The Holy City

"Whatever the Church is doing wrong, it's done it for 2000 
years".
     - Roman saying.

The Papacy.

     A controversial figure in Christendom, only Catholics
believe in his "divine" right to "rule" the church.
Nevertheless, he is the single-most highly recognised
Christian church leader in the world. No other has his
international political or public profile.
     No other Western position of public office has lasted as
long as the Pope.  He is a living symbol of the power of the
Church.  The succession from St Peter to John Paul II as
head of the Catholic church is said to be unbroken -
emphasising the strength and duration of the Church. The
passageway leading from the basilica to the sacristy bears
the name of all 142 popes - including St Peter himself.
     The idea of a Pope as a purely spiritual figure wielding
power through his moral presence is only a modern
development. For hundreds of years, Popes had been
barely different from other feudal European princes and
kings.
     Before 1870, the Papal states measured 16,000 square
miles in central Italy, and the Pope presided over these
lands like any other feudal Lord. The modern Vatican State
has only existed since 1929, upon the conclusion of a treaty
with Italy.
     The status and standing of the Popes change considerably
with time. Recent Popes have sought to "humanise" the
position, removing it from the "earthy" prince component
and reducing the almost supernatural status exhorted during
the Middle Ages. The role of Pope is not an easy one. Pope
Pius VII was captured by Napoleon in 1809 and held
prisoner for five years. He returned in triumph to Italy,
drawing admiring throngs along the way. Throughout the
past 2000 years, Popes have been called upon - with
varying degrees of success - to act as mediators between
feuding kingdoms, motivators of holy crusades, and tools
of personal power struggles. Now he is considered Christ's
vicar on earth: a personal representative of God. He is the
most senior of the council of cardinals - the highest rank
within the church.
     The Pope is addressed as Santissimo Padre - Holy Father -
or in more formal situations as Sua Santita - Your Holiness.
His official title occupies nine lines of type, starting with:
Bishop of Rome, vicar of Jesus Christ, and ending with:
Servant of the Servants of God. However, within the State
of the Vatican he is usually referred to as: this Pope -
reflecting the awareness that others have preceded him and
others will succeed him.
     The Pope is the only religious figure that holds power over
the Militant Orders. All Orders are independent from the
churches and denominations that support them - a necessity
in combating infiltration. Traditionally, the Orders have
held the Pope as their supreme commander.
     Now, this is not necessarily the case. The Templars are
suspicious of the Holy See - after all, it was Pope Clement
IV who helped destroy their order in the early 14th century.
The relationship between the Templars and the modern
Popes is cordial, though no longer subservient. Requests
from the Vatican are always considered by the Grand
Chapter before any decision is made.
     The Hospitallers still hold their traditional ties with the
Pope, and the highest members of the Order often come
from or move on-to the highest ranks of the Catholic
Church - the cardinals. Independent from all other bishops,
cardinals and officers of the Church, the Hospitallers listen
carefully to the wishes and orders of their Pope.
     Like the other Orders, the Teutone's history places no-one
above them but a Pope. However, the Teutones have often
put their nation ahead of a Pope's wishes throughout
history. With the arrival of Lutheranism, the Order was
disbanded after many of its members converted. Now the
Templars are ideologically opposed to the "God-given"
authority of the Popes. However, he is still recognised as
one of the world's most powerful religious leaders.

