Cathedral of Holy Light, Great Bright Hall.
Pope St. Ivan III was sitting on his spacious and magnificent chair. Holy light emerged out of thin air, illuminating the space with a radius of a few meters around the old man. Many bishops of the Church of Holy Light were arranged in an arc in front of St. Ivan III. Except for them, there was no clergyman below the rank of bishop in the Great Bright Hall. This was obviously a high-level assembly.
Veronica pushed open the door and walked to her seat under the gaze of the bishops. She was on the right hand side of the pope, the most revered seat.
The bishops nodded to Veronica. No one showed any dissatisfaction with her "lateness," at least on the surface. Veronica, on the other hand, greeted everyone with a smile. Her body exuded a warm and genial aura, just like every other day.
"Ladies and gentlemen, everyone is here," St. Ivan III opened his mouth. His voice was old and hoarse, but it could be heard throughout the hall. "Let's get started."
Veronica glanced at the pope. The old man was a little older than before. After the end of the last Stellaris Day, St. Ivan III's aging speed had greatly accelerated. Almost every day, he would be older than the day before. Now, he was a shriveled old man who was bent over in his chair. From his appearance, it seemed that he would die at any time. Only his eyes, which still flashed with wisdom from time to time, and the holy aura that was constantly emitting, made people realize that the old man was still powerful and dignified at the top of the Church of Holy Light.
The holy light appeared out of thin air and shone on the pope. Veronica knew that this was actually a sign that his life was coming to an end. The holy light was the glory of God to welcome the blessed and was the bridge to the kingdom of God. When the pope was completely shrouded in the holy light, it was the day when the old man would return to the embrace of the Lord forever.
However, no one would feel sad about this, including the pope himself. This was a symbol of the highest glory. To be able to have a "miracle" shrouded in the holy light when one was alive was arguably the most glorious and fortunate thing in the heart of every believer of the holy light. This not only required a very pious heart, but also a very rare spiritual talent that could resonate with the origin of the holy light. Therefore, the pope, St. Ivan III, smiled in the holy light, always with a peaceful and joyful mood. He looked at Veronica with a smile and said in a voice that was not very loud but could be heard by everyone, "First of all, let us congratulate the birth of a new living saint. Veronica has passed the test of the Lord, witnessed the glory of the kingdom of God, and returned to this world. She is now the incarnation of the holy light, the closest child of the Lord."
The news had reached the ears of the bishops a few days ago, but today the pope confirmed it himself. So the bishops, who had long been prepared, applauded and congratulated Veronica. Veronica smiled back and said indifferently, "The holy light is with all of us."
"The official celebration will be held tonight. Then we will discuss the recent raging of the cultists everywhere. "The pope quickly switched to the next topic." Those evil people are harassing the believers of the Lord. Their behavior is the greatest blasphemy to the holy light. "
One of the bishops stood up. He wore a tall golden crown and his face was old and dignified. But in Veronica's eyes, he was just a torch of the holy light like the others. "Your Holiness, the cultists are becoming more and more rampant. At present, other than the border of the Four Territories, there are traces of them in the Plains of the Holy Spirit and even near the Captical. Especially the Eternal Sleepers, those dreamers come and go like ghosts. They have created several sensational and terrifying incidents in the western part of the Plains of the Holy Spirit, and each time they were not discovered until a large number of victims appeared."
"The Eternal Sleepers use illusions and lies to confuse people, but the cunning of the cultists only makes the warriors of the Holy Light more determined." Another bishop stepped forward. "Your Holiness, we have hanged and burned thousands of cultists in the Western and Northern Territories, and sent more fools who were bewitched by the heretics to the Religious Court of Inquiry. Our actions are inspiring. More and more non-believers are realizing the greatness of the God of Holy Light, and there are even some who have come to seek the protection of the Church of Holy Light, especially in the Western Region. This is increasing."
"Even the non-believers can become the Lord's people." The pope opened his eyes slightly with a smile on his face. "We welcome anyone to convert."
"It's a good thing that our strength is increasing day by day, but the warriors of the Lord also need the support of secular money to be well-equipped to fight against evil." A third bishop stepped forward and said with a solemn expression. "Your Holiness, the cost of the new Ecclesiastical Army is huge. The weapons of the Paladin Knight and the weapons of the battle priests are insufficient. We need to find a way to increase our sources of income."
The bishops whispered to each other, and then one of them stepped forward. "Your Holiness, I propose to increase the amount of offerings collected by the churches, and urge the local lords and rich farmers to donate more of their property. They are under the protection of the Holy Light, so they should contribute more."
