Arch-Patriarchal Visit to North Dovani, 3454

Conferences, visits and other bilateral or multilateral meetings.

Arch-Patriarchal Visit to North Dovani, 3454

Postby Martinulus » Thu Mar 14, 2013 2:43 pm

Justus III arrives in Dranland

Iglesia Mayor - Arch-Patriarch Justus III, the head of the Selucian Patriarchal Church, has started his visit to the Church's provinces in North Dovani in Dranland, arriving at the International Airport of the Dranish Capital of Iglesia Mayor. The 67-year old head of the world's and Dranland's largest Hosian denomination visits Dranland as well as his native Hulstria and Gao-Soto on a long tour of the region. According to the Selucian Church, the focus will be on peace and reconciliation in this multicultural reason, in which the Arch-Patriarch was born and played a prominent role during his time as Archbishop of Phönix.

At the airport, the Arch-Patriarch customarily blessed the land on which he arrived, before being greeted by the assembled officials, which included the Cardinal-Archbishop of Iglesia Mayor. In a brief statement, the Arch-Patriarch said he was "honoured to be received so warmly back on the continent of his birth," and that he hoped this visit would reinforce the faith of the growing Hosian community in Dranland, which grew progressively larger after the disestablishment of the Universal Church of Terra. Nevertheless, Justus III said he realised the significance of the North Dovani region's distinctive multicultural background, and that he hoped peace and harmony would be reinforced for everyone regardless of faith.

The Papa will, during his 4-day visit to Dranland, meet with the leaders of Dranland's religious communities, and give 2 open-air Patriarchal High Masses.
Image
Hosianisch-Demokratisches Verbund - Hulstria and Gao-Soto

Notable previous parties:
Folkepartiet (People's Party) - Kazulia
User avatar
Martinulus
 
Posts: 971
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 11:53 am

Re: Arch-Patriarchal Visit to North Dovani, 3454

Postby Brydog » Thu Mar 14, 2013 3:50 pm

UCT Metropolitan Bernardo Alvarado Castaneda will meet with Justus III.
Staring as... The National Republican Party

"The U.N. is a place where governments opposed to free speech demand to be heard." - MAD Magazine
Brydog
 
Posts: 166
Joined: Thu Apr 09, 2009 1:37 pm

Re: Arch-Patriarchal Visit to North Dovani, 3454

Postby EgeDoruk » Thu Mar 14, 2013 10:32 pm

President Maddocks accepts him at the Presidential Place
''I never dared to be radical when young
For fear it would make me conservative when old.''
Robert Frost

Image
User avatar
EgeDoruk
 
Posts: 884
Joined: Wed Jul 18, 2012 8:58 pm
Location: Ankara,Turkey/Dranland

Re: Arch-Patriarchal Visit to North Dovani, 3454

Postby Aquinas » Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:32 am

Haneul Han welcomes Arch-Patriarch Justus III to Dranland
by political commentator Herge Riviera
14 February 3455

In recent weeks, Gukmindang's General Secretary, Haneul Han MP, has avoided talking about the Arch-Patriarch's planned visit to Dranland. You can understand his position. On the one hand, he doesn't want to give offence to an honoured religious dignitary who commands the spiritual allegiance of one-fifth of the Dranish population. But on the other, he knows there are people within the Kyo nationalist movement who are alarmed by the growth of Hosianism in Dranland and regard it as yet another threat to the traditional Kyo way of life. Finally, however, Han has come off the fence and gone in for a charm offensive. In a statement issued last night, he said:

Dranland is famous for its hospitality to visitors, and I am confident that the Arch-Patriarch will receive a very warm welcome from all people from all communities. Together with a small group of Kyo community leaders, I have offered to take the Arch-Patriarch on a tour of the city of Gongmangdo [Comares] to see the ancient remains of the historic Kingdom of the Kyos.


Mun-hee Ban MP, one of Gukmindang's most outspoken backbenchers, was less positive about the visit:

Again and again, people are telling me that their son or daughter went off to university and then came back a Hosian because they've been targetted by radical Hosian evangelisers. The Kyo community is fed up with this. Daenism is a Kyo religion and Sindo is a Kyo religion, but Hosianism is not. These people should let us alone. I mean no disrespect to the Arch-Patriarch and I have no problem with people who practice Hosianism - it is just that I think they should turn their attention away from the Kyos. Our way of life is threatened enough as it is.


Sang-ho Yun, another Gukmindang MP, offered a different perspective:

I do understand why Kyos are not happy about the growth of Hosianism. When you're feeling your way of life is under threat, you feel under siege - and to a lot of us, Hosianism seems to be a part of all that. In my view, Hosianism is not the actual problem, though. The real problem is to do with mass globalisation, rampant consumerism and the damaging liberal changes going on in our culture. If we tackle those things, then the panic in our community about Hosianism will lessen.

