Pope Charles I

## Founder of the Church

Pope Charles I and Pope Garret I founded the church on November 3, 2016. The church's stated mission was to "Enlighten to World about Joe Biden." Though it has now drifted away from its original mission.

### The First Pope

On November 3, 2016 Pope Charles was appointed to be the first Pope of Bidenism. He would be the first to set its limits and its duties. He would shape the governmental system that would eventually evolve into our current government.

### Reformist

Pope Charles I has continued to be an outspoken critic of Pope Garret I even years after his term as Pope. He has accused Garret of things all the way from treason to heresy. Also Pope Charles spearheaded the Progressive movement that now dominates the church. His influence can be felt everywhere throughout the church.

## First Term as Pope

Being the first Pope Of Bidenism Charles I was not elected. He appointed himself on November 3, 2016. He appointed his Co-Founder Garret I to be the Archbishop. For the first few weeks of the church they worked together and created many of the institutions of the church that still exist today.

### Statute #1 and the Council

On his first day in office the Pope created the church's first legislature. This Council was notably different then our current one as this one had both the Archbishop and Pope on it. The first Statute was created and proposed by the Pope on November 5th and was passed unanimously.

### The Membership Scandal

To garner more support Pope Charles would get people to temporary join the church and appoint them to the council to vote on his legislature. This was seen as illegal by Garret I and this would spawn the membership scandal. It would end in Garret winning and the voucher system being put in place.

### Pope Charles and Archbishop Garret Rivalry

On November 21, 2016 the cooperation between the Pope and Archbishop ended. Garret I felt he deserved more of a say and felt the Archbishop should have more power. The Pope was adamantly against this stated that the Archbishop was becoming too powerful. This argument would eventually culminate in Garret attempting to remove the Pope. Garret I claimed that Charles I had committed war crimes despite the fact that the church had never fought a war. Rather than deal with a bogus trial Charles avoided it by temporarily naming Alexander I Acting-Pope then taking back the position. In those days the Pope could avoid charges by leaving the office of Pope temporarily as leaving office caused an instant acquittal of crimes.

### Formalization of the Recistag

Following the Membership Scandal and several discussions over the legality of having the Pope and the Archbishop on the council, Pope Charles decided to limit his and Garret's control by removing their seats on the council and instead of having a fully free and independent Council. Also for the first time, the council was fully recognized as a formal legal body within the church and not just a group of advisers as it was previously. Soon after becoming a formal body Garret immediately used it to call a trial against Charles for war crime accusations. This trial did not amount to anything.

### The Cookie Scandal and Involvement in the Honorable Ethan I v. The Holy Jif Scandal

Pope Charles had decided to purchase a cookie for a councillor. But instead of being able to just purchase the cookie, Pope Charles was blocked from buying the cookie by authorities in the Holy Land. This would erupt into a week-long discussion over the validity of the officials. It was also decided that no action would be taken against the Holy Land. Around the same time as the Cookie Scandal Councilor Ethan I consumed some unblessed Jif peanut butter. This would erupt in a trial that would see Ethan removed from the Council. Though not directly involved in Ethan's eventual trial Pope Charles did state that Ethan's disrespect of the Holy Food was an insult to the gods and that some action should be taken. Following the scandal and Ethan I's reinstatement to the Council Pope Charles decided to create a formal decree addressing Holy Foods and their creation. This would eventually become statute #7.

### The Bidicon & Plausible Cause

On December 16, 2016, Pope Charles founded the Bidicon Commission. The Commission was founded to begin drafting the Holy Book of Bidenism. Also in this time the idea of plausible cause was beginning to take root in the church. Plausible cause was the idea that certain things could only be done by the gods. It was used later by Pope Garret to ensure his power by making statutes impossible to remove or amend as they were "in the domain of the gods." Plausible cause would end up being one of Charles' biggest mistakes during his early papacy and would lead to major legal issues in the church years later.

