Holy Doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church of Royal Roleplay

The Holy Catholic Chuch of Royal Roleplay, headed by His Holiness Pope Maximus (steaven/Mathian) is the uniting force in all of Royal Roleplay; being the religion of most lands including: Thanagaria, Calico, Monte Cristo, Alden, and more among others. This is the Holy Doctrine of the said Church, in other words; its rules, regulations, and absolute Law; however only required of Catholic nations and people of the Catholic faith.

## Cardinals - Laws

First and foremost, the position of cardinal is for life; much like the Justices on the Supreme Court.

The way a Cardinal is chosen:

1) The current Pope chooses one or several candidates.

2) The other Cardinals agree on if a certain candidate should be voted in

3) Once they come to an agreement on someone, that candidate becomes the next Cardinal.

There is a **Grand Cardinal** (AnnabethCJackson aka Empress Elizabeth):

1. Facilitator to all and any meeting of the Council of Cardinals
2. De-facto leader of the Council of Cardinals, unless the Grand Cardinal is absent for whatever reason
3. Basically the spokesperson and representative for and of the Council
4. If and when the Pope at the time is absent, the Grand Cardinal WILL act as acting Pope, able to pass on the authority to any of the other Cardinals by will or if they are busy/absent as well
5. Can choose a number two in the Council of Cardinals who can take their authorities as Grand Cardinal and acting Pope (if the situation applies) if they are absent
6. With enough support from the Pope, can override any decisions made by the Council of Cardinals (rare)
7. Cannot vote in decisions made the Council, ONLY if there is a tiebreaker
8. By default lifelong, but can be removed for a legitimate reason

Cardinals have the following responsibilities and/or requirements:

1. Can be the facilitator to all and any meeting of the Council of Cardinals
2. Can be de-facto leaders to the Council of Cardinals
3. Can be the spokesperson and representative for and of the Council
4. The vote of these cardinals can change the elections of bishops from other lands and of the Pope
5. These cardinals can vote to make any change to the Catholic Church and the Grand Cardinal has no say
6. Are required to have at least one chapel/church unitz, but can help to contribute to the Pope's unitz
7. Are required to hold mass at least once a week
8. Publicly, **ALL** Cardinals **HAVE to SUPPORT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, OTHER COLLEAGUES, AND THE POPE.**
9. Can be changed or picked by a new Pope who wants someone else
10. Are by default lifelong, but can be removed because of a legitimate reason
11. All cardinals are not allowed to use their power to obtain physical (digital) objects from their peers and others. They can be extremely "convincing", however
12. As Children of God, we must promote peace and refrain from promoting wars between two Catholic kingdoms and/or empires

## The Pope of the Holy Catholic Church of R.R.

The current Pope is Pope Maximus Pius Lyon Dubois (steaven/Mathian)

The way a Pope is chosen:

1) Two or more candidates run for the position in front of the Council of Cardinals

2) The Cardinals vote on which **ONE** candidate they wish for (For this, the Grand Cardinal can vote)

3) The person with the most votes, automatically wins. However, **if** foul play is suspected, then a recount can be held.

The Pope has the following responsibilities and/or requirements:

1. Popes are elected for 3 months and can be reelected by Cardinals for any amount of times
2. A Pope must hold themselves in an adequate manner in public
3. Popes authorize marriages, divorces, death and birth certificates, oversee Royal baptisms, and treaties regarding Catholic realms
4. Popes must accept that their land will be a kingdom until their reign as Pope is over
5. Must hold public and private masses once a week, respectively
6. Can be a man or a female
7. For any land held before being Pope, their land will be under a regent until they complete their Papal reign
8. When their reign is over, they will receive their lands back and if they die their land goes to their heir and if they do not have an heir, their land will go to their closest family members
9. While the Pope is absent, the Grand Cardinal will act as Pope; taking over their duties
10. The Pope can only be reelected three times unless the Cardinals override this rule
11. The Pope cannot alter or completely remove any law from this Holy Doctrine without the approval of the Council of Cardinals
12. The Pope can be reelected three times, take a month or two off, then return for another three.
13. Popes can be reelected consecutively for three months
14. A Pope can deny marriages and divorces if he sees it unfit for the Catholic Church
15. Cardinals get 10% of any donations IF any was earned
16. Money from masses in the Pope's unitz all go to the Pope
17. Money from other Cardinal hosts pay a percentage of what they earned
18. Popes must have at least six chandeliers in his Cathedral (by Holy Cardinal Loverin)
19. Popes must have adequate, appropriate unitz; showing wealth, power, and success.
20. Popes cannot marry; any marriages before taking the position will be personally terminated with no fee by the Cardinals
21. Popes cannot have legitimate children DURING their rule as Pope; any children before are considered okay
22. Popes cannot publicly bring any bodily or emotional harm to anyone else, ever
23. Cardinals are able to hold private meetings if they are unsatisfied with the current Pope
24. The Pope must always publicly have on appropriate vestment
25. Popes, as well as any cardinals/grand cardinals are not allowed to control foreign realms other than their own under the name of God but can publicly and privately influence the current leader of that foreign realm's choices
26. During Royal Roleplay gatherings, the Pope may and is advised to attend to represent the Church
27. The Pope is to be publicly and privately referred to as "His Holiness or Your Holiness", by both Catholics and non-Catholics as a sign of respect
28. Popes publicly do not have says in executions of anyone else; but are allowed to privately influence them
29. If absolutely unsatisfied with certain actions taken by bishops or Cardinals or any other member of the Catholic Church, the Pope can attempt or force the party to end said action with a convened meeting and a legitimate reason
30. If the Pope supports a legitimate, reasonable certain military or political campaign in the Roleplay World, other Catholic nations are expected and must support their Pope; those who do not risk excommunication
31. The Pope cannot attack Catholic realms unless the said nation is not acting accordingly; there must be a legitimate reason agreed upon by the Catholic realms on offensive
32. The Pope must be older 28 or older, but cannot be 75 or older when elected in
33. The Pope has the ability to excommunicate anyone based on a legitimate reason agreed upon by the Council of Cardinals

## International Affairs

* Catholics are not expected to have wars against each other, but disputes WILL arise.
* Once they arise, the Pope MUST act as the mediator as quickly as possible after the dispute become public or once they discover it.
* Even if there was violence, physical and/or emotional, the dispute will be mediated by the Pope and they are not allowed to take sides on the dispute but act completely unbiased; publicly.
* By becoming Catholic, you can avoid war however being Catholic, baptisms and other civil services can be denied.
* Land that all of the empires/kingdoms gain from attacking realms of other religions (or atheism) automatically becomes the land of the Church, in other words, the Pope and is changed once the Pope is changed, promoting Catholics to be missionaries or attack other nations not of the Catholic Faith.
* If someone, or more than someone from the Catholic Community wants to attack another realm under a foreign religion or by none at all, others from the Catholic Community must support, follow, or fight alongside the Catholic nation attacking.
* Those in the Catholic Church have to support decisions made by the Pope and his or her Cardinals. If not, this is grounds to be considered as an act of rebellion and is looked down upon or even acted upon; resulting in excommunication.

## The Supernatural

* If someone, royalty or not, begins to behave erratically out of character, others can take note and ask the Pope to ask the Cardinals to perform an exorcism on that person, whether or not they want to (the accused), or by the Pope himself with or without aide from the Cardinals.
* Erratic behavior can be described of demonic possession.
* The cost for the Church to perform exorcisms and get rid of the demonic possessor, is four thousand beex.