Some of the Hosian evangelical campaigns are insensitive. I've seen leaflets distributed, for example, which are very derogatory and misleading about Daenism and Sindo and seem to be encouraging Kyo children to rebel against their elders. This is more of a problem with the Luthorans and the Ameliorates than the Selucian Patriarchal Church, though.

We also need to be frank about the fact that there are problems within the Kyo community when it comes to respecting freedom of religion. A lot of families and communities are very intolerant when a family or community member converts to Hosianism. Even when the family or community is itself not particularly religious, as soon as someone converts to Hosianism, they see it as a betrayal. We need to work to increase understanding on these issues.


Dranland's media is very excited about the Arch-Patriarch's visit, granting it blanket coverage on the television and radio. Justus III ought to consider himself very lucky if he manages to get through his tour without encountering any hitches, but his reception so far seems to have been overwhelmingly positive. None of the fears that were expressed a few weeks ago about mass protests have been realised.
User avatar
Aquinas
 
Posts: 9796
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2010 1:28 am
Location: UK

Re: Arch-Patriarchal Visit to North Dovani, 3454

Postby Martinulus » Sat Mar 16, 2013 3:54 pm

Arch-Patriarchal visit: update

Arch-Patriarch blesses Dranish for warm welcome
After being received by President Maddocks at the Presidential Palace, Arch-Patriarch Justus III has offered his blessing to the entire Dranish people, of whatever faith or race, in gratitude for their warm welcome. In his visit to the Palace, the head of Dranland's largest religious community said the welcome he received was "heart-warming". "The hospitality of the Dranish people is rightly famed throughout North Dovani," the supreme pontiff said in his statement. "I pray that the people of this country, whatever their faith, may be blessed with peace and unity to offer their hospitality to visitors for many years to come." Although the visit to Maddocks was primarily a courtesy one, among matters discussed were the Dranland-Egelion conflict, the recent tensions arising from the shifts in religion and the general situation in North Dovani.

Justus III meets UCT Metropolitan
(to be written later)

Mass in Iglesia Mayor
(also to be written later)
Image
Hosianisch-Demokratisches Verbund - Hulstria and Gao-Soto

Notable previous parties:
Folkepartiet (People's Party) - Kazulia
User avatar
Martinulus
 
Posts: 971
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 11:53 am

Re: Arch-Patriarchal Visit to North Dovani, 3454

Postby Martinulus » Sat Mar 16, 2013 4:27 pm

Justus III tours Comares-Gongmando; meets Kyo community leaders

Comares/Gongmando, Elbian - Upon the invitation of Gukmindang General Secretary Han Haneul, Arch-Patriarch Justus III made some adjustments to his schedule in order to spend more time in the Kyo heartland's capital of Comares/Gongmando. The extra time will be spent on a tour of the city with Han and Kyo community leaders and meetings with Kyo and Sindo leaders. The focus of the visit is widely seen as a goodwill exercise in which the pontiff attempts to reassure the Kyo community, which has been shaken by Hosian evangelisation, that the Church is no threat to their culture. At his arrival, the head of the Selucian Church invited the leaders of the Kyo community to attend a service in Comares' Cathedral of Our Lady Mother. The service was reworked on the initiative of several Kyo Hosians and their clergy in order to reflect the way Kyo Hosians incorporate their traditional culture into their Hosian practice. Although the Arch-Patriarch will still be the main celebrant at Holy Revelation, he will concelebrate with Bishop Thomas Ban, the newly-consecrated Kyo Bishop of Comares-Gongmando.

"I am glad we can take this opportunity to show His Holiness how our cultural heritage informs our Hosianism," said Ban, before the arrival of the Papa. "And I hope many of our Sindo and Daenist Kyo brothers and sisters will agree to attend this service with us." A spokesman for Justus III said earlier this week that the Papa was "deeply grateful" to the Bishopric of Comares-Gongmando for their suggestions as to Kyo-Hosian relations, and to Bishop Ban especially.

Touring the highlights of Gongmando with Mr Han, Justus III chose to go by foot around the city, taking only minimal bodyguards with him to express his "... presence as a guest in this ancient city." He was deeply impressed by the rich cultural heritage of the area, and in his meeting with Kyo, Sindo and Daenist community leaders, he told them how this reminded him of his native Hulstria and Gao-Soto, and that the interplay and interwovenness of cultural traditions was very clear. "The inner peace of Daenism and Sindo is something we share with them, as is the message of love, peace and charity." On his way out, when confronted by protesting parents of young Kyo Hosians, Justus III dismissed the advice of his security officials, approached them and spoke to them, afterwards giving them his blessing. "There is a tension here between the traditional Kyo culture and Hosianism which is based on a lack of understanding," he told the press afterwards, reminding them of his earlier statements in his time as Patriarch of the East about interfaith dialogue. Afterwards, the Arch-Patriarch met with Kyo Hosians, and where there was trouble with their families, he offered his help in resolving it.

