Game news:Clergy
Each God has their own clergy and all the clergy do similar tasks as a part of the priesthood. Though they serve a specific God, it is not common for a member of the clergy to be completely devoted to one God, as ultimately, they serve all the Gods, they just have one they favour.
People can join the clergy at any age after becoming an adult. Whether they are married, divorced, widowed, Consorts, or single. However, there are some rules when joining the Clergy. Such as no landed noble, or their spouse and heir, can go beyond being an Acolyte, due to how much responsibility they have towards their lands. People who are a Supporter, Matchmaker, Knight, Sage, or Baronet also can not go beyond being an Acolyte due to the fact their loyalty and duty is towards their positions rather than the Clergy.
Nobles who hold no title can easily become a member of the Clergy, though, they can not become an Archbishop/Archbishopess unless they are willing to give up their place as a noble. Well, not necessarily give it up but their rights and privileges as 'Noble of House' become secondary to what they get as an Archbishop. You are still considered a Prince, but people are going to treat you as Archbishop of God over Prince of Kingdom. The Archbishop/Archbishopess is a position that could be considered on par with the rulers of a noble house. So, a noble who is divided by their loyalty and is unwilling to allow their noble title to become secondary to their Archbishop/Archbishopess title is not considered a good candidate for the position.
They typically witness all contracts formed by the people of the kingdom (marriage, Consort, Supporter, Courtesan, etc.) and sign off on them. They also handle any religious questions or matters that might come up, as they supposedly are closest to the Gods. The days of the Clergy is generally filled with training acolytes, holding public prayers, planning for holidays that honor the gods, listen to confessions, and any other religious matters they can think of. This does not mean all their time is devoted to serving the Gods, it is just their priority.
To make the division of duties easier the clergy does have a hierarchy. There are three positions in it: Archbishop/Archbishopess, Bishop/Bishopess, and Acolyte.
- Archbisop/Archbishopess: They lead the temples devoted to each God. There is an Archbishop/Archbishopess for each God of Atharia, and their duties generally consist of deciding who to make an Acolyte, who to elevate to a Bishop/Bishopess and handling the more difficult tasks, such as a royal marriage. They tend to observe the rest of the Clergy as they handle the more common tasks to observe who to elevate and who to select as the next Archbishop. Basically, they have the final say to what goes on in their Temples.
- Bishop/Bishopess: They are the people who generally run the day to day of the clergy. They handle more minor tasks, such as planning and hosting events to honour the Gods, Sermons, and so on. They are also the ones who compile a list of Acolytes to be promoted to Bishop/Bishopess). There are not large numbers of bishops/bishopesses, and they are, usually, elevated during the Festival of Devotion.
- Acolytes: Acolytes are, in essence, the trainees. Their duties are very minor simple. They spend time observing and learning from the rest of the clergy. They often handle things like confessions, minor details for clergy events, tidying up after sermons, events, or what have you. They have the least responsibility of all the Clergy, but they also have the most expectations put on them due to the fact they must show that they should be elevated to priest.
Courtesans are part of the clergy, as they are a part of the religious order. However, the main clergy rarely meddles in the matters of Courtesans and what they do. It is usually only by request from the Head Courtesan or if something is going very wrong with the Courtesans. Should the Archbishop(ess)s come to an impasse when a decision is being made the Head Courtesan is usually called in to be the deciding vote for them.
OOC: On matters of Courtesans as Clergy, the Archbishop/Bishopess has no power over how they do things except in extreme cases. While they are part of the clergy, they are their own unit.
Current Clergy
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