Joseph Kennedy yesterday assumed the role of Pope of the Parva-Religions.
The Pope leads the Divine Church of the Parva-Religions, an institution designed to promote the culture (specifically religious aspects) of small nations.
Kennedy, who is Governing Commissioner of the Austenasian Crown Dependency of New Richmond, has taken the papal name of Alexander IV. He is the eleventh individual to hold the office, which derives its origins from a cat-worshipping cult founded in 2004 in a predecessor state of New Wessex.
Kennedy’s predecessor, Pope Ezekiel I (better known as Richard Cunningham), founded the Church of the Parva-Religions together with Bradley of Dullahan last June. Formerly, the Pope was a spiritual advisor to Declan I, King of New Wessex, chosen by him from the members of the Orlian College of Cardinals, a body which was theoretically meant to advise him on the culture of Orly but only ever contained foreign leaders who he had appointed to the group as an honour.
After the liberation of Orly from his rule last year, an argument between Declan and the cardinals resulted in them breaking away from his control under the leadership of Bradley of Dullahan, who together with the then pope founded the Divine Church by merging the Papacy with the College of Cardinals to create a single and independent institution.
Currently, the Divine Church is in somewhat of a state of disarray. The responsibilities and functions of the former cardinals within the new system are not thought to be precisely delineated, and Kennedy was not elected to the position but was simply nominated by two former popes after the office had been left vacant for over two weeks after the resignation of his predecessor.
Kennedy has stated that he wishes to reform the governing body of the church, and to make its “presence in the [MicroWiki] community more known”.