VATICAN CITY 

"A costly religious Disneyland, saddled with an overly 
complex and secretive bureaucracy"
     - National Geographic, December 1985

     The Vatican City is the worlds smallest State. Its national
boundaries encompass 108.7 acres - dating from 1929.
This is when the Laterian Treaty between Mussolini's
Government and the Holy See resolved a long dispute by
recognising the Vatican's sovereignty. The next largest state
- Liechtenstein - is almost 360 times larger.
     The Vatican retains all the signs of nationhood: its own
postage stamps, its own diplomatic corps, its own flag, its
own army, and the right to have a navy.
     The city's total population - including the transient
workforce - numbers 2000. More than 90 per cent of these
are normal Romans who cross the national borders every
day.
     Only 400 people posses Vatican citizenship, two thirds of
which are Swiss Guard or members of the diplomatic corp.
About 300 people sleep within the Vatican's walls - 100
Swiss Guard along with a mix of cardinals, altar boys,
members of religious orders, students at the Ethiopian and
Teutonic Colleges, a few families of servants, and the Pope
himself. Vatican Radio is one of the largest employers. run
by the Jesuit Order, it employs almost 400. Maintenance of
the city is an honoured position, with the "sampietrini"
(men of St Peters) probably the most revered janitors and
cleaners in the world.
     The Vatican's table of organisation and roster of leaders
takes up 2000 pages of the Annuario Pontificio - a book of
rank. At the top of the ladder are the cardinals, bishops and
monsignors of the Curia Romana (Vatican Bureaucracy).
The most important body of the Curia is the Secretariat of
State, responsible for coordination the actions of the entire
bureaucracy and foreign affairs. It is led by the cardinal
equivalent of a secretary of state.
     The workforce of the curia is the clerical and lay
employees, segregated by the Annuario into "major officials
of the second class", "minor officials of the first degree",
etc.
     Dozens of priests also reside in the city, serving the
basilica. They hear confessions in booths bearing placards
announcing the languages they speak. They also conduct
baptisms, celebrate Mass and participate in ceremonies -
such as the installation of a cardinal.
     Monks and nuns wander the corridors, with tasks ranging
from librarians to restorers of old tapestries.
     The most numerous religious figures are the students,
selected by bishops around the world for the right to study
in Rome. There are five pontifical universities - two of
which can be found inside the Vatican itself: the Teutonic
College and the Ethiopian College. The others are located in
the hills around the ancient city.
     Many people are surprised the Ethiopians have such a
prominent position within the Vatican, especially the jealous
Americans. For nearly 600 years Ethiopians had been
undertaking pilgrimages to the Holy City. In the 1500s,
their numbers grew so much that the impressed Pope Sixtus
IV provided them a special house within Vatican grounds,
and gave them St Stephens Church - a 5th Century building
behind the basilica itself.
     Altar boys rustle about the city in their red cassocks and
white surplices, bearing chalices and swinging censers.
Their residence - or preseminario - is hidden behind one of
the Vatican's office buildings. It has airy classrooms and
dormitories surround a terrace - which has the unusual
resident of an old land turtle lumbering about. Other pets
include birds and cats.Most boys serve three years, drawn
into the Vatican's fold when they are only 11 or 12. Their
daily routine starts at 6.30 every morning to assist with
services in the basilica, and then back to the classroom at
9.30. The evening calls for further services in the holy
places.
     The oldest Christian church is not St Peters. Rather, it is St
John Lateran - on the other side of Rome. This is near
where the original Popes (not given that status until long
after their lifetimes) resided and worshipped for almost a
thousand years. It is still the Pope's official seat as Bishop
of Rome. Rome has almost always been considered the seat
of Catholic authority - except at the start when Rome's
Bishop (now called a Pope) had to contend with the
authority of Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople and
elsewhere. Also, Avignon in France served as the seat of
the Pope for a time in the 14th century - about the time as
the dissolution of the Templars.
     The whole of the Vatican City is Holy Ground. As the seat
of Christendom's power for more than a 1000 years, its
ground has been trod by many of the most faithful men on
earth. Faith levels differ from sight to sight: being the
highest in St Peters Basilica (10) and lowest among the
service rooms of the ""sampietrini"" servants (2).

The Basilica and Piazza of St Peter.

