Father Soljie had been waiting in the hall for a long time.
Standing still, the Pope walked into the hall surrounded by the crowd.
Seeing the Pope appear, Father Solger's originally calm mood suddenly became a little nervous.
The Pope took two steps and the waiter ran to Father Solger and stopped to introduce him.
"Are you the Archbishop from Feika?" The Pope was a little dazed.
The guy in front of me was so dirty, as if he hadn't taken a bath for ten days, and he hadn't changed his clothes. He looked like a beggar.
No one had ever appeared before him in this image.
"Are you here to take a bath or to be baptized a second time?"
Faced with this absurd scene, the Pope felt both amused and annoyed.
Father Solger bowed slightly and said, "Solger greets the Holy See." He paused and continued, "I am not here to be baptized, but to ask the Holy See a few questions. These questions have been puzzling me for a long time."
The Pope's face darkened, and he felt something was wrong. "What do you want to ask?"
Father Solger looked up at the Pope with a firm gaze: "There are a large number of poor people in the Holy City. Why is it separated by a wall and they are not allowed to enter during the day? The inner city of the Holy City is built extremely luxuriously, why do we still force donations from the poor?"
"Since I entered the Holy City, I have been blackmailed twice by guards outside the city and at the foot of the Temple Mount. I wonder if the Holy See knows about this situation?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone around fell silent, and everyone looked over at them.
The Chief Justice was even more astonished and looked at Father Solger in disbelief.
This is...are you risking your life by asking the Pope such a question?
The Pope's eyes gradually widened, and the atmosphere began to become tense: "Did you come here specifically to question me?"
Father Solger clenched his fists and said, "Yes! I came here to question you! Why is there a cardinal drinking openly in the temple? The priests in the Holy City should be the cornerstone of the Taifu Church, but everyone I see is digging into the church!"
"I lived in the slums for a while. The poor people were clearly being oppressed by the church, but they always believed that there were only a few bad people. But what I heard from them was that the church had no sense of propriety and shame, and prostitutes and pedophiles were everywhere! If the people wanted to ask the church for something, they had to bribe and use connections. Those believers were not only greedy for money and lustful, but also drunkards who never let go of their bottles of wine!"
"I don't believe that the Holy See can't see all this. Why is the church still growing stronger despite being so corrupt? Is it possible that the Holy Father and the Holy Spirit that I believe in are providing it with support and foundation? How can such a church be called upright and holy?!"
"Please give me an answer, Holy See!" Father Soljie almost shouted the last sentence.
Memories flashed through my mind.
Although he seemed calm, in fact, he was already in turmoil.
After more than ten days of experience, the rage in his heart finally erupted at this moment.
The Archbishop? It doesn't matter anymore... that's not what he came for.
With a clang.
The cardinal holding a bottle of wine not far away had a dazed look on his face, and the bottle slipped quietly from his hand.
Facing Father Solger's burning gaze, the Pope could not help but roar in anger: "You are crazy, how dare you speak like this in front of me!"
"Come here! This man has been misled by heresy and has apostatized! Take him to prison and burn him at the stake in the square tomorrow at noon!"
Two Templar soldiers immediately came out and took Father Solger away.
The Pope was still furious, and he looked at the Grand Chancellor and said, "Go and interrogate him yourself to find out what's wrong with his mind, or who has bewitched him!"
The Chief Justice nodded.
.....
Inside the stone prison, Solje leaned against the wall with an expressionless face.
After venting my emotions, there is only emptiness in my heart.
In the blink of an eye, time has fallen from heaven to hell.
But this was all within his imagination, and he did not feel disappointed.
The priest looked up at the skylight, wondering what he was thinking.
Just then, footsteps were heard in the corridor.
The Chief Justice opened the cell door, drove away the others, and stood in front of Father Solger.
Seeing that the priest did not react, the Grand Justice examined him for a while and said, "Your name is Soljie, right? Although I don't know who bewitched you, I admire your courage. I have lived in the Holy City for most of my life, but this is the first time I have seen someone dare to be so arrogant in front of the Pope."
"Just tell me your situation directly. You are going to die anyway. Save me some time. I don't want to torture you."
Father Solger looked up and said slowly, "Was there anything I asked the Pope that was false?"
The Chief Justice shook his head: "So you are here to be martyred?"
Father Soljie smiled bitterly: "Martyrdom... maybe. I have seen a lot of things during my time in the Holy City. This world is full of lies, disasters, and oppression. I found that the only one who can save the world is myself."
"I thought my holy father was dead, he was martyred... I was only contributing to the evil of the church by my diligent preaching, and no one could wash the blood off my body."
"......"
"You are so self-righteous!" The Chief Justice rebuked, "There are many people like you who have come to the Holy City, although you are the only one who has come this far. But in fact, people like you may seem pious and pure, but you don't understand this world, the operation of the church, and the good intentions of the church. The world no longer needs people like you."
"You don't understand. Weak humans have no way of accepting the right of free choice given by God. They just need to learn to blindly follow."
"You want people to live devoutly and truthfully, which is too difficult for mortals. Out of compassion, the church no longer requires believers to become perfect people, but allows them to seek liberation in the afterlife after a simple act of mercy. The church has spent hundreds of years to achieve this goal!"
"Now you want to turn it back to its original form. The last thing the church wants to see is the person who demands that humans take responsibility return to the world! Your actions are an attempt to drag people back into the chaos of pain!"
Father Soljie listened quietly and recited something silently.
"2, 3, 5, 7, 11..."
The Chief Justice looked puzzled: "What are you talking about?"
Father Soljie stopped counting and said softly, "I went to the East to preach. There I met a magical Oriental man who taught me a lot of knowledge. I stubbornly believed that he was a heretic at the time, but later he made me understand what is real."
"He said that counting can help me calm down when I'm anxious. I wasn't anxious just now, but I was surprised. The church has done so many selfish things, why do you dare to speak so confidently about these principles? I think I underestimated the extent of your shamelessness."
The Chief Justice was filled with anger: "You think what I said is wrong?"
"Of course not." Father Solger's eyes were calm, "Because I have seen a country where people can take responsibility for themselves."
......
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