Religion
Saint Peter's Basilica, The Vatican, Celestis City Celestian Catholicism is, by far, the largest religion in the country, and officially the state religion. In 2017, the proportion of Ecclesiasticals that identify themselves as Celestian Catholic was around 75%.
The Catholic Church, also known as the Celestian Catholic Church, is also the largest Christian church in Mundus, with just under 1 billion members worldwide. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Mundic civilisations. Headed by the Bishop of Celestis, known as the Pope, the church's doctrines are summarised in the Nicene Creed. Its central administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican, an enclave within Celestis City.
The Catholic Church teaches that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ, that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles, and that the Pope is the successor to Saint Peter to whom primacy was conferred by Jesus Christ. It maintains that it practises the original Christian faith, reserving infallibility, passed down by sacred tradition. The Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, and institutes such as mendicant orders and enclosed monastic orders reflect a variety of theological and spiritual emphases in the Church.
Of its seven sacraments the Eucharist is the principal one, celebrated liturgically in the Mass. The church teaches that through consecration by a priest the sacrificial bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. The Virgin Mary is venerated in the Catholic Church as Mother of God and Queen of Heaven, honoured in dogmas and devotions. Its teaching includes sanctification through faith and evangelisation of the Gospel and Catholic social teaching, which emphasises support for the sick, the poor, and the afflicted through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Catholic Church is among the largest non-government and government provider of education and health care in Mundus.
The Catholic Church has influenced Mundic philosophy, culture, science, and art. The Catholic Church shared communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church until the East–West Schism in 1054, disputing particularly the authority of the Pope, as well as with the Oriental Orthodox churches prior to the Chalcedonian schism in 451 over differences in Christology. Catholics live all over the world through missions, diaspora, and conversions. From the late 20th century, the Catholic Church has been criticised for its doctrines on sexuality, its refusal to ordain women and its handling of sexual abuse cases.
The Celestian Catholic Church also promotes modern science, logical thinking, and a less literal view of many parts of the Bible due to translational unknowns, while maintaining some portions very literal, such as those dealing with homosexual marriage, alcoholism, abortion, and divorce which are highly discouraged. It also promotes the idea of a dynamic universe created by the Christian God and his continued influence, possibly through the unknown factors of quantum mechanics. In this dynamic universe, the modern theory of Evolution is allowed to coexist with Christian beliefs. This belief system has notable angered many who consider themselves more like "traditional" Christians. One of the core tenets of is that the human brain and consciousness is a gift from God and is to be used to it's fullest extent. Seeking education is all but mandated, and those who drop out of school are scorned by the Church. The most popular Pastors of the faith hold not only a theology-major, but usually have also studied history and/or ancient languages to ensure they are properly applying context to the passages of the Bible from which they preach. Numerous churches are noted for having fired Pastors who have been found to have been preaching falsely or making ridiculous, un-backed claims. As such, religious zealotry is uncommon in ES, though there have been occurrences of News Reporters having been assaulted by a few outlying zealots upon making false-claims.
ES accepts Catholicism as the official religion, but all religions deemed not harmful to society (i.e. those which prohibit seeking medical help, promote violence or racism, or encourage suicide) are considered legal and respected. Money given to the Church is mandated to "have a notable effect on society:" much of the money allocated to religious funds often finds it's way into humanitarian organizations or in sponsoring individuals in education.
Religion within ES is therefore recognised as the biggest foundation of Ecclesiastical culture and society, it takes priority in all cultural matters, with Christian holidays being treated as national holidays. As such Sunday has been treated as a day of prayer and relaxation, as such since 1687 no sports have been played on Sunday nor have shops been open. Members of the Clergy are also revered in Ecclesiastical society, as it is seen that the word of Priest is worth a thousand voices of ordinary people. Since the beginning of the country, the Church has promoted and arranged some thousands of so called Street Choirs which put simply is a collection of 18 Monks who walk the streets of cities, singing hymns and praying for various issues.
One of the most iconic festivals is the Bonfire of the Vanities, to which cosmetics, mirrors, glamour articles and condemned forms of clothing are burnt to celebrate the fight against pride and lust. Every year on the 8 June, the nation celebrates Apostate Night where effigies are burnt on fires and fireworks are set off to 'shake the foundations' of the "Godless".
An Ecclesiastical meme exposing the hypocrisy displayed by Anti-TheistsSociety & Culture
Being a Theocracy with heavy elements of Meritocracy through and through, ES is very much a work-based society, thriving on the idea of "If you don't work, you don't eat." In Ecclesiastical society, all individuals are expected to either work or study for the majority of their lives. As a result, stress levels in ES are often high; by day, it is very much a "no-nonsense," society, whereas by night much of the population regularly blows off steam in clubs, bars, or by other various forms of entertainment.
Although welfare is very much in abundance due to the Welfare State model, "unemployed," is a term that carries a great deal of disdain. After a short period of job-searching, any individuals who remain on unemployment are government-ordered to work in a public-works job, which is provided for them based on their skill-set, in addition to continued job-searching. If the individual is determined to be actively job-hunting and lacks necessary skills, skill-based classes are government-provided. Many of these services, such as traffic-guidance, litter-collection, et cetera, are often paid for under different organizations of the government or by various companies who benefit from the works projects, and as a result Ecclesiastical cities are often very clean despite the high density.
