Fox of France

In the "Caesar" Grand Hotel, no, it should be the luxurious living room of the "Caesar" battleship, Joseph had a cordial and friendly talk with Pope Pius VII, and had a cordial conversation with the Pope on the issue of Ireland's spiritual civilization construction. discuss. Joseph made a suggestion to the Pope. He believed that the Holy See had better use medical care and education as its main focus, so as to ensure income and maintain the image of the church.

Pope Pius VII expressed his approval and gratitude to Joseph for his suggestion. At the same time, he also expressed some concerns about the fact that the Republic of Ireland does not plan to establish a state religion, and plans to learn from France and implement the "religious freedom" policy.

"I'm not saying that France's policy is bad, but there is still a difference between Ireland and France. France has always been the core area of ​​Catholicism. The state religion, the French people will still adhere to the correct belief. But Ireland is different. These days, I talked with the Irish priests and found a lot of problems. There are already many problems in their understanding. Although they are loyal to the orthodox faith, the poison of heresy has infiltrated over the years. At this time, how can we adopt a policy of religious freedom?" Pope Pius VII said.

"Your Majesty," Joseph said, "Apart from the orthodox Catholic Church, what other important heresies are there in Europe today? It is nothing more than the Orthodox Church in the east and those heretics who call themselves Protestantism. Although these heresies are cunning, although they are good at deceiving Lamb of God, but if there are priests upholding orthodox faith, spreading the true gospel to those lambs and adhering to the power of God, isn’t it better than those heretics?”

Speaking of this, Joseph paused again, and then said: "Relying on the power of God, the orthodox Catholic Church is completely incomparable to the other two heretics in terms of missionary ability. Your Majesty, you see we have How many seminaries are there, and how many seminaries do those heretics have? Their theological theory is not comparable to ours. Moreover, how many priests can we train each year, and how many people can they train? So in terms of missionary ability, In addition, with our help, the orthodox Catholic Church can do far more than those heretics when it comes to charity.

For example, Your Majesty the Pope, you also know that in terms of medical level, our medical level in France far exceeds that of other regions where heresy is prevalent. And if the Catholic Church cooperates sincerely with us, we will open various church-affiliated and charitable hospitals in Europe. Think about it, what kind of effect will it have? I don't believe that those lambs who are led astray by heresy will not get sick. When they get sick, do they go to the low-level hospitals of the heretics, or our high-level hospitals?

Perhaps a few, too stubborn people will cling to their superstitions. But the medical effects of our hospitals can be seen by anyone with eyes. Although in theory, the level of medical level has nothing to do with the purity of belief. However, ordinary people don’t think so. They only think that since the hospital belongs to the Catholic Church and it can save their lives, it means that the Catholic Church is the orthodox one.

Your Majesty the Pope, Jesus Christ said: 'How impious are the people of this age. There are no miracles for people of this era. ’ But isn’t medical progress a miracle? Didn't Jesus perform miracles when he spread the truth? Without walking on the sea, without five fish and two cakes, would there really be so many people following him? Even now, how many believers who believe in heresy are not affected by miracles? Now that the miracle is in our hands, are you still worried that the flock will follow heresy? "

Pius VII nodded and said: "The progress of medicine is originally a reward for our piety from God. It is just a very large project to build a charity hospital on a large scale."

Joseph understood the meaning of Pius VII's words as soon as he heard it. To put it bluntly, the old guy cared about money. Obviously, in an era that has not been baptized in modern life, even a pope still does not understand that charity is the most profitable business.

"Your Majesty, have you ever thought about one thing?" Joseph said, "Jesus said, 'For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it; whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.' In fact , those who only want to keep money with them will lose it; those who throw it away will get more money. Charity hospitals can receive donations, and our influence can be used in many European countries We can get tax-free treatment for charitable hospitals. In addition, we can also carry out hierarchical medical care, that is, our charitable part is only for people with very low income at the bottom, and the rich people who receive treatment here, we have to Fees are charged. And we can also clearly say that the fees collected from them will be used for charity—but honestly, what activities of the church are not charity?"

Indeed, what activities of the church cannot be labeled as charity? Even if it is to build a luxurious cathedral with all kinds of extravagant gadgets, it can be said to show people's piety and please God-isn't this public welfare or charity? What's more, even if you get the money, put it all in the bank and only take part of the interest, for example, take 3% of the money every year to do good deeds, is that also for sustainable charity? In many charitable organizations in later generations, the funds actually used for charity each year are only 3% or 4% of the total assets-this is almost the norm.

Obviously, Joseph's words suddenly opened a door for Pope Pius VII, allowing Pope Pius VII to see scenery that he had never seen before.

"Ah, Dean Bonaparte, this is really... really worthy of careful study." Pius VII smiled until his eyes narrowed, and even the pupils in his dark yellow eyes seemed to turn into slits. a seam.

Two days later, the battleship "Caesar" returned to Le Havre. At the invitation of Joseph, His Majesty the Pope boarded the train with Joseph and went to Paris to pay a follow-up visit to France.

According to the provisional plan made on board, His Majesty the Pope will go to Paris to visit Napoleon in power and Minister Lucien to discuss how to build a "charitable empire".