Holy Clergy of the Bovido Imperium

Type
 Founded
 Predecessor

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

As a successor to the Holy Clergy of Bovido Has, the Bovido Imperium incarnation of the Clergy is a hybrid political and religious organisation, which both controls the official church of the Imperium, whilst also being the largest political faction within the empire. Under the 2028 constitution of the Bovido Imperium, the Holy Clergy was one of three major factions to control a provincial state, although the Cardinal of the Holy Clergy was constitutionally also the head of government and one of the most powerful politicians in the nation.

Despite their political functions within the Bovido Imperium, the Holy Clergy also serves as the highest body within the Church of the Lord and the Clergy's interpretation of the Final Testament, created during the existence of Bovido Has, forms the basis of the Faith, the official state religion of the Bovido Imperium. Within the imperium, the Holy Clergy is forced to compete with the Pindoraman Magisterium which forms the religious basis of the regime in South America, and the two share a deep political and religious rivalry, despite sharing the same core religious texts.

Upon the formation of the Bovido Imperium on August 10, 2028, the Holy Clergy of Bovido Has assumed a new title and was formally written into the constitution of the nation as being a key religious organ of the state - under the imperium regime, the Clergy reports directly to the Cardinal of the Holy Clergy, who in tern reports directly to the Bovido Imperator

## 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.