Holy Clergy of Bovido Has

Type
 **Archbishop**• 1817 - 1859•1859 - 1897• 1897 - 1913• 1913 - 1938• 1938 - 1967• 1967 - 1981• 1983 - 2018• 2018 - 2020• 2020 - 2021**Cardinal**• 2021 - 2028
 Founded
 Successor

The **Holy Clergy of Bovido Has**, also referred to simply as the **Clergy**, was the governing body of the Church of the Lord within Bovido Has, with its leader acting as the head of government for the Christian nation.

Founded in the mid 1600s as the Confides of St. John, it evolved into the Templars in the 1700s before transforming into the Holy Clergy in 1938. As an instrumental organ in the nation of Bovido Has, the Clergy remained as the main power body of the nation following the Siege of Makassar and the Invasion of Japan, before reforming in 2021 - 2022 under Cardinal Anton Ujung, a direct descendant of Canaan Ujung, to purge itself in preparation for the enactment of the Bovido Hassian Contingency planed by Ujung to eradicate and cull the weak strands of the Clergy and Armed Forces which allowed the both of nation's capitals to fall within the same year, shrinking the nation into fractions and remnants. In 2028 with the establishment of the Bovido Imperium, the role of the Cardinal was shrunk as the nation decentralised, instead giving the Clergy significant political power over government policy under the leadership of Cardinal Julios Cragen, whilst Anton Ujung was coronated as the Imperator of the new nation.

## History

Formed by missionary colonists in England in 1657, the Confides of St. John was initially created as a humanitarian group who would travel the world and teach local populations of the virtues of Christianity. Sent ahead of a British invasion of the newly formed Japanese Empire, the Confides began their work but were exiled to the island of Belitung after they were linked to the failed invasion in 1672. Setting up camp on the isolated island, the Confides of St. John became increasingly radicalised as their separation from society drove them to desperate measures. After a failed return to the Japanese Empire in 1700, the Confides regrouped and renamed themselves as the Templars, in honour of the famous European knights, and set about establishing a new order on their island. Luring in unsuspecting converts from the surrounding islands, the Templars began to expand and developed a new language that was "worth of gods chosen few". Establishing themselves as the Bovido people led by the Templars, the islanders began plotting their revenge on the Japanese for their isolation in Belitung. Within the city of Namak, an outsider came to lead the Templars and led an uprising against the Japanese guard on the island who were ensuring that a revolt could never happen. Under the mysterious Ismachiah Joash, the Templar people seized control over their island and named it the *Bovido Has*, meaning the *Holy Lands,* beginning a system that continued well into the early 21st century.

Whilst Ismachiah and his brother Omar Joash imbedded the Templar order into Bovido society, the system began to collapse in the early 30s with the rise of a new organisation within Templar ranks known as the Clergy. By the time Matthew Aquilla rose to prominence following the removal of Canaan Ujung in 1938, the Clergy was the dominant religious fraction within Bovido Has. As Aquilla secured the Archbishop title, the Tempars were officially abolished and any mention to their name struck from official records, whilst promoting the ideology of the now dominant Clergy which had taken over religious affairs during the reign of Nicolas Ujung. Rebranded as the Holy Clergy of Bovido Has in 1938, the Clergy continued to grow in power, becoming an instrumental organ of the nation state as the title of Archbishop was furthered to become the paramount leader of the country, overshadowing members of the bureaucratic machine devised by Omar Joash. Before long, the Clergy was instrumental to the operation of the nation, whilst Archbishop Peter Purba subverted the institution to further his own gains until the clergy ordered the assassination of their own leader to preserve their power. As disciples of Purba attempted to enact a contingency plan to destroy the empire, the clergy fought a bloody civil war with the Purbian remnants before selecting Michael Ezra to lead it following a decisive victory in 1983.

Under Ezra, the Clergy formed the Final Government (intended to be the permanent governmental establishment) in the city of Makassar. Whist Ezra favoured religion to politicking, he reigned with a tight fist and often side-lined the clergy from important decisions, prioritising his own ministers over the established system to a point that the Clergy was only an accessory to the Archbishop by the time of Hazael Buller's reign. Under Buller, the Clergy became a political tool of the state, allowing him to control the nation whilst de-mobilizing large swathes of the Bovido Army. Upon Buller's death in 2020, the Final Government selected Damal Clod and Syli Dean to take over the positions of Emperor and Archbishop respectively, with Clod becoming head of state, whilst Dean focused on controlling the war effort. As Bovido Has was whittled down by the Has Wars, eventually retreating to Japan Has, the Clergy grew more and more fanatical, sacrificing soldiers to gain god's favour and hindering the war effort, leading to the assassination of Syli Dean and the upper echelons of the Tokyo Bovido clergy during the Invasion of Japan in September 2021. Having lost their central leadership, the Clergy became fractured even further, with Emirate Anton Ujung of Jerusalem luring in the most devoted followers during his contingency plan in order to help rebuild the nation in the form of the Jerusalem Bovido.

In August 2028, the Holy Clergy of Bovido Has became the Holy Clergy of the Bovido Imperium alongside the transformation of the Jerusalem Bovido into the Bovido Imperium - under the reign of Imperator Anton Ujung, the Clergy continued to grow in power within the structures of the new regime, with the capital province of the imperium being in direct governance by the Clergy. In 2036, frustrated by Imperator Ujung's perceived recklessness during the Great Crusade, senior members within the Clergy led by Cardinal Julios Cragen launched a coup d'état against Ujung and installed Cragen as the new imperator. Under Cragen's reign, divisions within the Clergy came to the forefront as Cardinal Justas Kolas resigned within months of taking up his office, whilst factionalism within the Imperium grew to almost uncontrollable levels.

