[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Tt3Oy5u.png[/img][/center]
[center][h2][color=c4df9b][b]☩ The Society of the Most Holy Redeemer ☩[/b][/color][/h2]
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[i]Quærens me, sedisti lassus:
Redemisti Crucem passus:
Tantus labor non sit cassus.[/i][/center]
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[b]☩ Ministry [/b]
[hider=History & Government][hr][quote] In the dying hours of Earth, in the Basilica of St. Peter, the College of Cardinals and Pope Peter II released a Papal bull detailing the Church's future as Humanity stepped into the vast unknown. With the Vicar of Christ's position on an Italian Arc secured, the faithful whom found themselves on Humanity's new home before him were to continue on as they had been, and await the establishment of a new Rome and a new seat of Christ's Church. In addition, the Papacy made note to condemn language that this was indeed the prophesied time of Judgement; for the Lord would come in glory and establish his kingdom, not destroy as blindly and stubbornly as Perses would. This great exodus would lead Humanity closer to God, and in the new cradle of humanity would they all find the Kingdom promised to them. 

As fate would have, the Papal Arc remains lost, being one of the daring vessels to make the unknowable jump it is impossible to say where in the vastness of space the Vicar of Christ remains in stasis. However, all was not lost for the Catholic faithful in Eden. In the year of our Lord 9201 the Arc Redeemer arrived in the Eden Cluster. Part of a small handful of Arcs commissioned with Vatican aid, the Redeemer held within a colonial force of clergy, faithful laymen, and administrators prepared to forge the foundation of a new Christian community. On the first world they settled what would become the Core World of Novus Roma, New Rome in the common tongue, and anxiously awaited the arrival of the Grand Pontiff. However, the Pope never arrived.

With no guiding authority to dictate policy, end theological debate, or provide spiritual wisdom, the clergy of the Redeemer took the step forward necessary and took the reigns of power over the newborn colony. Over the following decades, the colony declared her patron Saint to be St. Alphonsus Liguori, who founded the society upon which the Arc had been given her name: The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. Renamed as a Society instead of Congregation, the Redemptorists took to work turning the fertile, resource rich and temperate planet they had been provided into a bustling metropolis under the guidance of the Grand Abbot and his Holy Council. By 9500, with only three hundred years of expansion, Novus Roma had become a Shrine World with Cathedrals reaching upwards toward the heavens and Grand Masses being attended by tens of thousands. Between pilgrims from other parts of the Eden Cluster flooding the planet for religious reasons, to just sheer population gain, the Brother-Redemptors realized quickly that for the Society to sustain it would need to begin expanding to other worlds in the Cluster. Thus, nearly 400 years ago, the first Missions began. Carrying official orders from the Grand Abbot and flying the banners of Christ, Catholic settlers set forth from Novus Roma's ports to spread the seeds of faith and the ever-living Word of God to the frontier. 

And so it has been since those days. Just as it was on Earth, the glory of Roma shines like a beacon to those around her. Under the guiding hand of the Redemptorist clergy; the Cross spreads out to the frontier and the faithful continue to await the return of the Grand Pontiff to truly create a new Papal State, one led only by the direct voice of Christ in Eden. For as it was written, the Kingdom of God is promised only to God's faithful, and nowhere do more faithful reside than within the bastions of Novus Roma. 

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[b]☩ Coffers [/b]
[hider=Economy][quote][hr]While officially the Church, and by extension the Society, takes no involvement in the economic and financial affairs of her citizens; it seems most wealth created by those living in Redemptorist space still finds its way into the coffers of Novus Roma, one way or another. It is to be noted that, unlike in many interstellar states, Redemptorist space seemingly boasts no independent corporations. All wealth that flows between planetary, and interstellar borders, does so at the will of the Church. However, this has not stopped outside corporate influence from cropping up in the form of stores and investment into existing industries. 

