Catholic Church (Shadowrun)
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The Catholic Church in 2070 is an extraterritorial nation, somewhere in between a nation and a corporation in structure. It has soverign rights over several sites the world over, mainly cathedrals, monasteries, universities and hospitals.
As a sovereign extraterritorial nation, the church has its own citizenhip, but not everyone in the church is a citizen. The majority of all congreation members are citizens of their country of residence. All senior church personel citizens to insure their freedom; bishops, cardinals, officers in the Swiss Guard and other important officials. People on the lower rungs of the hierarchy are given citizenship if they have a reason to act on the international scene, or if this will protect them and make their work easier. Very few lay people are granted church citizenship, mostly if they are religious asylum-seekers or special operatives or staff personel.
Religious Orders
The catholic church in the sixth world is a very fractured organization; there is a long history of secterism strengthened during the various crises of the 22nd century. Some of the more significant order in the modern church include:
- The order of St. Sylvester
- The order of Mary Magdalene
- The Templars of St. George
- The Templars of Michael.
Security
In order to maintain order on its territory, the church needs a military. As church doctrine puts strict demands on the mercy and neutrality of priests, this force needs to be at least nominally separate from the church hierarchy. Whenever possible the church turns to local law for protection. In some cases security corporations or mercenaries are employed, and some militant orders have become de-facto church mercenaries.
Swiss Guard
Hence the developement of the traditional Swiss Guard into a military force in the modern sense. This elite force is mainly used to guard the Vatican and provite security for high-profile events.
More similar to corporate security and special forces than a regular national army, the guards still follow the traditional recruiting strictures: The guards must be Catholic males with Swiss citizenship who have completed basic training with the Swiss military and can obtain certificates of good conduct. Recruits must be between 19 and 30 years of age and at least 174 cm (5ft 9in) tall. Nonhumans and females need not apply.
Militant Orders
With the increasing chaos in the sixth world there was a strong tendency for local communities to band together to form a militia force. In areas of catholic influence, these militias were often formally placed under church controls, and to organize them the church has instituted numersous military orders. Many of these are local militias wearing the cross, with little training and organization. Only church supervision separates them from street gangs. Others are more regular militas, or have developed to resemble secular mercenary organizations.
Law Enforcement
Lacking a police force as such, the church has various levels of law enforcement. In general, ecclastical crimes (breaking sacraments, revealing confessions, heresy) is tried by the clergy and can result in expulsion or excimmunications, while wordly crimes are judged by security officers or local law authority.