     Tradition has it that the worlds largest church was built
upon the last resting place of what Catholics consider to the
paramount saint -  St Peter. In the early 1500s, Pope Julius
II - the warrior Pope - deemed the original basilica to be
showing severe signs of structural decay. Designed and
built by the best of Italy's Renaissance and baroque artists,
St Peter's Basilica was consecrated in 1626 after more than
a century of building and planning. Among those who
worked on the edifice were Michelangelo, Bramante,
Raphael, Bernini and many others. The modern structure
replaced an ageing building which was raised by Emperor
Constantine in the early fourth century. The modern
Basilica is almost 700ft long and 450ft wide. The travertine
stone church can contain almost 50,000 worshippers. On
Holy Days, almost 250,000 people can mass in the church
and in the enormous piazza outside - designed in the mid-
17th century. A lantern tower crowns Michelangelo's
amazing dome - standing more than 400ft high above St
Peter's Throne. It also stands above the subterranean shrine
of St Peter's grave.  Bernini created a towering bronze
baldachin - a four-posted canopy above the high altar and St
Peter's throne. He is also responsible for the grand
colonnade, formed of two semicircular arms capped by
heroic statues, which makes St Peter's Square one of the
most imposing outdoor spaces in the world. A Christian
cross stands triumphant upon an 82ft high Egyptian obelisk
moved to the Piazza in 1586 from the site of the Roman
circus where St Peter was believed crucified.
The whole of Michelangelo's Basilica is blessed with a
Faith rating of 10. Only one other site in Christendom has
the same figure: the tomb of Christ in the Holy Sepulchre of
Jerusalem.

St Peter's Grave.

     The Basilica began in the fourth century AD, when
Emperor Constantine built the first church on Vatican Hill.
Why it was built on that hill has been a source of much
debate. The main Catholic argument is that the hill was a
burial ground above a Roman circus. Building on the circus
would have been smarter - a flat, stable area. But tradition
and the illogical position of the building indicate another
reason: that it was built over the tomb of St Peter. The
effort was enormous: one million cubic feet of earth had to
be moved to create a level building surface. Tradition has it
that the Saint was crucified upside-down at the nearby
circus about 65AD by Emperor Nero, and buried on the
Vatican Hill cemetery. Some evidence emerged in 1939 to
support this. Pope Pius XII approved a renovation of the
grottoes beneath the basilica where many Popes had been
interred. But as soon as the workers began digging, they
broke through to an ancient room.
     Eventually, Pius XII ordered a thorough excavation of the
area under the High Altar to determine whether there was
any evidence of Peter's grave.
     For 10 years, in the utmost secrecy - even during the war
years - a painstaking investigation was undertaken.
Excavators uncovered the foundations of Constantine's
original church - eight or nine feet thick and still supporting
the weight of the current basilica. It was obvious the
architects of the modern structure had based their plans
about the position of the original nave and altar. Twisting
stone passages led to an ancient Roman necropolis with
highly preserved masonry. Chambers of 10ft to 15ft wide
with frescoes and mosaics were uncovered. One of these -
the Christ Helios - is the earliest depiction of Jesus, in a
pose very similar to that of the Roman god Apollo. Other
rooms still contain funeral urns or marble sarcophagi.
Further stone-sided passages twist toward the site directly
under the altar of Constantine's basilica. Here is a modest
shrine, marking the site as a Holy place - but not
extravagant. Ancient graffiti contains writing of Christian
themes, and an old piece of plaster holds the text Petros eni
- Peter is within.
     A cache of bones was found beneath the Red Wall of the
shrine - only to be assessed as the bones of goats, cows,
horses, sheep and several different humans. Another group
of bones was discovered in the 1960s in a repository near
the Red Wall. These bones came from one individual: a
man of robust build who had died aged 60 or 70. The
description matched that of St Peter. There were also only
fragments of a skull, matching the tradition that his scull
had been preserved in St John Lateran church.
     The bones were reinterred in 1968 - along with those of a
mouse which had at some time in the past 1800 years found
its way into the repository and perished there.

