Christianity in the Roman Empire

Christianity, a religion dating back to the eighth century A.U.C. and that who has spread seriously since the tenth century is the monotheistic religion with the greatest number of followers in the Empire. Although at first it had a reputation for being rather morbid, and to worship a corpse, the message of peace and brotherhood among people led that to be very successful, especially among slaves and the poorest people. Despite some internal disagreements there are no separate sects, also thanks to a massive intervention by the state in the field of religion, which prohibits internal schisms of any kind. That said, there are still some local differences, and every provincial church has their own ideas and rituals. There are different dictates of behavior that are common to all, however, and these are: sex is only allowed between married and people of different sex, but homosexuals, although they cannot marry, are not discriminated as long as they maintain their own relationship chaste; believers must give up 1% of their possessions to the church annually, so that they can maintain the clergy and the places of worship; members of the clergy are allowed to marry, but less than half do so. As for what is believed, the Christian creed is the following: there is only one god divided into three entities, namely the father, the son and the holy spirit; it was god who created the world, yet it is science that explains it; men have been corrupted by the devil who manifests himself in infinite forms, and it is up to the clergy to succeed in bringing them to the right path; those who do not follow the Christian religion are condemned to hell, unless they lead an irreproachable life from every point of view, in which case they will simply go to purgatory until they have been purified; there are multiple sins, but the worst of all is pride, which leads people to deny god and act as if he did not exist.

Structure

The Church has a Pope who resides in Rome, and every province has a Cardinal, who govern the archbishop, bishops and priest of the province. The structure is heavly decentralized, with the Pope having power only on doctrinal matters.

Public Agenda

The principal interest of the Church is organizing ad spreading the Christian faith, but it has also a strong interest in beneficence and education.

Assets

Other than the various churches dedicated to the religious services the Christian Church has also a bank and various interest in different companies, real estate assets and works of art.

History

After a strong persecution in the first centuries of existance, the Church managed to became accepted and widespread in the Empire in the tenth century, and now, while weaker than before, is still a strong sociopolitical force.

Founding Date

In the Eight century A.U.C.. While there are discrepancies about the exact date, there is a general consensus that it was founded when Christ sent his apostles to spread the word.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion