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There are two churches that claim to be the Catholic Church in Cyber Nations with their own popes, one lead by Pope Pius XIII and the other by Pope Hope. The followers of Pope Hope are in a church generally known as the Orange Catholic Church.
History[]
The history of the Roman Catholic Church in Cyber Nations paralleled the real history of the Roman Catholic Church until around December 2005. In the anarchy that followed The Great War, all major nations in their modern form collapsed and were replaced by city-states in small countries. Pope Benedict XVI is believed to have died in this time, leaving a vacancy in the papacy. There were three "popes" who then contested the papacy: Pope Benedict XVII, Pope Hope (who was a woman), and Pope Pius XIII.
In Mexico City, Emperor Felipe III called a meeting of the three "popes" and Catholics worldwide. The event lasted from 7 March to 11 March. At that meeting, Benedict XVII made a touching speech that convinced Felipe III, but there was an overwhelming support for Pope Pius XIII among the NPO and NAAC representatives, who made up a majority of those there. Benedict thus renounced his claim to the papacy in exchange for becoming a cardinal while Pius XIII and Hope continued to argue. In the end, Pope Hope I was excommunicated and became a pope of the breakaway Orange Catholic Church while Pope Pius XIII was generally recognized as pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
Since the conference, numerous more people from around the world have claimed to be a "pope", but all of them have no following outside their own, usually small, nation and do not usually speak internationally. Thus, Catholicism is left with two "popes", Pope Pius XIII and Pope Hope. The Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church clearly states that the only baptised men can be ordained validly, however Pope Hope is recognized by the less-dogmatic Orange Catholic Church. She is generally agreed by Pope Pius XIII's supporters to be an antipope.
Recent polls show Pope Pius XIII and Pope Hope as having an approximately equal amount of support amongst Cyber Nations at large (both Catholic and non-Catholic). A significant part (almost 1/4) of Cyber Nations as a whole supports neither person.
Recently more people have declared Pius XIII an antipope. Some have began to recognize Pope Urban IX and others Honorius V, in attempts to end the Catholic divide. Few recognise Pope Conrad I, but he has remained a prominent figure, and has condemned the events of the First Great War. He is the only "pope" to have declared any form of official political view on the main Catholic issues such as war and contraceptives.
Since the turmoil the Cyber Nations Catholic Church has broken into several smaller churches, namely the Orange Catholic Church, which is headed by Pope Hope, the Cadian Catholic Church, which is headed by Pope Conrad I, and the Rosian Catholic Church, which is headed by Pope Adrian I.
College of Cardinals[]
The College of Cardinals is an executive body in the governing structure of The Papal States and of the Catholic Church that is responsible for the election of the Pope.