Marisa Belacqua

**Marisa Ruth Belacqua** (January 13, 1982 -) was a Pindoraman politician and member of the Magisterium who ruled Pindorama under a variety of different titles from August 17, 2025 onwards. She served as High Priest of Saint Joseph's Devotees briefly in 2025, before holding office as President of the Devotees between 2025 and 2030. She also held office as Prime Minister of Pindorama under the Bovido Imperium from 2030 to 2038, before proclaiming herself Empress of Pindorama as the head of an independent elective monarchical democracy.

Having been born into the cult of St Joseph in 1982, Marisa Belacqua grew up within the religious nation of Saint Joseph's Devotees as a member of the Magisterium, the nation's main religious body, serving for years as a nun and then a preacher within the system. Under the leadership of High Priest Aien Craven, Belacqua became an important part of the new regime, making herself invaluable in her service to the regime as one of the most crucial managers of the Magisterium, and during her tenure as the organisations international diplomat, Belacqua was able to foster relations with the nascent Bovido regime of Anton Ujung and court support from many abroad who viewed her as a less extreme leader than the High Priest, with diplomatic meetings with Libirachi president Damien Salamander resulting in Libirachi diplomatic backing for the overthrow of Craven.

On August 19, 2025 with the backing of the armed forces of the Magisterium, Marisa Belacqua led a coup d'état against High Priest Aien Craven, executing the Pindoraman leader and installing herself as the leader of the religious organisation, formally setting about dismantling the church's control over the Magisterium and instead placing herself with the title of President of the Devotees on September 10, 2025, effectively ending the 40 years of supreme Magisterium rule, instead opting to form a constitutional basis for her rule, with the office of the President replacing priesthood control of the body and creating a more secular leadership.

In November 2030, Marisa Belacqua brought the Republic of St Joseph's Devotees into the Bovido Imperium as a federal member state, uniting the states in their adherence to the Final Testament whilst also retaining a large degree of constitutional autonomy to run the province as she saw fit, effectively retaining *de-facto* sovereignty whilst also securing military and economic backing from the world's second largest superpower. As part of the agreement with the Bovido Imperium, Belacqua became Prime Minister of Pindorama and helped formulate Bovido plans for an invasion of the United Arab Republic, which began in September 2033 with the Invasion of Egypt. Pindoraman armed forces would see larger action during the Invasion of the United Arab Republic and Operation Avestor, which both sought to eradicate Islam from northern Africa.

Following the calamitous Decimation of Tunis, the less ideological Bovido leaders such as High Admiral Torrent Koon and Pindoraman Prime Minister Marisa Belacqua began to question the reign of Imperator Ujung; meanwhile, Prime Minister Marisa Belacqua covertly acquired the support of leading Clergy members, including Julios Cragen and Nicholas Azure, and together the leadership of the Bovido Imperium conducted a Coup d'état which deposed Imperator Anton Ujung, allowing Julios Cragen to take his place. Under the leadership of Cragen, Marisa Belacqua was able to secure even further autonomy from the central government of Jerusalem and following the botched Treaty of Beijing, the Pindoraman state effectively became it's own *de-facto* nation within the Imperium.

## History

Born in 1982 in the city of Airão, a formerly abandoned Incan city utilised by the Saint Joseph's Devotees as a home, Marisa Belacqua grew up within the cult at the time of revolution, being aged only three when the cult overthrew the Brazilian Government in 1985. Growing up within the new regime, Belacqua quickly became embedded within the politics of the Devotees and the Magisterium, leading to her eventual inclusion within the state as a nun in the Magisterium.

Under the leadership of High Priest Aien Craven, Belacqua became an important part of the new regime, making herself invaluable in her service to the regime as one of the most crucial managers of the Magisterium, and during her tenure as the organisations international diplomat, Belacqua was able to foster relations with the nascent Bovido regime of Anton Ujung and court support from many abroad who viewed her as a less extreme leader than the High Priest, with diplomatic meetings with Libirachi president Damien Salamander resulting in Libirachi diplomatic backing for the overthrow of Craven.

On August 19, 2025 with the backing of the armed forces of the Magisterium, Marisa Belacqua led a coup d'état against High Priest Aien Craven, executing the Pindoraman leader and installing herself as the leader of the religious organisation, formally setting about dismantling the church's control over the Magisterium and instead placing herself with the title of President of the Devotees on September 10, 2025, effectively ending the 40 years of supreme Magisterium rule, instead opting to form a constitutional basis for her rule, with the office of the President replacing priesthood control of the body and creating a more secular leadership.

## Presidency

 Prime Minister

Having overthrown High Priest Aien Craven in August 2025, Marisa Belacqua began to dismantle the powers of the Magisterium as a religious entity and implemented several reforms to ensure that she remained dominant over the body, such as the introduction of the title President of the Devotees on September 10, 2025. Over the course of the following years, President Belacqua began to purge the Magisterium of it's high ranking ministers and instead turned towards politicians and technocrats - despite this, the regime remained devoutly Christian and the only theological change was the removal of priests from government. Following decades of international isolation, Belacqua began to turn towards ST Joseph's ideological ally, Bovido Has, for political and economic support bringing the nation into the 21st century after nearly 50 years of dogmatism hindering economic growth. Finding a political soulmate in Bovido Cardinal Anton Ujung, Belacqua began to push for further integration of the two nations, though this project was halted in 2027 following the Global Banking Crisis which massively hampered the republic's economy. Talks for greater cooperation between the two nations re-started in 2029 after the formation of the Bovido Imperium, and on November 1, 2030 the Second Republic of the Devotees was dissolved and replaced with the state of Pindorama, a constituent state of the Imperium with Marisa Belaqua as Prime Minister, joining the Grand Council of Bovido leaders headed by Anton Ujung - under this new system, Pindorama was granted huge levels of autonomy, allowing Belacqua to run it as if it were a sovereign nation.