Chapter 827

According to church law, a pope can resign, but only two popes have done so in the past thousand years. The last and only pope who voluntarily resigned was Celestine V more than 700 years ago. Most popes will perform their duties until death or health problems.

The current pope has been hospitalized for a long time. Since February, the cardinal has discussed the possibility of the pope's resignation to the world, in the Vatican.

This hypothetical question is rarely raised in public, but when it is raised, it has to be discussed.

According to the latest bulletin on the Pope's health, the Pope's recovery is satisfactory, but he still needs to be hospitalized, after all, he is already 84 years old.

In the past, more than 100 cardinals under the age of 80 from all over the world will meet in the Vatican within two weeks of the Pope's death. One of the bishops in this group of electors will become the new Pope, usually after many days of their consultation.

But the current Pope John Paul is a smart man. He asked the cardinals to go to Rome for a meeting to select a new candidate in advance, so that when he resigns, someone can take over immediately, so there is no need to worry as in the past.

What is it like if the boss is not in the office, and the current St. Mark's Church is also what it is, but the self-discipline ability of the monks is still good, and the things they should do are not delayed.

Every day, the Vatican receives about 500,000 e-mails requesting exorcism from all over the world, some electronically and some written in blood. These letters are handled by specialized exorcist priests.

There are only 200 of these full-time exorcists with qualifications recognized by the church, and more than half of them are old men over 60 years old. Who are young men going to be Catholic priests who cannot marry?

In 1999, the Vatican again reviewed its guidelines for exorcism rites, adding a warning that priests should not confuse mental illness with demonic possession.

Psychology is relatively developed now. Some problems can be solved by communicating with a psychiatrist. If you are sick, you need to be treated. Find someone to chat with and vent your negative emotions, which is good for your mental health.

There are also some cases where social workers and other non-profit organization members are required to coordinate. Teenagers and men and women are unsuccessful in dating and resent each other. The parents got involved and the two families became feuds.

It is a very tedious job to sort out the "real" cases that require exorcism from the many requests. One of the largest archdiocese in Italy specially set up a response team to deal with the huge demand for exorcism from believers. However, before they send people, they need local The church staff went to confirm that even if staying in the church does not incur the cost of accommodation and board and lodging, the air ticket is also the cost. If a problem can be solved with a phone call, it is not necessary to make a trip in person.

The exorcist movie made in 1973 was scary, but it was very different from the real possession incident. First of all, the person who was really possessed would suddenly have great strength. A little girl and two or three adult men could not control it.

Secondly, it is mental depression. People are also a kind of animals. Animals will have omens before they feel the earthquake, and people will feel it too.

There is also the sudden ability to speak ancient languages. A Brazilian farmer who has never attended elementary school can suddenly speak Latin. This abnormal phenomenon needs to be dealt with by the exorcist priest.

These "individual cases" are relatively easy, usually caused by playing psychic games, and group incidents are very difficult. Not everyone can deal with the "demon" of the Lorraine family like Francisco Maria Guazzo.

The Vatican Secret Archives, founded by Paul V, is an internal archive of the Holy See that is not open to the public. In the past four centuries, the Vatican Archives has only preserved various ancient books, historical event files, and some private letters of the Pope. There are no relevant materials in the online library.

Even the pope himself has restrictions, let alone journalists, students, and historians.

Although the Vatican Archives seems to strictly prohibit anyone from entering, for some capable people, as long as they pass the various strict assessments of the Holy See, they can also be allowed to enter to view the materials, and the validity period of this authorization is 6 months.

You can't bring any personal items in, and you can't take anything out, including reading notes, which can only be checked three times a day, surrounded by Swiss Guard soldiers who are watching. How much you can remember under such pressure depends on your own ability. If you don't hold back that hard-earned opportunity, you will waste it.

In 1592, a series of deaths of Benedictine monks occurred in Stavelot, Bavaria. At that time, the monks of a small monastery died strangely. The exact cause of death, so some people attribute this series of deaths to witchcraft.