Sistine Chapel:

     Considered Michelangelo's finest work, the Sistine chapel
was completed in 1512. Since then it has become grimy and
marred by attempts at preservation. In recent years it has
undergone a scientific study and cleaning, revealing once
again the original bright colours and brush strokes that
made the massive painted room such a masterpiece.
The Sistine Chapel has a Faith rating of 8.

Vatican Library:

     The popes had always had a library, but in the middle of the
fifteenth century they began to collect books in a new way.
Nicholas V decided to create a public library for "the court
of Rome"Ñthe whole world of clerics and laymen,
cardinals and scholars who inhabited the papal palace and
its environs. He and Sixtus IV provided the library with a
suite of rooms. These were splendidly frescoed, lighted by
large windows, and furnished with elaborate wooden
benches to which most books were chained. And, unlike
some modern patrons, the popes of the Renaissance cared
about the books as well as about the buildings that housed
them. They bought, borrowed, and even stole the beautiful
handwritten books of the time. The papal library soon
became as spectacular a work of art, in its own way, as the
Sistine Chapel or Saint Peter's. It grew rapidly; by 1455 it
had 1200 books, 400 of them Greek; by 1481, a
handwritten catalogue by the librarian, Platina, showed
3500 entriesÑby far the largest collection of books in the
Western world. And it never stopped growing, thanks to
bequests, purchases, and even, sometimes, military
conquests.
     From the start, the library had a special character. It
included Bibles and works of theology and canon law, but
it specialised in secular works: above all, the Greek and
Latin classics, in the purest texts that the popes and their
agents could find, for the popes and their servants saw
these as the most powerful source of knowledge and
counsel that the world possessed. The Vatican Library, in
fact, became a centre of the revival of classical culture
known as the Renaissance. Its librarians were often
distinguished scholars. Historians and philosophers, clerics
and magicians visited the collections and borrowed books
from them. By 1581, when the French writer Michel de
Montaigne visited Rome, the treasures of the Vatican had
become a mandatory stop on any well-informed traveller's
Roman itinerary. To his delight, Montaigne was shown
ancient Roman and ancient Chinese manuscripts, the love
letters of Henry VIII, and the classics of history and
philosophy (many of which can be seen in this exhibition).
Then, as now, the Vatican Library was one of the greatest
in the Western world. The manuscripts and printed books
that came to rest in the Vatican Library tell many stories.
They help to explain the development of Renaissance
thought and art, scholarship and science, in Rome and
elsewhere. They shed light on the history of the universal
Roman church and on the city in which it flourished, on the
Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-
ReformationÑeven on the history of Western efforts to
understand and convert the peoples of the non-Western
world. They describe the new education, art, and music of
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; they show how the
curia reached beyond the bounds of Europe, to the Islamic
world and even to China; and they reveal some of the
conflicts that flared up when the accomplishment of church
policy and the pursuit of new knowledge could not both be
carried out.
     Deep under the more public libraries is a place known as the
Secret Library. Here are held in the highest of security the
oldest and most comprehensive books of occult, ancient
lore, history and knowledge known to man. Members of all
Orders - monastic and militant - are always to be found in
these rooms, seeking new and better ways to defeat their
ancient foes. The Libraries have a Faith Rating of 6. The
evil powers of some ancient documents still cry out to their
makers: reducing - though not sapping - the strength of the
Holy Ground containing them.

