[UA] THE VATICAN CONSPIRACIES

[Chris Cooper]

THE VATICAN CONSPIRACIES

The Roman Catholic Church has and still suffers a
chequered image. Various conspiracies and scandals
still bubble up and burst open. This is a
fictionalised version of the Catholic Vatican
bedfellows and their manners and doings.  This does of
course have a gritty mystical slant, commonly called
Occult Noir (my take on UA-esque urban fantasy long
before the Occult Underground ever happened).

The concept that a church’s estate belonged to Rome
was one of the first modern view of consulate
territory laws. 

The Catholic Church consists of two parts; the
Vatican, or internal affairs, and the Catholic
Diocese, or external affairs. There is serious tension
between the Internal and External affairs.

The picture is a page halved by a line going down the
middle. In the centre of the page, over the bisecting
line, is the Pope. He is the central figure, but most
of the happenings happen without him or his knowledge
but, just for brevity he is, in theory, aware of most
things.

On the top half is the Internal Affairs, this is the
happenings in the Vatican state itself.

The supposed unquestioned and infallible master of the
Holy See and co-ordinator of God’s Will on Earth is
the Pope. The Hub of all that is the Papacy.

Connecting from the Pope and then outwards like spokes
from a wheel.

The Cardinals (Internal)
The Cardinals are the Catholics equivalent of Church
Elders. A lot of the banking scandals involve
Cardinals. Cardinals are the first line of defence,
against sorcerous attack; the Pope’s bodyguard against
magic throws. 

The Archbishoprics (External)
The Catholic Churches equivalent of Consul Generals,
most are torn between national loyalty and Vatican
loyalty. There are definite temper flare-ups between
The Cardinals and the Archbishoprics.  

Swiss Guard
The protectors of the Pope and then Cardinals against
mundane attacks; the official army of the Vatican. The
Swiss Guard is tenuously linked to a floating
clique-body called The Sackers of Old Rome or The
Austrian-Prussian-German Triangle.

Monitor Ecclesiasticus (M.E.)
A super-secret body that answers directly to the Pope.
M.E. is a foundation that publishes and distributes a
canon law review to Cardinals and Bishops world wide.
Anything handled by M.E., including the Vatican
Bank/I.O.R. transactions falls under the protection of
very strict confidentiality and secrecy laws that
apply to any entity linked to the Vatican and the
Vatican Bank, I.O.R. 

Only the Pope can personally disclose details of any
activities made under these super secret bylaws.

The Vatican Bank/I.O.R.
Directly linked to the Pope, M.E. and the P2 lodge.

Jerusalem House
A supposed independent business entity that functions
as a Department of Antiquities and Acquisitions for
the church. It is only linked to M.E. Jerusalem House
is multinational and, like the Pope, falls over both
sides of the division. Jerusalem House was formed by
the Knights Templar. Once formed, the remaining
skeleton of the Templars was destroyed by Philip the
Fair of France in a brutal, but publicised kangaroo
court. 

Floating Clique-bodies
Clique-bodies are like fraternity houses for priests
living in the Vatican. Priests of similar
nationalities, or other commonalties, band into little
cliques like they were exclusive clubs. Only the
following cliques have a scary amount of political
clout. They are linked to the Pope through very
indirect means.

The Roman Club, and the Borgias Bloodline. (Internal)
The Roman Club bands all he priests actually born in
Rome or the Vatican. The Borgias Bloodline is the
Roman Clubs version of a royal bloodline. People of
the Borgias Blood have higher status that the Romans.
Non-Romans may not join. The is a powerful Old-boys
Network. 

The Borgias Blood comes from the Borgias Popes that
started a royalty-priesthood breeding program to try
and create a Divine Right of Priest-Kings project.
These Priest-Kings would combine the Pope with the
Holy Roman Emperor, eventually allowing the Catholic
Church to control the mundane and spiritual parts of
the church. It created family trees for Popes. It
never took off.