At that time, including the abbot Anthony von Salm, he was interrogated. He was 80 years old when he was interrogated, and his life ended that year. A new abbot will take over the monastery.

Because of the bizarre death incident, many monks had already run away, and the remaining 8 people were either sick or extremely depressed, and panic pervaded the town.

At that time, Del Rio, an important scholar in the study of international ghosts and theology, went to investigate under the order of Prince Bishop Ernst of Bavaria.

Scholars also have to eat. Del Rio once showed Ernst his works. His specialty is the study of wizards worshiping demons in the middle of the night.

At that time, the newly appointed abbot Gilles de Halze put the local nobleman Jean de Vilkers under house arrest on the grounds of so-called witchcraft. Wilkes was too obedient to make the magistrate who was carrying out the trial hesitate.

Wilkes claimed that in his youth he was taken to a soiree by Dr. Fred from Trier, and that the wizards of Trier forced him to join the Benedictines at Stavelot.

The affair implicated 200 local elites, all of whom were accused of taking part in witchcraft rituals, and at a wizarding society dinner, where members were seated according to their positions, the senior monk told his friends about it.

If Wilkes' accusation is accepted by the court, it will be a great purge. Prince Ernst does not support burning, but supports honorable beheading. This is terrible in the era of black death, famine, and natural disasters. May cause turbulent wars.

Del Rio was not afraid to make a big fuss. He believed that all wizards should be eliminated. Other priests and Del Rio's friend Thiel were unwilling to launch a big persecution. The final result of the investigation was that the Benedictine monks were demoted. , Conviction and decapitation, the investigation turned into an interrogation of a wizard's conspiracy, dragged on, forgotten, and finally trivialized and trivialized.

And the monastery where the accident happened was later dug out together with the foundation.

In Del Rio's view, only successful trials are worth recording. The reason why he recorded this failed trial is to warn the world not to give up the pursuit like him. Later, his "writings" were quoted in many trial courts .

"Why are you telling us this?" Snape asked.

"Tonight, I heard that a group of nobles are going to have a party, maybe they are going to play psychic games again." The secretary-general said while smoking a cigarette, "Maybe you can sneak in and have a look like Wilkes."

"I wasn't invited," Snape said.

"Is it hard for you to get into a chaotic party scene? How did you find my office?"

"What good am I?" Snape asked.

"What do you want?" the secretary asked.

"Where are the wizards of Venice?" Snape asked. "Are their relations with Rome still so bad?"

"At the beginning of the 20th century, there was a mass madness in Venice. We thought it was a wizard, but you know our situation at that time. Germany wanted to expel us, and a lot of information was missing."

"You don't know anything?" Gianluca asked.

"We are investigating, and I asked you to assist in the investigation." The Secretary-General roared angrily, "An incident like the lingxiang cat cannot happen again."

"This is what you found. The corpses have been disposed of, how many can't be found?" Snape asked.

"This is a tourist city, and people come every day." The secretary-general said, "How do I know how many people will stay here forever?"

"Italian police are inefficient, and so are you." Snape said disappointedly. "Do you think that group of people 60 years ago is the same as it is now?"

"Dr. Fred," said the Secretary-General, "and Dr. Paul, do you think they are still human?"

"What do you mean?" Gianluca asked.

"Vilkes was introduced into the ceremony by Dr. Fred. He was just an object of manipulation."

"Isn't Dr. Paul?"

"He was also manipulated, but it is possible that he was possessed, and the demon was in his body." The secretary-general said, "The demon is holding a dinner party again."

"You still didn't say anything good for me?" Snape said glibly.

"Let me ask you, what do you want?" The Secretary-General smiled calmly, "Don't be more patient with me. I stayed in the secret archives for a day and didn't eat or go to the toilet."

"I've been flying in the night sky for two months just to find an island." Snape said with a smile, "You won't win."

The two ugly middle-aged men looked at each other and smiled.

The exchange of eyes seemed to be able to burst out sparks.