"This year, the Plains of the Holy Spirit and the Western Region have a bumper harvest, and the civilians have extra money in their hands. Before they are corrupted by the sudden wealth, we can persuade them to give the extra money to the Church in exchange for peace of mind. They need the Church's holy water and blessings to cure diseases and expel nightmares, so they won't dare to refuse the Church. "
The bishops put forward their own opinions one by one, and these opinions all had their own reasons. St. Ivan III did not interrupt them but listened carefully. When they were almost done speaking, he glanced at Veronica, who was standing next to him, and asked, "What do you think, our new living saint?"
"Increasing offerings is not a long-term and stable way," Veronica nodded and looked at the bishops. Her voice was soft but very penetrating, as if it could directly echo in everyone's heart. "Secular people are inevitably addicted to money. If we suddenly ask them to increase offerings, they will not be grateful for the protection of the Holy Light, but will hate it when someone takes away their property."
Some of the bishops agreed with Veronica's opinion. "It's inappropriate to take extra money from those who have converted to the Lord." "That's true." "We should think of other ways."
"We can ask those who were attacked by the cultists, abandoned by the gods, and converted to the Lord after receiving the protection of the Holy Light to pay an extra atonement," the third bishop said again. "They believed in the wrong gods, so they were powerless when they were threatened by the cultists, and they only remembered to revere the Holy Light when they needed it. So, 'atonement' is also a matter of course."
Veronica could not help but frown. "Will the atonement become a threshold that will keep those who want to convert to the Lord out?"
"We can set the amount of atonement according to the family property of the converts, such as one-third or half of the family property," the bishop said with a serious face. "This is also a test. Everyone can afford the atonement. If they still refuse to repent in this case, it can only mean that they are too stingy and stupid, or their hearts are not firm enough to convert to the Lord. It is a good thing to keep such converts at the door."
The bishops all expressed their approval of this brilliant plan. Veronica, on the other hand, just watched quietly as she muttered to herself, "Atonement, huh …"
A moment later, the discussion of the bishops ended, and the pope came to a conclusion. "Then this matter is settled. The specific amount of the atonement and the implementation method will be decided by Bishop Tarrendis. Next, how about our missionary work? "
"Our missionary work in the countries outside Ansu has not changed much. Typhon has a deep faith in the God of War, and all the races in the tribal kingdom of Augulay believe in their primitive gods. The Kingdom of Kaolin has the highest acceptance of the Holy Light, but due to the influence of the elven culture, most of the believers there are shallow. As for Ansu, due to the recent influence of the cultists, our missionary work is progressing smoothly. At present, the number of believers in the southern, western, and central regions is increasing rapidly. "
"What about the northern and eastern regions?"
"The missionary work in the northern region is also much smoother than before. Although the Wilde family has never been willing to publicly convert their family members, in view of the rampant cultists, Duchess Victoria Wilde has relaxed the restrictions on the activities of the priests of the Holy Light in the territory. As for the eastern region … the situation is still not good. "
St. Ivan III closed his eyes slightly and murmured to himself, "Duke Sareth's land …"
"Duke Silas Loren is a staunch believer of royalty, and he's quite against preaching on his land. Not only preachers of the Holy Light, even preachers of other religions are very restricted on his land. We're trying to find a way to break through from his family members … However, the results are very limited."
"Duke Silas Lorren has a strong control over his family. As long as his attitude does not change, the entire Lorren family will not be shaken." The pope shook his head. "There is no need to be impatient. Let nature take its course. They will eventually understand that the Holy Light is the only salvation of mankind."
The bishops lowered their heads and looked at each other subconsciously, but there was no commotion.
"The Holy Light is the only salvation of mankind" — in public, this was a very sensitive sentence. It directly challenged the "Sacred Covenant" jointly made by various religions seven hundred years ago. However, this was the Church of Holy Light after all, the Great Bright Hall where there were no outsiders, so what harm was there in saying it?
What's more, everyone here also thought so.
After most of the issues were discussed, Veronica looked at one of the bishops. "Bishop Meliev, is there any news about the pioneering territory in the southernmost part of the Holy Light?"
The named bishop replied, "The Church has not invested much energy in that area, but a missionary has recently built a church there, and the progress seems to be going well."
"The ancient duke let the missionary build a church?" Veronica raised her eyebrows slightly. "This is really good news. The Holy Light has once again illuminated the world."
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