"Peter I" CanonizedRadoslav Volić proclaimed a SaintNewly commissioned icon of "Saint Radoslav the Fool"November 4054 - In an unexpected and unannounced move, Pápež Neofit I of the Terran Patriarchal Church officially canonized
Radoslav Volić (2071-2104), a Deltarian Tokundian who became famous for proclaiming himself Arch-Patriarch under the name "Peter I", centuries after the title had fallen into disuse with the fall of the Holy Apostolic Hosian Church of Terra in 1819. This move may come as a shock to many Terran Patriarchal Hosians, as Radoslav is a controversial and contested figure and suspected of mental illness. In spite of this he was also very influential for the history of the Church; his self-proclaimed Pápežate and his subsequent popularity among the impoverished and religious population of Darali made it clear to the totalitarian Absolvers regime ruling Deltaria at the time that their "New Traditions" campaign was unsuccessful. The "New Traditions" was the official name of a campaign introduced by the governing
Totalitarian-
National Socialist-Communist coalition aiming to abolish feudal traditions and forcefully modernize Deltaria as a homogeneous and secular nation, governed by the "Absolvers" and their cult of personality. However, not long after Radoslav's execution by his ruling Markiz, the New Traditions campaign was tacitly abandoned and the
Oligarchy legalized and officially adopted Hosianism as the state religion. Most significantly, the popularity of Radoslav's self-proclaimed Pápežate convinced the Oligarchy to officially introduce the office of Arch-Patriarch, thus creating the Terran Patriarchal Church.
In spite of his importance, Radoslav was never considered a legitimate Pápež, nor was he canonized, until now. This is because of his controversial and erratic behavior, leading many to assume that he had suffered from mental illness. Radoslav used to speak in riddles, walk naked, urinate and defecate in public, eat meat on fast days, shoplift and give to the poor, and spend countless nights in brothels, behaviors generally considered inappropriate for a Saint. However, his canonization two thousand years after his death serves a clearly political purpose. The fact that Radoslav Volić was a Tokundian, persecuted both on account of his ethnicity and his religious convictions, sends a clear message in connection to the unfolding Tokundian crisis in Cobura, where the demands for independence of the indigenous Tokundian population in the South Majatran kingdom stems from the marginalization of this minority at the hands of the Archean monarchy. And the the Church got around the new saint's controversial character by introducing him into the category of Holy Fools, a type of saint in the Terran Patrairchal Church who behaves unconventionally, feigns insanity or silliness, and who deliberately provokes outrage. Being believed to be clairvoyant or a prophet is a common characteristic of Holy Fools, which was indeed one of the things Radoslav was known for. His canonization at this time will likely lead to a rise in Tokundian nationalism and will certainly make this controversial figure even more popular among Coburan Tokundians as not only an unconventional religious figure, but also as a symbol of Tokundian identity.