Vatican Museums:

     The main Vatican museums are not as secret as has been
made out. Almost two million academics visit the libraries
and display rooms each year - and many efforts are
underway to reproduce and preserve their items.
     Most Museums were never intended to be so: they are
apartments or residences that have been converted to that
use. As a result, visitors have to wind their way through
blind passages full of dead-ends. The arrangement appears
almost random: grand pieces of art can be found tucked
away in minor corners, while otherwise ordinary works
appear to take pride of place. Almost every room and
corridor is covered with frescoes and artwork - often by the
famous Raphael. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is
housed in a beautiful building called the Casina Pio IV,
nestled in the gardens behind the museums. It is a truly
world-wide academy, counting Jews, Catholics, other
Christian denominations, Muslims, Hindous - and many
others - among its members. About 22 of the 70 current
members have won Nobel Prizes - essentially their only
common trait. Research includes astrophysics, evolution,
physics and chemistry. A branch devoted to practical
solutions for problems endemic in third-world countries,
such as parasitic diseases, water purity and food
production. The confusing twists and turns of the Vatican
Museums serve another purpose: concealing the way to the
Demonic Collection. Here ancient artefacts, often relics of
evil gods and power, are contained within powerful wards.
The powers of these objects are studied to better understand
them - and to limit their abilities.
     But the most important of all research within the Vatican
City is probably that conducted under the guise of the
Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Here, the world's best
scientists study samples - and sometimes even living
specimens - of all demon-kind. Know thine enemy is the
Academy's motto. The essence of Vitae has been extracted
from the vampiric kind, as has the rogue gene that makes
shape changers what they are. The scientists have now
embarked on desperate research to find ways to counter and
destroy these building blocks of corruption. Similar wards
to those in the Vatican Library exist in this area, both to
keep in the objects of their research in and out those who
wish to destroy what they learn.
     These rooms have Faith Ratings of 6.

Vatican Radio:

     This institution first broadcast in 1931 the words of Pope
Pius XI. Now it broadcasts in 35 languages across the
world. Its towers sprout from several positions in the
Vatican gardens, but its main broadcast centre is 15 miles
outside of Rome at Santa Maria di Galeria.
     Of course, Vatican Radio is not all it seems. It is also one of
the world's most powerful electronic surveillance centres.
From rooms deep under the complex, Vatican Intelligence
monitors the activities of major governments and
corporations, along with individuals suspected of demonic
affiliations. Exactly what can be done here remains a secret
even from the Militant Orders. Only the Hospitallers,
through the activities of their own intelligence service, have
officers working here.
     The Faith Rating of these offices is about 4.

Castel  Sant'Angelo

     This is a fortress very close to the walled city of the
Vatican. Secret and heavily defended tunnels link it to
various places within the city, some of which have already
saved a Pope's life. It is the final line of defence for the
Church hierarchy- and has acted so several times. The
circular fortress has been added to and strengthened over
the centuries, though its basic form remains the same.
Called the castle of angels, this ancient fortress is much
stronger than mere stone and mortar. Among the oldest and
strongest wards protect its occupants from all levels of the
supernatural. Faith 8.

Tour de St John

     This tower stands among the gardens near the Vatican
heliport, at the junction of several paths.
     One of the more isolated corners of the city, this tower has
recently been given over the Miltant Orders as their Vatican
headquarters. There is more to the structure than appears
above ground. Subterranean chambers house armories,
chapter halls and chambers for visiting officers. One knight
from each of the Orders is at - or near -  the Pope's side 24
hours a day, seven days a week. A full chapter of 12
knights (four from each Order) is therefore housed within
the tower. Most hold rank greater than Knight Captain. The
tower has a Faith rating of 7.