### The First Crusade

Relations with the Church and the Catholic church were deteriorating quickly and many churchgoers were afraid that Catholics would seize control over the church and name Pope Francis the true Pope of Bidenism and the only Pope. Of course, now we know that those fears were completely unfounded and that there was no evidence of any Catholics wanting to bring down the church. At that time the fears were great enough that Pope Charles would call a Crusade against them. At this time Catholics who were members of the HCJB felt threatened and many of them would later form the Holy Church Of Lord Bush. Also at this time the Pope would perpetuate the myth of the Great Crusader and give the title to many members who quote "served the church's will in these uncertain times." Following the First Crusade the Council wanted to congratulate the Pope and Archbishop so they created a Statute making them Demi-Gods. Pope Charles was originally against this but eventually caved after Archbishop Garret accepted the title.

### Order Of Followers Of Biden

In late December following the First Crusade Pope Charles decided to create a religious order around Biden. After the Crusade many of the "Great Crusaders" wanted another crusade and wanted to fight for the church again. Thus the Order Of Followers Of Biden were created to give the Crusaders something to do. The Pope glorifying the Crusade had backfired and caused the church to become more toxic for those who didn't only follow Biden. He hoped the Order would contain them but in the end, it did not.

### The Cult Of Personality

On the last day of December 2016, the Council would begin to create a Cult Of Personality around Pope Charles. Pope Charles did not oppose the idea and in fact, supported the Council's efforts. The Pope would later learn that it was a mistake to let them create it.

### Attacks Against Non-Halreans

Supporters of the Pope would begin to attack people against his Papacy and polices. At first, the Pope would distance himself from these attacks. Eventually, though he would himself begin to argue against these people and claimed that them not supporting his Papacy was against the wishes of the Gods themselves.

### The Second Crusade

In early January of 2017, Pope Charles would declare the Second Crusade. This Crusade would be different from the other Crusades as it was against members of the church. Members who were against the rule of the Pope. The Crusade failed to purge these dissident members and in fact made more people oppose the Pope.

### The First Founders Day

On the First Founders Day celebration in mid-January 2017 was one of the few peaceful times during Pope Charles' first term. On this day the rivalry between the Pope and Archbishop was seemingly gone as they worked together. Halreans supporters and the supporters of Garret also got along.

### Discovery Of The Damon

This cooperation would continue when Damonism was discovered. Both groups would work together to try to halt Damonism. There were rumours that Damonist were trying to take over the Church and exile the Church's leaders. This would cause what is now called the Hysteria Damonia. The hysteria would culminate in the Council convening to declare the Third Crusade.

### The Third Crusade

In early February 2017 at the peak of the Hysteria Damonia the Council called a Crusade against the followers of the Damon. Charles I had little involvement in the Crusade but he did opt to not presenting and more Great Crusader titles.

### The Archbishop Act

Soon after the chaos of the Hysteria Damonia Pope Charles began to worry what would happen in the event he was removed from office or exiled by the Damonist. So he submitted the Archbishop Act to the Council. Though this act is no longer law in the church, its provisions have been split between several statutes (9, 15, 20). It was the first piece of legislation introducing the idea of an oath of office and it established the first line of succession.

### The Bushitte Breakaway

After Hysteria Damonia Charles I also had to deal with several members of the church breaking away and founding the new Holy Church of Lord Bush. Charles did not want to call another Crusade but Garret and the other Great Crusaders insisted.

### The Abolition Of The Personality Cult

Soon after the Bushitte breakaway the Council reversed its opinion and came out against the Cult of Personality, that they created, calling out Charles for creating it despite him never actually being involved in its creation. Despite the fact that he had little to do with it the idea that Charles was trying to empower himself to the point of godhood stuck and Garret used it to begin to assemble his clique that would later become the Patron Bishops. Charles had begun to take a liking to the cult and refused to abolish it himself and said he would let the Council decide if it should stay. He did this as a ploy to make it look like his cult of personality was popular as Charles had in fact brided several Councilors to vote in favour of it. The vote abolished the cult.