In his homily at Holy Revelation that night, Justus III reflected on the tensions between Hosians and Kyo and said they were a product of a lack of understanding on both sides.

"Today, speaking to the parents worried about the path of their children, or the new Hosian faithful who are being shunned by their contemporaries, I have learned a lesson that I think we must all learn: all true faith exists to bring peace and charity, and to guide us through life. Growing up in Hulstria and Gao-Soto, I witnessed that first-hand with some of my brothers at seminary, who come from Daenist or Kamist families. But the Annunciation resonated with them not in spite of the beliefs they were raised with, but because of them, and that is what I see here. There is so much we share, and so much we don't realise we share. So let us, when we get to the Pax before Holy Revelation, give eachother the kiss of peace, across the boundaries of faith. And let us leave here with this message: to know and respect another's faith is more important than to try and sway him away from it. Those who have chosen to follow Hosios feel His presence in their hearts; it is much the same with all of us.

Hearing the voice of the Lord in your heart and following it is not something we can impose or press upon people, and if we did it that aggressively, we would be prideful of our own capabilities and underestimate the mystery that is faith. Just like Sindoists or Daenists, we spread our message that it may be heard, and if it resonates, we are ready to receive those who want to follow it. And that mission confers upon all men and women the duty to respect and love those who choose a different path.

I call you brothers and sisters, Hosian or no - because the commandment of love is not bounded by faith. Let us, in this service, share in that brotherly love and respect for eachother, that together we may find inner peace in our faith, and peace among eachother in our love and respect. I thank you for your welcome and pray that I have reassured those of you that felt uncomfortable at my presence."
Image
Hosianisch-Demokratisches Verbund - Hulstria and Gao-Soto

Notable previous parties:
Folkepartiet (People's Party) - Kazulia
User avatar
Martinulus
 
Posts: 971
Joined: Sat May 16, 2009 11:53 am

Re: Arch-Patriarchal Visit to North Dovani, 3454

Postby Aquinas » Sun Mar 17, 2013 1:22 am

Han thanks Justus III for Comares visit
14 February 3456

Haneul Han MP, General Secretary of the Gukmindang, has formally thanked Arch-Patriarch Justus III for his visit to the Elbian city of Comares, known to Kyos as "Gongmangdo" - the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Gongmangdo which once ruled Dranland. Han told the press afterwards:

Myself and all of us who were involved in the Arch-Patriarch's visit to Gongmangdo felt immensely blessed both by his presence and the conversation he afforded us. Justus is one of those rare people who seem to instinctively reach out to all kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds. Wherever he goes in Terra, people love him - but I think the people of Gongmangdo have shown in recent days that it is perhaps they who love him the most!

There have been problems in the relationship between Hosians and the Kyo community. There is no point in denying that, and Julius certainly didn't deny it while he was here - in fact, he was listening very carefully to what everyone had to say and trying to do everything he could to ease our concerns. What Julius has shown us, though, is that there is no reason why Kyos and Hosians should not get along - nor, for that matter, why Kyos should be fearful of Hosianism within the Kyo community itself. The challenges remain, but I believe this visit has helped us move forward in the right direction.


Mun-hee Ban, the Gukmindang MP most well known for his criticisms of Hosianism in Dranland, was less impressed:

Haneul Han is in danger of becoming just another establishment Kyo who does whatever Dranland's cultural elite expects of him. Being photographed with the Arch-Patriarch is all very well, but it does nothing to halt the decimation of the Kyo way of life in Dranland. If you ask me, Han got carried away with this visit. He ought to have followed his initial instincts and steered well clear of it it.


Sang-ho Yun, another Gukmindang MP, offered this analysis:

Whatever Justus did, he was going to be criticised, and whatever Han did, he was going to be attacked too. Han surprised me and many others by being so welcoming to the Arch-Patriarch. Perhaps that was Justus's charm at work, I don't know. The question we've got to ask is, "Will this visit make a difference?" My view is that yes, it will. Justus didn't just come here to see the Hosians; he actively sought out people from other backgrounds, including people who had problems with the Selucian Patriarchal Church - and he talked to them! That shows great boldness and leadership, to me. It will help reduce suspicions about his Church in Dranland, which is good for everyone.
User avatar
Aquinas
 
Posts: 9796
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2010 1:28 am
Location: UK


Return to Diplomacy

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests