Chapter 827 "Pranks"

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

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

  This kind of hypothetical question is rarely raised in public, but once 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 84 years old.

  To put it in the past, more than 100 cardinals under the age of 80, from all over the world, will have a meeting in the Vatican within two weeks of the Pope’s death. Usually after many days of deliberations, one of the bishops in this group of electors will become the new pope.

  But the current Pope John Paul is a smart man. He asked the cardinals to meet in Rome in advance to select a new candidate, so that when he resigns, someone can take over immediately, without having to worry as much as in the past.

  What it looks like when the boss is not in the office, and what it’s like in the church of San Marco now, but the monks' self-discipline ability is still good, and there is no delay in what they should do.

  Every day, the Vatican receives about 500,000 exorcism requests from all over the world, both electronically and in blood. These letters are handled by specialized exorcism priests.

  There are only 200 full-time exorcists with church-approved qualifications, and most of them are old men over 60 years old. Who is the young man to be the Catholic priest who can’t get married?

  In 1999, the Vatican again reviewed the guidelines for exorcism rituals and added a warning to remind priests not to confuse mental illness with demon possession.

  Psychology is now relatively developed. Some problems can be solved by communicating with a psychologist. If you are sick, you must be treated. Talk to someone and vent your negative emotions. It is good for your mental health.

In some cases, social workers and members of other non-profit organizations are required to coordinate. Young men and women fail to fall in love and resent each other and send a cruel word "curse you". If unfortunately, you get a fever, it may be a coincidence. The parents are involved in the two families to make a feud.

It is a very tedious task to select the "real" events that require exorcism from the numerous requests. One of the largest archdioceses in Italy has set up a response team to deal with the huge demand of the faithful for exorcism, but before they send people, they need to be local. The church staff went to confirm that even if living in the church does not incur accommodation and boarding expenses, the air ticket is also a cost. If a problem can be solved by a phone call, you should not have to travel in person.

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

  Secondly, it is mental depression. Humans are also a kind of animals. Animals will have signs before they feel an earthquake, and people will also feel it.

  There is also the sudden ability to speak ancient languages, and 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.

  Such "cases" are relatively easy, usually caused by playing psychic games. Mass incidents are very tricky. Not everyone can deal with the "demons" of Lorraine like Francisco Maria Guazzo.

The Vatican Secret Archives of the Holy See, 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 only kept various ancient books, archives of historical events, and some personal letters of the Pope. There is no relevant information in the online library.

  Even if the pope wants to enter, there are restrictions, let alone journalists, students, historians.

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

You can’t bring any personal belongings in, nor can you bring anything away, including reading notes. You can only read them three times a day. Surrounded by Swiss Guardsmen who are staring at you, you can remember how many things you can remember under such a heavy pressure. The hard-won opportunity is wasted if you can't help it.

In 1592, there was a series of deaths of Benedictine monks in Stavelot, Bavaria. At that time, monks in a small monastery died bizarrely. Their cause of death was strange and looked like poisoning. However, the Catholic Church forbids autopsy of corpses. I don’t know about them. The exact cause of death, so some people attribute this series of deaths to witchcraft.

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

  Because of the bizarre death, many monks have already ran away, and the remaining 8 people are either contracted or extremely depressed. Panic is permeated in the town.

  At that time, Derio, an important scholar in international ghost theology, went to investigate at the order of the Prince and Bishop Ernst of Bavaria.

  Scholars also have to eat. Delio once showed his work to Ernst. His specialty is to study wizards and worship demons in the middle of the night.

Gilles de Halzer, the newly appointed abbot at that time, put the local nobleman Jean de Wilkes under house arrest on the grounds of so-called witchcraft. He was weak in character, and he only knew how to cry, what to ask, what to answer, this Wilkes was too submissive to make the judge who executed the trial hesitate.

  Wilks claimed that when he was young, he was taken by a doctor Fred from Trier to the worship party, and then the wizards in Trier forced him to join the Benedictine Order of Stavelot.

  This incident involved 200 local elites. They were all accused of participating in the worship ceremony. At the dinner of the wizarding society, the members were seated according to their positions, and the senior monks told their friends about the incident.

If Wilkes’ accusation is accepted by the referee, it will be a great purge. Prince Ernst does not support fire torture, but supports glorious beheading. This was terrible in the era of the Black Death, famine, and natural disasters. May cause turbulent war.

Derio is not afraid to make things worse. He thinks that all wizards should be eliminated. Other priests and Derio’s friend Thiel are unwilling to launch a major persecution. The final investigation result is that the Benedictine monk has been demoted. , Convicted and decapitated, the investigation became an interrogation of the wizard’s conspiracy.

  The monastery where the accident happened was later dug away with its foundation.

In Derio's view, only a successful trial is worth recording. The reason why he recorded this failed trial is to warn the world not to give up the investigation like him. Later, his "writing" was quoted in many courts. .

   "What are you telling us for?" Snape asked.

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

   "I was not invited." Snape said.

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

  "What good do I have?" Snape asked.

  "What do you want?" the secretary general asked.

  "Where are the wizards in Venice?" Snape asked, "Are they still having such a bad relationship with Rome?"

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

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

   "We are investigating, and I will ask you to assist in the investigation." The Secretary-General yelled angrily, "A similar lingxiang cat incident can't happen again."

   "This is what you found. The body has been processed. 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 stay here forever?"

   "The Italian police are inefficient, and you are also inefficient." Snape said in disappointment. "Do you think the group of people 60 years ago is the same as it is now?"

   "Doctor Fred." The Secretary-General said, "And Dr. Paul, do you think they are still human?"

   "What do you mean?" Gianluca asked.

   "Wilks was introduced into the ritual by Dr. Fred. He is just an object of manipulation."

   "Dr. Paul isn't he?"

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

   "You still didn't say anything to me?" Snape said smoothly.

   "I ask you, what do you want?" The secretary-general smiled calmly. "Don't be patient with me. I stayed in the secret archives for a day without eating or going to the bathroom."

   "I flew in the night sky for two months just to find an island." Snape smiled and said, "You won't win."

  Two ugly-looking middle-aged men smile at each other.

  The eyes that exchanged seemed to burst into sparks.

  (End of this chapter)