Religion
The Holy Church of Gwynedd is a Christian faith similar to the Roman Catholic Church, including the celebration of Mass, usually in Latin, and the common use of confession and penance. Religion is an integral part of Gwyneddan society, and senior members of the clergy often wield a great deal of temporal influence in addition to their ecclesiastical power. The Church is led by an elected Primate of All Gwynedd, who also serves as the Archbishop of Valoret. The organizational structure of the Church is further divided into a collection of sees, each of which is run by a titled bishop. There are currently twelve titled sees in Gwynedd, though the exact number and size of various sees have changed regularly throughout the history of the kingdom. Additionally, there are a number of itinerant bishops, senior clergymen who do not have a set area or land to oversee.
The Church pre-dates the founding of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, and the large role of the Church in Gwyneddan culture often results in the church's involvement in secular affairs. The Holy Church of Gwynedd was once under the control of the Patriarchate of Bremagne, but Gwynedd's ecclesiastical independence is secured in 647 by King Augarin Haldane, the first King of Gwynedd. In 820, the late King Bearand Haldane is formally canonized as a saint, and military support for the Haldane Restoration of 904 is provided by Michaeline knights, a militant religious order. A royal Haldane prince, Jashan Haldane, is even elected Archbishop of Valoret and Primate of All Gwynedd in 1044.
Read more about this topic: Gwynedd (fictional)
Famous quotes containing the word religion:
“In full view of his television audience, he preached a new religion—or a new form of Christianity—based on faith in financial miracles and in a Heaven here on earth with a water slide and luxury hotels. It was a religion of celebrity and showmanship and fun, which made a mockery of all puritanical standards and all canons of good taste. Its standard was excess, and its doctrines were tolerance and freedom from accountability.”
—New Yorker (April 23, 1990)
“A religion so cheerless, a philosophy so sorrowful, could never have succeeded with the masses of mankind if presented only as a system of metaphysics. Buddhism owed its success to its catholic spirit and its beautiful morality.”
—W. Winwood Reade (1838–1875)
“The stallion and his mare,
unbridled, with arrow-pattern,
are worked on.
the blue cloth
before the door
of religion and inspiration....”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)