NEW TARAJAN “DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND,” DECLARES BISHOP AKAKIOS
New Tarajan “Possible Partner in World Politics,” Rebuts Sultan Ioannis
Mystras, Morea: With chaos in New-Zealand, a stalled peace conference in Antanares, and—for the Achaians at least—the unusual exchange of Morean-born Achaian prelates in Norda and Nordan-born pagan soldiers in Morea, the Achaian media has come to ignore, or to barely consider, the domestic matters of nations on the other side of the world as uninteresting or irrelevant to Achaian, and Montferrati, daily life. Our high-profile politicians, however, do not have that luxury, and it is arguable whether or not Bishop Akakios IV Doukas, prelate of the Diocese of Mystras, has ever wanted to do anything else but lambast** leaders both foreign and domestic over their policies in contravention of God’s Word and the teachings of our faith. Thus it was that the trial and conviction of a Christian youth in the Federal Aristocratic Kingdom of New Tarajan on evidence broken from the seal of confessional silence, the latest in a series of Tarajani insults to religious worship in general and Christian Truth in particular, brought Bishop Akakios to his pulpit in Kallimarmaro Cathedral earlier this afternoon, explaining in heavy detail the exact nature of the damnation to which New Tarajan’s court system had just condemned the entire nation.
Bishop Akakios of Mystras has previously commented on Tarajani paranoia regarding Achaian missionary activity, but otherwise ignored the matter in favor of fully-Achaian concerns. Credit: Peiraias Holy Trinity Company, Morea
“The people of New Tarajan are patient souls,” the bishop said to his congregation today. “They suffer all that their government lays on their shoulders, accept the lashes of the Landsraat and the courts, and bow their mortal heads before tyrants enthroned in pagan halls. But their souls are glorified by their meekness, and their divine inheritance shall overflow every imagining when their days in this world are done. For they have accepted the trials of God without question, and have remained in spirit and faith unbowed.”
Bishop Akakios’s sermon was prompted by the trial of Catholic Piet Gilsheim of Witteberg in the Tarajani Heerlijkheid Tribunaal, which resulted in Mr. Gilsheim’s conviction for the murder of 16-year-old Margarethe De Leville on the basis of evidence provided by Mr. Gilsheim’s parish priest. The defendant had submitted a request for the court to disallow the evidence, which took the form of Mr. Gilsheim’s confession of the crime to his priest in the knowledge that the latter would hold his secrets in silence, while the Truth was spoken only to God. Judge Hilga Van Bouren not only ignored Mr. Gilsheim’s religious rights and allowed this confession to be publicly aired, but furthermore actively ruled to limit religious involvement in social and political life in New Tarajan, declaring in favor of “the fundamental rule of the separation of State and Church.” Christianity, by its very nature a religion of vast societal and political importance to its adherents, has been struck a further blow in a land whose politicians look at religious activity halfway around the world in Morea and Norda with formerly-unnecessary concern.
The Witteberg Court of Justice, where Piet Gilsheim—and Christianity—have been unjustly sentenced by a Tarajani judge. Credit: Tarajani Public Records
According to Bishop Akakios, they will soon have to look much closer to home. “We call on sinners to confess their sins so that they are reminded of their failings and encouraged to correct them,” he preached. “We priests accept their confessions so that none but the Lord may bear witness to this baring of the soul—so that none but God may judge! Confession is the glory of a repentant man! The very nature of this evidence is a mark of Piet Gilsheim’s repentance for his actions, and his surrender to the judgment of God. Let no mere man claim the right to punish him now!
“Should Piet Gilsheim perish at the hands of a Tarajani executioner for words spoken in love for Christ, he will surely gain a martyr’s crown!” the bishop concluded.
This is a sensitive issue for the Sultanate, whose friends and allies, in particular the Empire of Duresia, have fully involved themselves in the coalition to invade the Social Democracy of New-Zealand alongside New-Zealand’s traditional ally, and Morea’s greatest historical threat, the Empire of Eurasia. Sultan Ioannis IX Kallergis has sent a Blue Palace emissary to represent Achaian Morea at the long-awaited peace conference in Antanares, both to observe the negotiations and to make contact with relatively-neutral and trustworthy parties in the hopes of finding new support abroad. New Tarajan, although formerly a partner in the New-Zealand invasion, quickly became one of its staunchest critics, and has spearheaded a push to bring peace to the region through international arbitration. Its government enlisted the help of Achaian representatives in the United Nations in an unsuccessful attempt to discover the truth of the matter before the Federation of Antanares took on the project and prepared the still-ongoing peace conference. The Sultan of Morea has since agreed to send his sons, Princes Chrysanthos and Dimosthenis Kallergis, to attend an annual Tarajani ball, which has been tentatively planned for whatever date concludes the peace talks in Antanares, which representatives from multiple monarchies and aristocracies from around the world are expected to attend.
Sultan Ioannis IX, who recently celebrated the news that his daughter and heir, Duchess Aikaterini Baumbach-Kallergis, is with child. Credit: Petros Agency, Morea
In the aftermath of Bishop Akakios’s sermon, the Blue Palace released a statement to the press to address the new wrinkle in its foreign policy. “The Sultanate and all Christians must grieve to hear of the judgment given by a Tarajani court today,” the statement said in part. “We must grieve too with the family of Margarethe De Leville, and with all those who have been affected by violence. Our grief does not dim our awareness that God judges all with equal justice, however. These are the trials we all must bear, no matter our sins or our faith. The Lord has sent trials above all others to the people of New Tarajan, and it is up to the Christian brethren among them to bear the load that He has seen fit to lay on their shoulders. Meanwhile, the Achaian people must bear our own burdens well outside of these concerns, and we believe that the government of New Tarajan will be intimately involved in easing our pains in future days. If the Lord is merciful, He may view this as part of the penance of a sinful nation; but that is not for His Anointed Majesty, or for anyone but God, to judge.”
The statement concluded, “We pray for the soul of Piet Gilsheim, so that in death he may know peace. Heaven may welcome a new martyr for the faith, but among Christians and pagans alike, life must forever continue on.”
IN OTHER NEWS:
Achaian Reaction to Montferrati Soldiers Divided
Montferrat: Duke Nico, Duke’s Minister Augustin Meet with Bishop Gavriil of Raitia
**OOC: I had to.