While not common, some particularly lazy individuals have been deported and their citizenship stricken. Regaining citizenship following this is extremely rare and often is often covered widely by national media outlets, as the recently-re-minted citizens, termed "Prodigal Citizens," must show great drive and prove considerable worth to Ecclesiastical society, and these citizens are welcomed back with open arms.
Due to the high-stress environment many have found peace in religion as an outlet, while others turn to partying, and as a result night-life in cities is often very dramatic. Educational, Christian, science-fiction, historical-fiction, and News shows are the most watched in ES. Reality-TV is also common, though it normally follows notably citizens or citizens with dangerous or "interesting" lines of work. Financial-based celebrity is uncommon unless it is also backed up by business-related success.
For centuries ES has developed a unique culture, shaped by a multitude of regional customs and local centres of power and patronage. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a number of magnificent courts competed for attracting the best architects, artists and scholars, thus producing an immense legacy of monuments, paintings, music and literature. The Celestian Catholic Church mostly through the Vatican worked hard to have artists decorate vast cathedrals across the country, famous architects would be given large sums of money to build relatively small buildings compared to what they were paid.
ES has rich collections of art, culture and literature from many different periods. The country has had a broad cultural influence worldwide, also because numerous Ecclesiasticals emigrated to other places during the Ecclesiastical diaspora. Furthermore, the nation has, overall, hundreds of thousands of monuments of any sort (museums, palaces, buildings, statues, churches, art galleries, villas, fountains, historic houses and archaeological remains).
From folk music to classical, music has always played an important role in Ecclesiastical culture. Instruments associated with classical music, including the piano and violin, were first used in Albion thanks to ES, and many of the prevailing classical music forms, such as the symphony, concerto, and sonata, can trace their roots back to innovations of 16th- and 17th-century Ecclesiastical music.
ES' most famous composers include the Renaissance composers Monti and Pattrini, the Baroque composers Sciarra, Campani and Varani, the Classical composers Paganini and Rossini, and the Romantic composers Baccia and Polerni. While the classical music tradition still holds strong in the Ecclesiastical State, as evidenced by the fame of its innumerable opera houses, such as La Perla of Urbisalia and the San Cecilia, Ecclesiasticals have been no less appreciative of their thriving contemporary music scene.
The Ecclesiastical State is widely known for being among the first the birthplaces of opera. Ecclesiastical opera was believed to have been founded in the early 17th century. Later, works and pieces composed by native Ecclesiastical composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, are among the most famous operas ever written and today are performed in opera houses across the world. La Perla operahouse in Miragliano is also renowned as one of the best in the world.
Since the 1920s, music in the Ecclesiastical State has been subject to censorship and extensive guidelines and criteria on lyrics and underlying messages of songs. However, within these confines of censorship, the Ecclesiastical State has become a major source and influence for numerous genres such as disco, pop, rock and dance music, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, whose famous artists include Madonna, Michael Jackson and Sting, among others.
Due to the high levels of religiosity in the country, Gregorian music and other forms of Hymns are prominent and popular forms of music enjoyed by the general population.,
Cuisine
The cuisines of the Ecclesiastical State are diverse by themselves, although there are common characteristics that distinguish such cooking from cuisines of for example other Albionite countries and others. Compared with traditional cooking of Albionite countries, for example, meat is more prominent and substantial in serving-size. Steak and cutlet in particular are common dishes across ES. Ecclesiastical cuisines also put substantial emphasis on grape wine and on sauces as condiments, seasonings, or accompaniments (in part due to the difficulty of seasonings penetrating the often larger pieces of meat used in Ecclesiastical cooking). Many dairy products are utilised in the cooking process, except in nouvelle cuisine. Cheeses are produced in hundreds of different varieties, and fermented milk products are also available in a wide selection. Wheat-flour bread has long been the most common source of starch in this cuisine, along with pasta, dumplings and pastries, although the potato has become a major starch plant in the diet of Ecclesiasticals and their diaspora since the Ecclesiastical colonial era. Maize is much less common in most Ecclesiastical diets than it is in the elsewhere; however corn meal (polenta or mămăligă), is a major part of some areas in northern ES. Although flatbreads (especially with toppings such as pizza or tarte flambée), and rice are eaten in ES, they do not constitute an ever-present staple. Salads (cold dishes with uncooked or cooked vegetables with sauce) are an integral part of Ecclesiastical cuisine.
Formal Ecclesiastical dinners are served in distinct courses. Ecclesiastical presentation evolved from service à la française, or bringing multiple dishes to the table at once, into service à la russe, where dishes are presented sequentially. Usually, cold, hot and savoury, and sweet dishes are served strictly separately in this order, as hors d'oeuvre (appetizer) or soup, as entrée and main course, and as dessert. Dishes that are both sweet and savoury were common earlier in ancient Celestian cuisine, but are today uncommon, with sweet dishes being served only as dessert. A service where the guests are free to take food by themselves is termed a buffet, and is usually restricted to parties or holidays. Nevertheless, guests are expected to follow the same pattern.
Historically, Ecclesiastical cuisine has been developed in the Ecclesiastical royal and noble courts. Ecclesiastical nobility was usually arms-bearing and lived in separate manors in the countryside. The knife was the primary eating implement (cutlery), and eating steaks and other foods that require cutting followed. The knife was supplanted by the spoon for soups, while the fork was introduced later in the early modern period, ca. 16th century. Today, most dishes are intended to be eaten with cutlery and only a few finger foods can be eaten with the hands in polite company.
From Left to Right: Baguette, Pasta, Grilled steak and Home Fried Potatoes
