The location of the Pope during the Twilight War

[Stich2.0]

Originally Posted by natehale1971

It was the establishment of that security that provided cover for the arrivals of various priceless artifacts. But also the use of front organizations to purchase land in out of the way areas.

Ooh nice! Out the way areas so the buggering of little boys will have an added layer of security and privacy.

[James Langham]

This is the background note from my history:

The Vatican and the Papal State
Joseph Stalin was once told that the Pope would be upset by an action retorted “how many divisions does he have?” In this he was correct that the papacy (the world's smallest country) had little military power. What he overlooked was the influence that was held over church members.
When the Sino-Soviet War erupted the Pope tried to act as an intermediary. Links with the Orthodox Church were used but little was achieved. As the conflict spread to Europe the Catholic Church had more of an influence with the Poles in particular (Poland was the only Pact country that had a military chaplains department). Nothing was achieved but many worried Poles seeing the Polish Pope trying to promote peace turned to the church for solace. The strain of all the effort (including flights to Washington and Moscow) was too much for the ailing pope. In 1996 as a fake alert of a nuclear attack resulted in his flight by helicopter to the papal retreat at Castle Gandolfo, he suffered a major heart attack (the 1982 bomb shelter was not felt to be secure enough unless evacuation was impossible in the time available). Despite the best efforts of his doctor and the escorting Swiss Guard (including an ex-special forces medic) he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
With the death of Pope John Paul II, the conclave met to elect a new pope. After much debate the compromise candidate Italian Cardinal Camilo was elected Pope. Taking the name Pope John, he considered his position. A conservative theologian he was a practical man who had spent much of his early pastoral work in the rural parts of Italy. In his youth he had been called up by the army and had spent six months fighting in Russia before a leg wound sent him home. Feeling that the Church needed to act decisively he took the opportunity to act when the nuclear exchanges devastated Italy. Appealing to the remnants of the police and military to join him, he also expanded the Swiss Guard (an offer many Swiss were eager to accept). This force was one of the few organised groups in central Italy. Combined with the network of small churches, monasteries and nunneries which form the backbone of a welfare state, the Vatican easily fills the power vacuum.
Using the Church network the Vatican had developed an excellent intelligence network (in particular the Jesuits were active in this). Hit by the communication difficulties of the present this network is less effective as information is difficult to get back to the centre. This is balanced by an ease of gathering information as most priests and many lay members feel a loyalty more to the church than state (especially in these troubled times when life is short and brutal).
Portrayals of Pope John provide an interesting contrast. To supporters he is seen as a stabilising influence on a shattered world and a leader of one of the few places where order can still be found. To detractors he is portrayed as an opportunist militarist who is betraying the spiritual legacy of the Church for temporal gain. His quiet non-public life prior to becoming pope leads to much discussion as to his character.
He has since coming to power spoken out against the Communists and in particular the Italian government. Critics have said that this is purely an attempt to discredit his biggest rival for power (indeed many Italians have flocked to his banner), others however have suggested that this is due to his service in World War Two.
His long term goals are also unknown. At present he controls the central part of Italy centred around Rome. Movement north would gain control of the more industrial Po region (although it has been thoroughly devastated) whilst movement south would probably bring conflict with the Mafia. What is known is that the French have offered him a home in France but as yet no response has been made to these offers.
As an interesting aside rumours persist that the body of Pope John Paul II has been returned to his home county of Poland under the escort of a select team of Papal Guard. It is unknown if this rumour is accurate.
At least one alternative Pope with a reasonable claim is known to exist. This is Pope Alexander who is currently based in France. He claims that the election was flawed as few cardinals from places such as South America could get to the election in time and that this was his main block of supporters. The French have carefully trod a line that means they back him without offending Pope John (at least until the results of offering him a home are apparent. Other popes are known to exist but none have any real claim to legitimacy.

[helbent4]

Originally Posted by James Langham

Taking the name Pope John, he considered his position.

James,

A great body of work! There is one noticeable error: Popes are named sequentially. Pope John XXIII died in 1963, therefore the next Pope named "John" would be called Pope John XXIV. Popes are never referenced without the number.

Regarding the troll-bait comment, as a Catholic I don't even notice any more, much less get a rise. Now, I wonder if the Church's rules on marriage would be relaxed, perhaps to facilitate alliances with other churches, but somehow I think that would be too much to hope for!

Tony

[natehale1971]

Originally Posted by helbent4

Regarding the troll-bait comment, as a Catholic I don't even notice any more, much less get a rise. Now, I wonder if the Church's rules on marriage would be relaxed, perhaps to facilitate alliances with other churches, but somehow I think that would be too much to hope for!

Tony

Tony, I'm not a Catholic and thats not what is making me say something... but throwing in that kind of asinine comment for no good reason does nothing but cause thread drift or kill it. THAT's why I'm pointing it out. We are talking about something totally unrelated to what they threw out there, thus drawing us away from our topic.

[James Langham]

Thanks for the positive comments. Feel free to take whatever bits you want (after all some of you may find your own work incorporated in it!).

I had forgotten I needed to add the numbers, don't suppose you know what number Paul would be?

[helbent4]

Originally Posted by James Langham

Thanks for the positive comments. Feel free to take whatever bits you want (after all some of you may find your own work incorporated in it!).

I had forgotten I needed to add the numbers, don't suppose you know what number Paul would be?

James,

Ha, yes, I think the next in the series would be Pope John XXIV (Blessed John XXIII died in 1963).

All-in-all, a good and useful bit of history/background.

Tony

[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by James Langham

Thanks for the positive comments. Feel free to take whatever bits you want (after all some of you may find your own work incorporated in it!).

I had forgotten I needed to add the numbers, don't suppose you know what number Paul would be?

Paul VI was Pope between John XXIII and John Paul I, or 1963-1978.

[Adm.Lee]

Thinking a little, I wonder if a new Pope might have taken the name of Pius, after the two that reigned during the previous World Wars?

[helbent4]

Originally Posted by Adm.Lee

Thinking a little, I wonder if a new Pope might have taken the name of Pius, after the two that reigned during the previous World Wars?

Adm.,

I think there's a saying that the times are delivered unto them the pope that is needed and/or deserved, or something along those lines. There would be a certain historical symmetry to having another wartime pope by the same name. In this case, Pope Pius XIII. Of course, the new pope may want to chart something of a more active course than his predecessors and might decide on a different name, but I think that's certainly plausible.

Tony

[James Langham]

Originally Posted by Adm.Lee

Thinking a little, I wonder if a new Pope might have taken the name of Pius, after the two that reigned during the previous World Wars?

Not the best of omens. Mind you I might use that for a rival using it as an attempt at increasing his legitimacy.

[natehale1971]

Originally Posted by Stich2.0

Ooh nice! Out the way areas so the buggering of little boys will have an added layer of security and privacy.

I'm not gonna feed the troll, but i do think someone should point to them and say "let's shut them up before they grow"

[Fusilier]

I don't think this one is entirely a troll post.

[Panther Al]

Have to say JL- your point of view is really rather good. Its a logical way for the Holy See to have an Army again, without having to do a lot of hand waving- in fact, if you don't mind I'll steal it for my own timeline if you don't mind?

On the care and feeding bit... I wasn't going to say, but if you take that post and others, well...

[natehale1971]

JL's ideas for why the Pope does the build-up of the Papal Defense Forces, and they fit perfectly for a slow build-up to the Twilight War.

As for Trolls... popping in like that, with something totally off-topic and really asinine makes you Troll Bait in my book.