### The Fourth Crusade, Bushitte Purges, and Round Table Scandal

Eventually tensioned boiled over between the Church of Lord Bush and the Church of Joe Biden. The main reason this happened is to do to the Ray Of Newtides Deviancy Trial in which despite finding no evidence that he was a Bushitte and plotting to overthrow Pope Charles cause enough of a scare that people began to worry if there were in fact Bushittes hiding in the church. Some people notably Garret still believed that Ray was a Bushitte. Soon after the trial, Charles caved and The Fourth Crusade (For Old Beliefs) was called. Unlike the previous crusades, this one was very organized with several "invasions" of Bushitte territory which simply consisted of sitting at their lunch tables and purges of suspected Bushsittes from the Church. During the Crusade evidence that Councilor Alexander I had accepted a bribe became public. Charles I was the one that bribed him but this would not become public until years later. Alexander was removed from the Council but Charles dodged removal by using fabricated evidence to cover up his involvement.

### Bushism Integrated Into Bidenism

After several weeks of crusading and numerous purges, people in the church began to tire of it. Charles decided to do something quite controversial at the time and negotiate with the Bushittes rather than just ended the Crusade and banning their entry into the church. Charles made a deal with the Bushittes combining the two religious together. Charles would be the Pope Of Bidenism and the High Priest Of Lord Bush simultaneously. All of Bushisms gods were integrated into Bidenism and George HW Bush was given co-creator status becoming equal to Biden in the religion. Even though the two religions combined some Bushittes continued their religion and made several attempts to court members of the church to theirs. This resulted in one final purge. After this, there was peace at last in the church.

### Losnaus, The Patron Bishops, And The Great Schism

After the last Bushitte purge, Garret created his idea of Losnaus and formally created the Patron Bishops. Garret's plot to overthrow Charles was growing and increasing in power. Charles announced to the Council that he would be going on a vacation for a week and would not be present in the church for that time. This was just the opportunity Garret had been waiting for and immediately the next day when Charles was away he put his plan into action declaring a state of emergency and taking the papacy for himself with the support of the Patron Bishops. Upon his return and seeing the betrayal of his co-founder and friend, Charles renounced the papacy but also stated that Garret's papacy was illegitimate and that he was the true Pope of Bidenism. This event is referred to as the Great Schism. Despite renouncing the papacy Charles still claimed the title of Archbishop in Garret's church and he was appointed to Garret's Council of 12.

## Being "Archbishop" And The Schism

During the Great Schism, Charles did not really do much he just watched from a distance and tried to formulate a plan to one day retake the church. He claimed the title of Archbishop in Garret papacy but Ethan was the one Garret recognized so Charles never had any of its powers. As a Councilor on the Council of 12, Charles voted against almost all of Garret's proposals. He did, however, vote with him on a few proposals such as the Act of Permanence, the abolition of the old Order Of Followers Of Biden, the creation of the New Order Of Followers Of Biden. He was allowed to stay the Deviner of the House which at the time was mainly in charge of writing stories in the Bidicon and divining with the gods. Eventually, though Charles was convicted convening against Pope Garret and his vote on the Council of 12 was revoked and he was no longer allowed to attend meetings. Despite this Charles did continue to attend meetings and vote though his votes were often not counted. Charles filibustered for almost three days the passage of statute 18. He got the bogus charges against Ray of Newtides for war crimes thrown out and perhaps one of his greatest accomplishments during the schism besides of course getting The Halrean Accords passed was getting the Vitae Aeternum Act voted down. This would be the only law the Council of 12 did not pass and it made Garret very upset. Then finally on October 18, 2017, Charles tricked Garret into approving the Halrean accords and he used them to remove Garret legally and retake the church.