THE SWISS GUARD

     The Swiss as mercenary troops first rose to prominence in
1494, as part of the army of Charles VIII of France during
the invasion of the Italian peninsula. Their discipline,
tactics, grim demeanour and habit of not granting quarter in
battle were something of a revelation to post-Renaissance
Italy; the effect was something like the onset of the
Wehrmacht at the opening of World War II.  The French
conquered the region with notable ease, and for the next
fifty years Swiss mercenaries could be found on most
battlefields in Italy. On the 22nd of January 1506, the
warrior-Pope Julius II formed the corps of Swiss Guard (or
Cohors Helvetica, to give them their Latin title) and used
them as papal mercenaries against the French. Their
primary weapons were the halberd (pole-axe and spike) and
the sword.  On the 6th of May 1527, the newly formed
corps had its sternest test to date. The Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V (who was like most of the Holy Roman
Emperors neither Roman, nor particularly holy) had
decided to oust the then Pope, Clement VII, and replace
him with a pontiff more in accord with Charles' views. His
army stormed the walls of Rome and the Vatican, and
sacked both cities, but Clement escaped by a passageway
(which still exists today) leading from the Vatican to the
Castel Sant'Angelo. The Swiss Guard, then numbering
about eight hundred, died almost to a man buying the Pope
time to get away.
     In about 1548 the Guards adopted a new uniform, basically
of striped blue, red and yellow with a red-plumed helmet;
this uniform remains essentially unchanged to this day,
although there is an undress blue uniform worn in less
public places.
     Today, the Swiss Guard consists of some one hundred to
one hundred and twenty men; this includes four officers,
five senior and eighteen junior NCOs. Each year about 12
young men are accepted into the ranks, so long as they have
completed the mandatory Swiss four-month military
training. All recruits must be Swiss citizens, unmarried,
and at least 5' 8 1/2" tall; they must also be good Catholics
(with a letter from their local bishop to prove it) and be
between the ages of 19 and 25. After completing basic
military training at the recruiting school, the prospective
Guardsman can apply for membership in the Cohors
Helvetica. The investiture of new members of the Guard
takes place every 6th of May, the anniversary of their
massacre in 1527, in the Cortile San Damaso. Flanked by
members of the papal household and the Secretariat of
State, the recruit grasps the standard with his left hand and
raises the right with thumb and two fingers outstretched,
signifying the Holy Trinity. He then swears to serve the
reigning Pope and his rightful successors in true and
upright manner, risking, if necessary, life and limb to
defend them. This ceremony is the one occasion the Guard
wear breastplates and helmets that have been handed down
from guard to guard for generations, along with military
standards and decorations bearing the units insignia which
often bear the likeness of a Pope or the Virgin Mary. The
training that follows is rigorous and includes firearms, and
unarmed combat (specifically Judo and Karate), as well as
the more esoteric techniques of modern body guarding and
public relations (they have a ceremonial role to perform in
addition to the practical). They also receive 15 days
instruction in the use of the halberd (which I would guess
to be very useful for crowd control.)
     Terms of service range from a minimum of 2 years up to
perhaps 25, with officers and senior sergeants permitted to
marry. On guard, the primary weapons remain the halberd
and the sword; however, firearms (typically Berretta Model
12 submachine guns), tear gas, and anti-personnel grenades
are usually close to hand for more 20th century threats.
Heavier weapons are kept in the Guard's modest barracks
and arsenal by St Anne's Gate, near the Sistine Chapel.
Off duty, Guardsmen are permitted to come and go as they
please, with the proviso of modest discretion; their social
lives are said to be quite active, as the young ladies of
Rome consider them quite a catch. With nearly five hundred
years of service, the Swiss Guards are one of the longest-
serving regiments in the Western world. The tradition
seems unlikely to be broken as long as Switzerland and the
Catholic Church endure. The families of the Swiss Guard
live in the Vatican city itself. Many visitors have arrived to
official functions, only to be surprised at children crawling
over ancient statues in the "private" gardens.
     The Swiss Guard are not a Militant Order. The warriors are
not required to take any monastic vows. However, their
vow to defend the Vatican and the Pope is particularly
binding, giving them the merit Code of Honour. Character
creation of Swiss Guard members should follow normal
mortal procedures - though using a slightly higher number
of Freebie Points (27) to allow for their specific firearms
and melee training. Faith is a requirement, but only level
one is necessary. They do not receive any Gifts, Prayers or
Rituals. The Guard have an unusually high number of Holy
Items that have served in the defence of Christendom for
centuries. These include breastplates, helms, old halberds
and swords. These items are worn at ceremonial occasions.