Churches position more than when people persecute it with falsehoods.

I have had so many people not even understand basic Catholic dogma when playing Catholic characters and trying to attack the Church, the adding of an Inquisition will not create any new problems, I assure you.

The waning of the Church as it becomes more and more isolated from the modern world is precisely what an Inquisition achieves though, it sets the tone of a bunkered in Church trying to fix and reform itself so as to survive.

[Scheveningen]

 

it says right here that they execute people though. It may not be written in stone that they, well, stone people, but the fact of the matter is that Dominia is quite literally written to be a religious extremist country that rabidly attempts to execute people that violate their edicts. It's also not explicitly mentioned what their edicts (short of the only two that people are aware of, one of which is banning slavery and the other is respecting the other eminent domains of the other systems) even are on the wiki so I can't even get an idea of what they consider worthy of launching system manhunts throughout their empire just to execute one person.

The worst a Catholic will do to you for something like adultery will be to excommunicate you. You don't get back in. Ever. You are unable to get back into the religious community and your name is shamed forever. But you aren't killed for this, because it'd be murder. This is far, far different from what Dominia does to punish people that act outside of social grounds. The difference here is that this is not a established country with the military means to back themselves up. This is a religious faith that opines to be otherwise peaceful and non-aggressive. This is not Dominia. Not even close. Don't compare these two things here.

Which is quite different from the Catholic church. The Roman Catholic Church does not promote this in the modern day. I see zero reason besides irrational anti-Catholic paranoia by itself, that this type of lore development will become a problem on the basis of the name alone of an integral department of the Catholic Church whose only goal is to investigate its own members of the Catholic community and ensure all interpretations of faith are up to par for canonical guidelines.

 

Dominia is proof that people will take incorrect lore, run with it, date it, marry it, spread it around and use it. It'll then be an uphill struggle to stop it.

 

I'm going to be harsh, and I hate to say this. It's really not relevant to the current subject to bring Dominia into this to a more serious degree that it's mentioned more than just an off-handed comparison but I'm going to say something anyway.

Dominia turning into the gigantic meme that it is, is due in part to your own personal failure to enforce Dominian characters to behave and act within specific guidelines, which as of now do not seem to be specifically outlined. Not only is it the individual's fault themselves for acting like an over-the-top goofball of a character (I mean, the entire page is written rather ostentatiously, what is anyone supposed to expect?) but I can just as easily posit there's an issue in clarification on your part on how they're supposed to be acting. How can you blame these people for acting so ostentatious when the very nature of Dominia being in the lore hardly takes itself seriously? It's honestly ridiculous and over-the-top as it is. Dominia's very own OOC origin story paints a really bad picture to begin with, especially considering how it was positioned "East" of the Sol Alliance. Whatever that means in terms of a galactic core pivotal axis.

Don't take this as me ragging you for this, I do not mean to put the blame only on you here. Take this as me attempting to point out the fault does not lay on the community alone here for why Dominia is the way it is. I'm sure there are other reasons that Dominia is not being taken seriously beyond it being your own involvement, but they don't stand out as much considering you fully have the capability to fix the issues endemic to Dominia and the characters that come from it.

I do not think it'll go the same way with the Catholic Church on the apparent merit being put forward that it'll come into contact with the same issues that Dominia did. The Catholic Church having a religious inquisition that only affects its own religious faith and not those outside of it is not exactly as unbelievable as having a country whose middle class and rich populace are mostly only composed of very tall white people after 300 years of settling this colony.

If anyone actually makes a character that's a deputy to one of the established inquisitors or something and they go around yelling at people and trying to torch them as a non-traitor then I'll go out and call them a dickhead for trying to ruin this whole thing here.