A mob assembled outside the Vatican.
"CI-CER-O! CI-CER-O! CI-CER-O!"
The mob was growing agitated. Soon violence would begin, and no one knew how long it would take to work itself out.
My minions have done well, we just need to keep this up. The Cardinals will have no choice but to back Cicero if the mob forces them to.
"Sir, the mob is growing violent, should we start it?"
Perfect. "Spark it, I want the Cardinals well cowed. See if you can crack the gates to the Vatican, we need them scared. Spread torches to, a fire makes rioting ever so much more pleasant."
And with that the infamous Election Riot started.
Cardinal Roberto stood up to speak, gesturing to the high windows."Have you looked through the windows? Have you heard the shouts or seen the fires? One name calls, over and over - Cicero.
"Of course, the most Gracious Consul is blameless in this - who would send a mob to the Vatican's gates? No holy man, which the good Consul's long record has proved surely without doubt to be. No, were the good Consul not otherwise pre-occupied iin this most necessary of matters he would surely be keeping order on the streets as we speak.
"Yet the Consul is but one man. He has accepted a duty to the people of Rome, to lead and protect them, a duty I have no doubt he will uphold to the standards he has always demonstrated. Can he spare the time, the resources to guide their bodies
and their souls? Surely it is too much to expect of any man so burdened already with responsibilities to taken on further and not falter in their execution? Or will we see more riots in the Vatican?
"Cardicals Micelus and Barbarossa have both been set up as fine candidates in opposition and many are their virtues: piety, positions of authority and experience. As the open letter Cardinal Micelus' aides have sent demonstrates, Micelus has a fine understanding of the needs and requirements of Jerusalem. He has demonstrated himself as an excellent administrator and governor in the region and who would feel fit to deprive his people of such leadership by dragging him away to Rome? The Cardinal may well be best served where he is - his reluctance does him great credit but it is plain to see that he is far more comfortable in the Holy Land where he can minister to the souls of pilgrims and the heathen faiths. Micelus is a pious man, a holy man, and he is exactly where the Church needs him.
"Cardinal Barbarossa is a busy, hard working man. So busy that he has been forced to retreat from these very hearings, a truly brave act. And as the good Cardinal Micelus has demonstrated he is surely a charismatic man, active and willing to implement changes. His sect is obscure, certainly, and some might feel his leanings in those matters strange or even alienating, but what of that? I am sure that whatever the Bear Ritual may be it is certainly a devotion to Christ of some description. After all, the Cardinal is most certainly a good, honest Catholic as the rest of us. But this is unimportant.
"Instead I wish to focus on the future of Roma and the Church. Questions have been asked that must be answered.
"Will these would-be Popes be willing to take bold, necessary strides for the good of Roma? Cardinal Cicero will not fight wars to protect the Church's interests - he is a chaste and sacred man and for that we must all pay him homage. And to his credit, as Consul he has all the power of Roma's armies to protect him - but the Church still commands the loyalty of its colonies. We must consider the threats that face both Roma and the Papal States. France has betrayed us - they would take these lands and place a puppet Pope upon the throne. Garibaldi's Italia remains a constant challenge to bringing good Christian government to God's own land. The Habsburgs in new 'Austria-Hungary' preach peace but refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of the new state - surely a pretext to an invasion of their own? A strong, capable Church must not be afraid to fight not merely to protect its people but all the peoples of the world. But how can we make a strong Church? Thus we lead to the next question.
"Will these men bring prosperity and a better life not merely to Roma but to the Papal colonies, to the betterment of all the world? Cardinal Cicero speaks of the 'cruel, cold application of industry'. Roman wealth and prosperity has ever sprung from its golden fields, as well we know. But good Christian entrepeneurs and inventors have broadened the scope of industry beyond the hammer and the scythe. This is the nineteenth century since the birth of our Lord. Must we plough and harvest by mule and scythe when machines now offer to simplify the lives of our farmers? May we not build those machines ourselves, invest in the prosperity of our economy? Industry is the key to a strong Roma - to strong colonies and a strong Church. We should not shy away from bringing better, richer lives to God's people - we should embrace industry and all that it will bring.
"And will these Cardinals preserve the fabric of our faith, upholding good Christian virtues? His Eminence Cicero has doubts we are all capable of such, but can we be sure that riots such as those at the gates will not force his hand? A Pope must be strong, willing to follow God's guidance and not the will of a screaming mob. A strong Pope will embrace industry without making the people slaves to the factory owners. A strong Pope will enrich Roma with the proceeds of the colonies without exploiting them, ensuring that our faithful even abroad have fair justice beneath the Church's hand. A strong Pope will not be afraid to fight abroad if he must, but will fight only just wars, will rein in the excesses of his troops and will fight only to bring good Christian governance and values to the nations he must war against.
"These are the questions asked, and the virtues a pious, strong and worthy Pope must possess. A Pope whose first loyalty is to the Church and its faithful. A Pope with a solid, Christian background who all Catholics can look up to and say 'He is one of us, a man of God.' A Pope who can sit in Rome without the desire to rule but a firm hand to guide the people and whose attentions are focused on the Church as a whole, rather than favouring any one place - Roma or otherwise.
"I ask you, where shall we find such a Pope? Where shall we find such a man?"
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Topic: Let's Play Victoria 2: Origin of Nations! - Dio e Popolo! (Ch. VII) (Read 62875 times)