[indent][u][b]Agricultural Foodstuffs & Livestock:[/b][/u][/indent]

[indent]Perhaps the largest export by the Society is the vast array of foodstuffs and agricultural goods produced by the frontier worlds. Of the three existing frontier worlds, Gethsemane has proven to be the most fertile and abundant in rich soil. The Gardens of the Agri-World flourish, with Gethsemane Red being an item of luxury across the Cluster. In addition, the colony boasts temperate coastlines that prove useful for a seafood industry that has begun to sprout up in the last decades.[/indent]

[indent][u][b]Asteroid & Planetary Mining Operations[/b][/u][/indent]

[indent]While the space around Novus Roma itself has long since been cleared of debris, asteroid mines have become the key form of business in the orbit of the mountainous Jean's World. In the early days of colonization of Jean's World, the settlers began to dig deep and greedily into the monumental mountainsides that dot most of the alpine world. For decades, miners harnessed electric powered machinery and tactical uses of explosives to suck the mountains dry of precious metals and and alloys desperately needed for the expansion of the colony. Now, with the anxiety of 'peak material' in sight, the Jeanite miners look to their orbit for wealth.[/indent]

[indent][u][b]Novus Roma Tourism & Pilgrimage tithes[/b][/u][/indent]

[indent]Since Novus Roma fully became a Shrine World, with the little resources left being fully blessed and dedicated to religious practice, the core world of the Church has moved to a more dignified method of wealth acquisition. What the planet now lacks in natural resources, it makes up for in beautiful urban vistas that shrink into the horizon and Cathedrals that touch the heavens. Even for those not travelling for religious purposes, Novus Roma has become a tourist attraction as a world where one take in even a small amount of the luxury and culture of old Earth.[/indent] 

[indent]In the day one could travel the city's core and see the Roman and Gothic inspired architecture and culture, beholding the majesty and divine inspiration of St. Peter's Basilica and the Abbey of St. Brendan the Navigator. While by nightfall hedonistic tourists could move to the city's outskirts and partake in the more modern and luxurious lifestyle that befits any other cosmopolitan core world. However, the real wealth comes to Novus Roma at the height of Christian religious holidays. Millions of Catholic pilgrims make their way to Novus Roma from across the Cluster to celebrate the birth of the Savior, and his resurrection come Eastertide. It is in these periods that the annual budgets make themselves, and the seats of the Holy Council become ever-so-slightly more ornate with each passing holiday.[/indent] 
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[b]☩ Ritus Novus Romanus [/b]
[hider=Culture][hr][quote]On Novus Roma, Religious grace permeates every part of society, the very spirit of the Church is embodied in every structure from the smallest living domicile to the largest Cathedral. It is expected within the core of Novus Roma for citizens to embrace and live the creeds and practices of the Church, and to see God's grace and omnipresence in all things, for it was the will of the Father that a new City on the Hill be made, and it is his will that Novus Roma shall flourish. 

Beyond the constant exposure to clerics and clergymen, pilgrims offer rare glimpses into other, distant stars. Within the markets and industries of Roma, one can hear a dozen languages and a hundred dialects all at once. From the ancient tongue of the creeds seemingly always repeating and echoing from distant chapels, to the romantic tongue of Orleans and Jeanite pilgrims, or perhaps even the guttural common tongue of the Cluster found on all Core worlds. However, this vast difference in culture can lead to conflict between pilgrims and Roman citizens. It isn't uncommon for some more sensitive minded individuals to become distressed and angered at the sight of zealous flagellant pilgrims marching the long pilgrim's trail to St. Peter's Basilica. 

Of course, beneath the veil of religiosity and tradition hides another aspect of the Cathedral-World. While in the highest levels of the megacity one rarely sees so much as a single security officer, in the lower levels and beyond the center one begins to see the cracks in Roman society. With the constant flow of pilgrims and tourists, Novus Roma became a breeding ground for criminals and smugglers to flourish in the sale of false icons, relics, and illicit goods. For some who were born into this destitution and criminality, the faith becomes a sham they must bear, least they face the wrath of the Society's ever-present inquisitors and security. Then, for these unheard millions, the goal becomes an escape to the frontier. 