The Sackers of Old Rome (Internal)
Also called The Sackers of Rome, or more commonly The
Austrian-Prussian-German Triangle. The Sackers are
fellows that wish to see another Teutonic Holy Roman
Emperor. They hotly deny accusations from the French
Catholic Revisionists. The Triangle is linked to the
Swiss Guard.

The French Catholic Revisionists (External)
The FCR basically wish to see that the Vatican is
closed down, and the Catholic church base itself in
France, with a Frankish Holy Roman Emperor. They
continually remind everyone of a bargain by Hitler and
Rome, crowning Hitler as the Holy Roman Emperor.

Holy Roman Emperor
This is a title bestowed to a Catholic King or
Emperor, by the Papacy. It allows the Holy Emperor
partial access to church property and management, and
vice versa. Although supposedly defunct after the
death of Kaiser Wilheim, last of the Hapsburg Empire,
it is rumoured an unholy bargain was reached between
the Holy See and Hitler... 

Malebranche (External)
The Malebranche are the Vatican’s equivalent of the
CIA. Essentially they are wetworks, covert operatives.
The title of the head of Malebranche is Malecoda. They
are hidden by ME’s secrecy bylaws and plausible
deniability. Malebranche has ties to P2. Malebranche
agents have Grand Indulgence. Malebranche can be
assumed to be the Holy See’s magic heavies.
Malebranche and the Jesuits were formed at the same
time, and due to odd coincidences, are thought to be
different departments of the same enterprise.
Malebranche has strong links to Jerusalem House.
Perhaps Malebranche is merely another derivative of
the Knights Templar. Malebranche also absorbed a fare
amount of Dominican Inquisitors, leaving the remaining
Spanish Inquisition to wither into embarrassing relic.

Grand Indulgence
The Grand Indulgence is the Catholic version of
License to Kill. Malebranche field operatives and
other recipients are granted Grand Indulgence before
performing their duties. Some Grand Indulgences are
temporary and others are permanent

Jesuits (External)
The Jesuits or Soldiers of Jesus answer only to the
Pope. They are the foreign legion police force of the
Church. Much of their power has been cut away by the
church. In turn the Jesuits help expose much of the
scandalous corruption as they can. The Jesuits also
have an inner circle called The Prefexture. The
Prefexture is the real guns of the Jesuits. It is the
hard-nose detective arm of the Jesuits. Prefect is an
nominative honorific title given to Jesuit
Prefextures. It is also, given the current atmosphere,
a secret title for those in the know. Malebranche are
believed to be the special initiates inner circle of
the Jesuits.

P2
P2 is a Catholic version of the Masonic Lodge. It is
rotten with Italian and Sicilian Mafioso. P2 has links
to The Vatican Bank/ I.O.R. and more secretly,
Malebranche.

The Medici family
Tied in with the Vatican itself is the venerable
family of Medici. The Medici’s and Rome have been
strange bedfellows. The Medici’s were a powerful
Renaissance banking family with many business
ventures. An informal Italian royal family that is
probably still intertwined with the Vatican, although,
it is believed, not as politically active anymore.
Probably have fingers in the P2 pie.

Adam Weishaupt
Weishaupt, a lapsed Jesuit, is the infamous founder of
the Bavarian Illuminati. The Illuminati were a lodge
of independent-minded socialist politicos and staunch
anti-royalists. Under this guise the Illuminati were
supposed to sow dissent. They were supposedly crushed
by the Bavarian government. Many whisper that
Weishaupt was really a Malebranche operative trying to
undermine Austrian political stability and get Austria
to pull its troops back, away from Italy, to suppress
a growing revolt or Civil War.




=====
The little bird that is the song in my heart
is too tired to be carried
by its battered wings.

It falls, crashes...
... and is still in its bone cage...

Dead Inside from Atomic Sock Monkey press.


                                      www.atomicsockmonkey.com

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