## Structure

    The Holy Clergy is first split in to cloisters, then into their larger monasteries, next the monasteries are collected into a far larger group of monasteries known as temples on average there tend to be upwards of 2,000 members of the Clergy per temple. Finally each temple has a role in the government, these roles are known as their Creed. There are five of these Creeds, they are as follows:

* **Home Creed**
* **Creed of Wrath**
* **Creed of the Coffers** (covers financial issues)
* **Creed of the True Lord** (covers all religious affairs)
* **Creed of Heart** (covers marriage, propaganda, and is the smallest creed)

### Home Creed

As the Bovido Hassian equivalent of a Home Office, the **Home Creed** is responsible for the management of state affairs. Managed by the Archemirate of Bovido Has, the Home Creed organises the government and cabinet, whilst helping to co-ordinate the management of the Has provinces and their local administrations.

### Creed of Wrath

Controlling the army, the **Creed of Wrath** acts as an equivalent of a Ministry of Defence under the Final Government and the Bovido Has Grand Council. Led by a top minister, the Creed is in control of the Lord's Grand Army and its predecessor force, the Lord's Holy Army, and coordinates forces across the once vast empire, appointing Emirates to the various Hases from the central Bovido. The Creed of Wrath is the only creed where being a clergy member is not a requirement to lead the division.

### Creed of the Coffers

Head of the Bovido Hassian banks, the Creed of the Coffers is one of the core creeds of the nation and is headed by a senior clergy member, often with a rank of Bishop or higher, leading it to be largely comprised of predominantly elderly men, as few women manage to ascend through the ranks of the clergy due to the highly patriarchal nature of the Bovido Hassian form of Christianity.

## Notable members

Since their founding the Clergy has seen many influential members who have helped shaped Bovido Has, the current Archbishop, Buller the rightful being one of them, he had come up through the home creed. However pre-Buller there were a multitude of influential members, for example Michael Ezra who ended the Purba era and installed the final government. It is rumoured that he will receive a sainthood in 2020."Those Who do not bend to the Lord shall burn in his holy wrath"-Michael Ezra

### Nicolas Ujung

    Born in 1847, In 1897 Nicolas Ujung came to power as the first ever non white Archbishop, however he is not only notable for his race but his aggressive expansionist policies, that saw the empire grow massively. Furthermore Nicolas Ujung also created HHL and the HNL (now the pride of Bovido Has). Using these newly formed forces Nicolas Ujung took control of the Indonesian islands, Philippines, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma over the course of 1897 to 1913.

However before he took power in 1897 he aided in conducting the true crusade, during this time he is believed to have burned upwards of 900 heretics. For his work in this crusade he was awarded the honour of our Lord, which is the highest earthly honour that may be given to a member of the Clergy. It involves both the receiving of a golden cross and the symbolic burning of one's hand.

### Saint Isaac Canio

St. Isaac Canio, known by his admirers as the Lord's fist and known by his enemies as the butcher of Balikpapan, both names arose from the same event, the Balikpapan rebellion.

In 1970 the Muslim population of Balikpapan declared themselves in rebellion, their goal was an Islamic caliphate. While they were small in numbers they were well armed and in an embarrassing turn of events they overpowered the local garrison and took control of large parts of the city. The islamic forces however would only hold the city for 7 hours.

St. Isaac Canio who at the time was a priest in the Creed of Wrath heard of the rebellion and was quick to rally one of the largest forces ever seen on local soil, this logistical master piece was executed by rallying the local population, who had all served time in the army under the conscription law, as such they has already been trained, the local female population however refused to be excluded, performing basic tasks such as carrying ammunition. With his army in toe St. Isaac Canio lead them to retake the city. His vengeance was swift and powerful, his army rushed through the streets massacring the rebels. There seemed to be no end to his attack, however he ordered his men to take prisoners many among his ranks thought this to be strange however they followed without question.

Two days after the rebels first took the city St. Isaac Canio had retaken it, the rebels now sat in chains at his mercy. St. Isaac Canio ordered the prisoners to marched out to the roads surrounding the city where he had them strung up upon meat hooks, sending a clear message to any other would be rebel. Because of his heroic actions upon his death in 2001 he was awarded a saint hood.

### Peter Purba and Abram Purba

Not all influential members of the clergy are today remembered as heros, as a matter of fact the Purba family is considered quite the opposite and are known today by many as the devil family. However before they became known as the devil family, they ran the country unquestioned.

Their short reign over the country began with Peter Purba who became archbishop in 1967, one of his first acts in power was to refound the templars and rename them to the nameless. Otherwise his reign was nothing to note. However when he died in 1981 it was discovered that he had named his son (Abram Purba) as his heir. This was a major breach in the tradition, as it was the clergy's role to appoint the archbishop. Tensions spiked when the Purbas were killed in their home by the nameless. Their deaths lead directly to the Purba incident.

Under the final government founded in 1981 the Clergy has total power over the government and are in charge of selecting the head of government. Members of the Clergy also select the heads of HAL, HNL and the heads of the HHL. As such any role in the Clergy is a vital one.