Far from Novus Roma's light, and the watchful eye of the Society, the frontier worlds are comparatively uncivilized and chaotic. While the clergy still hold de jure authority, in truth beyond the walls of their monasteries and church-towns, the rule of the gun remains the final judge. It is here, on desert worlds such as Dothan or agri-worlds like Gethsemane, that the Knights of St. Alphons rule. When Agri-Workers begin to spread unrest over their overseers, or Jeanite asteroid-mining guilds turn their property feuds into small-scale guild wars; it is the Knights who step in and bring the sword to the dissidents. If the gun holds authority, then it is to be held in the hands of the faithful.
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[b]☩ Novus Roma & Missions [/b]
[hider=Planets & Systems][img]https://i.imgur.com/QhWHCUq.png[/img][/hider]

[b]☩ Order of the Knights of St. Alphons the Confessor [/b]
[hider=Knights-Errant & Redemptor Levies][hr][quote]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/kt40yvs.png[/img]
[b]Pro Fide, Pro Utilitate Hominum[/b][/center]

There are two types of soldiers available to the Society: those of the Knights and their trained sergeants, or planetary defense forces most commonly formed as levies. While the average citizen of Redemptorist Space will likely only ever see planetary security, the reputation of the Knights is known throughout the nation. In contract to planetary defenders, who often only have the barest of military and discipline training, the entire life of a Knight of St. Alphons is spent preparing for battle. From the beginning of their discipleship they are instructed in the art of war, and that through their dedicated and devout service they have earned their place in Heaven. Indeed, through carrying the sword and committing wrath against God's many foes, they carve their purity into the very earth with blood. 

However, not all members of the Knights are indeed Knights. There exists three branches of the Order:

[b]The Knights-Errant:[/b]The elite of the elite within the Order. The Knights-Errant are of noble-birth and almost always from Novus Roma. From childhood, aristocratic and clerical families raise their firstborn sons with the hope that they may show the martial prowess necessary to join the Order as a Knight-Errant. It is the Knights who guard the Grand Abbot, who protect the holiest relics and Cathedrals of the Church, and who swear fealty only to God and the lost Vicar of Christ. While the Knights are trained in conventional combat, and often know the proper methods for firearm usage and operation of armored vehicles, it is often viewed as beneath them. The place of the Knights is not in the chaos of the battlefield or the mud of the trenches, but in the leading of the Order. Ambitious and rising Knights may swear oaths before the Grand Abbot or Grandmaster of the Order to fulfill certain tasks, such as slaying a certain great foe or number of foes, or lead a campaign to put down a frontier-rebellion, so that they may continue to rise in prestige and perhaps even gain the ever-sought-after position of Grandmaster should the current one pass on into eternity. The Knights-Errant make up 15% of the Order's manpower.

[b]The Sergeants:[/b]Non-noble Order soldiers who still receive the training and hardship of Knighthood but lack the means of becoming proper Knights. Rarely, when the Knights-Errant has been depleted, the best of the Sergeants may find themselves bestowed proper knighthoods and titles, though this happens perhaps once every other lifetime. As opposed to the Knights, Sergeants are rarely trained in more 'chivalrous' combat, and instead are given more focused military educations in common modes of combat. One could say that while the Knights lead battles, it is truly the Sergeants whom fight them. The Sergeants make up 80% of the Order's manpower. 

[b]The Patriarchs of St. Alphons:[/b]Those dedicated priests and clergymen who find a special appreciation and veneration for the Society's patron saint. It is the Patriarchs whom give rousing sermons and lead the Order into zealous rage before battles. It is this cast that often advise the Grandmaster in matters of faith and politics, and rarely are Patriarchs seen on the field of battle. When forced to fight, though, it would be unwise to underestimate the burning zeal of a cornered Priest wielding a power-mace. The Patriarchs make up the remaining 5% of the Order's manpower.

Opposite the Order stands the planetary defense forces. It is these untrained, and perhaps unwashed, masses whom represent the vast majority of Redemptorist warriors. Perhaps on worlds such as Novus Roma, where the levies are drilled by Order Sergeants regularly, they represent a more proper fighting force. However in the frontiers, the planetary levy is likely no more than local frontier-world militias and ambitious flagellants seeking holy death in righteous battle. While this rag-tag force can easily end protests, heretical activities, and local disputes, anything larger often requires the involvement of the Order to step in and restore the peace. For the few planetary levies who show particular survivability and prowess, they may find themselves rising the ranks of their local force and, if truly lucky, catching the eye of the Order. It is through this process that the vast majority of Order Sergeants are born.

[hider=Order Sergeant]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/OjY3oW8.png[/img]
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[hider=Knight of St. Alphons (Ceremonial Garb)]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/fnBQ4hs.jpg?1[/img]
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[hider=Planetary Security & Levy]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/eegX5s1.jpg[/img]
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[hider=Naval Forces][/hider]