The Church of Adria

The following was passed by the Imperial Estates of the Adrian Empire, as policy, May 7, 1995 and is not part of the Bylaws.

The Adrian Empire recreates the 'Age of Chivalry' or 'Middle Ages' with on exception, the Church. The Church of the middle ages impacted upon the society of the middle ages on a daily basis. The intent is to add the ceremonial aspect the [sic] of the Church to the game without the religious aspect. The ceremonies of the Church performed for secular activities had an unique impact upon the society of the middle ages. For example, the coronation of kings and the creation of knights. To add a ceremonial aspect to the game the Ministry Order of the chivalry has responsibility for creating and running the ceremonies of the game in Church personas.

A silver fleur-de-lis is the symbol of the Church. This gives the Church an easily recognizable symbol and negates any possible religious implications. The additional regalia items will be decided by the Imperial College of Arms.

The titles of Patriarch, Archbishop, and Bishop will be elected titles. For every thirty (30) members in a chartered subdivision a Bishop's See will be created. In a region with three (3) or more Bishop's Sees, on (1) of the Bishop's Sees will become an Archbishop's See. There will only be one (1) Partriarchal Throne for the Empire.

The Bishop/Archbishop will be chosen in the following manner, the Crown/Ruling Noble of a chartered subdivision will submit the name of their choice (they must be qualified (Km/Kcv)) for the vacant Bishop's/Archbishop's See to the Bishop's Synod, if [sic] the Bishop's Synod agrees the member is elevated to the Bishop's/Archbishop's See, if the Bishop's Synod doesn't agree, the Crown's/Ruling Noble's choice is declared the Bishop/Archbishop elect. It is suggested that one of the wars held by each subdivision each year become a Bishop's War. When the Bishop's War is held all vacant Bishop/Archbishop Sees can be vied for by qualified contenders and all Bishop/Archbishop elects [sic] must defend their right to the Bishop/Archbishop See.

The Patriarch is chosen once a year by the Bishop's Synod at the same time at [sic] the Imperial Crown War. The final duty of the outgoing Patriarch is the coronation of the incoming Imperial Crown.

The Ministry Order of the Chivalry is allowed to use a church title in lieu of their corresponding ministry rank for their persona.

[End of Writ]

N.B.: The term [sic] is used to indicate that there is a problem of some sort, and I know it, but that is how it appears in the original.

Commentary:

Following the Time of Trouble, the number of higher-level knights in the Ministry Order was diminished, many Ministry Knights were choosing not to assume ecclesiastical titles, and most people had little or no idea about the Church of Adria in the first place. Those of us who held positions in the Church believed that some re-organization was in order. At the same time all of us were also involved in secular politics, so Church business received scant attention. However, the Synod of Bishops did make certain resolutions and presented them to the Imperial Estates for ratification, since the Church was operating under the above Imperial Writ. Under Emperor Stefan, the Imperial Estates affirmed the Church's right to order its own affairs. Since the matters submitted to the Estates were organizational reform, we believed that the Estates wished us to pursue these, as well as other matters, with our own authority. Since then, the following changes have been put in place.

Rank requirements have been abolished with one exception. All Bishops, Archbishops and Patriarch must have attained the rank of Knight Minister. [Once the ranks of the Ministry Order have increased sufficiently, the other requirements may be re-instated.]

Another level has been added, anticipating continued growth of the regions. For every 30 people, a region may elect one Bishop. For every 3 Bishops, one Diocese becomes an Archdiocese and [its] Bishop becomes an Archbishop.   For every three Archbishops, one may be elevated to the title of Cardinal. Retired Patriarchs will be accorded the status of Titular Cardinal.

The titles of Priest, Deacon, Monk (Brother) and Initiate (Acolyte) may be used by those not holding elected office and wishing to play the game using a religious persona. Other, more minor, changes and adjustments are in process. The purpose of these adjustments, as with the proposed ecclesiastical heraldry, is to bring the Church of Adria into greater historical conformity with the structure [though certainly not the beliefs] of the medieval Church of Rome.

You will notice to things about this writ. First, the Church of Adria is required to have no "religious aspect." [N.B.: Only a modern thinker would consider the coronation of the king as a "secular" event. In the middle ages and antiquity it was very much religious.] This has given rise to the very tongue-in-cheek saying that the Church believes everything and nothing. More correctly, the Church has no religious beliefs or tenets whatsoever; it is required to have the forms without the content. That is not to say that an individual must give up his or her religious beliefs to play a religious persona. It does indicate that the official practices of the Church must be sufficiently broad so as to represent no religion. At coronations, for example, although Latin is used [form], the blessing of the regalia is done in the name of the People, Estates and Church of Adria. [No religious content; I don't think anyone considers any of those entities worthy of worship or adoration.] The sign of the fleur-de-lis is made over each of the pieces of regalia. [Again, form without religious content.] (It took me a while, but I finally figured out a relatively simple way to do the signing. Some of the early attempts were extremely florid and ludicrous.)

The second thing to note in the Writ is that provision is made for "The Church." A specific hierarchy is given, and no provision is made for rival, "schismatic" organizations. It is on the basis of that that I, as the Patriarch, maintain that the Cult of Saint Warhammer is part of the Church of Adria, even though its structure mimics the greater structure of the Church of Adria and could cause confusion for those not aware of the true case. (Of course, they say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; Saint Warhammer flatters the Church greatly.)

I hope this helps to elucidate the situation. If you wish to see the actual copy of the Writ that I possess, I will be glad to show it to you at the meeting of the Imperial Estates. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have had this copy of the writ in my possession since before the Time of Trouble (i.e. before March 1996).

Yours in Service to the Good,

Jéhan
Patriarch