[Holy See] Communique to France

[Ender]

(Secret and written entirely in Latin)

Unto: Dominique de Villepin, Minister for Foreign and Francophone Affairs (Taranis)
From: Raymond Cardinal Burke, Secretary of State of his Holiness

Greetings and Blessings,

It is with sadness and hope that I am writing to you this day. His Holiness Hadrianus VII, has expressed to me in our recent private meetings that They are saddened by the recent gulf that has grown between the Holy Mother Church and her First Daughter. They would like to see this schism healed and the Primacy of France Restored. His Holiness before they were called to their present office, had visited Avignon and the Apostolic Palace that is there. The state in which the Palace was found, has left an indelible mark of sadness that weighs heavily upon their soul to this very day. As such His Holiness would like to reach a compromise with Our First Daughter that would see France restored to it's former place of prestige and honour within the church. We would be interested in jointly restoring the Apostolic Palace and Grounds to their formal glory, and installing the newly elevated Patriarch of Europe as the Resident there. If this kind of arrangement is amenable to you, and if you are willing to negotiate on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Yours in our shared and eternal faith,

<Signed>
Raymond Burke
Secretary of State of His Holiness

 

[Taranis]

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French Republic
Official Correspondence

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Classification: Restricted

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To: Raymond Burke, Secretary of State of the Holy See ( Ender )
From: Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Minister for Culture
Subject: Re: Communique to France

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Your Eminence,

It is with honour and pleasure that I contact you, for the first time. I hope we can maintain and develop our shared history and cooperation.
After informing the relevant authorities in my Ministry, I have found that the cost of renovating the Palais des Papes in Avignon for use will be some $500 million. This is considering utilities, meeting safety standards, rebuilding certain areas, and so on; but not staff costs or maintaining the building, which will cost around $50 million annually.

In light of our strong cultural and historic links, the French Government is happy to pay some or all of the cost, and all of the maintenance costs; but all staff employed there will be employed by the Holy See and not the French Government.

We also have the following conditions:

1. That the Festival of Avignon be allowed to continue;
2. That the archives of Vaucluse remain and that the French Government may still access them;
3. That the state-owned research centre remain.

If those conditions are met, we are happy for you to use the Palais des Papes as you wish.

Your offer of having the Patriarch of Europe here is interesting, and of course we are willing to accept. What would that entail and how would you like us to cooperate with the Holy See?

Asking the blessing of Your Eminence, I am, yours respectfully in Christ,

Jean-Jacques Aillagon
Minister for Culture

 

[Ender]

(Secret and written entirely in Latin)

Unto: Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Minister for Culture (Taranis)
CC: Georges-Joseph Toussaint, Patriarch of Europe
From: Raymond Cardinal Burke, Secretary of State of his Holiness

Greetings and Blessings,

I have relayed your message to His Holiness, and they are excited by the possibilities. The whole of the Holy See is also anticipatory and hopeful that this will be the first of many mutually beneficial communiques and plans. With that in mind we would not want corners to be cut on this one, or any luxury denied. As such we are willing to meet your commitment of $500 million to the reconstruction. We of course will also bear the yearly cost of staffing the new facilities, we will also commit to ensuring that any non-clergy staff will be drawn from the local and nationwide French population.

On to your conditions, we have no concerns with the first 2, but His Holiness expressed some concern as to the nature of the research that is being conducted at the state-owned research facility. As we cannot allow any research that would be counter to the teaching of the church to be conducted on premises. Which I am sure you can understand. Thus if you could be transparent about the nature of the activities that are done there, we would be more comfortable with it.

To the matter of the Patriarchal See, the Regional Patriarchs serve as the primary point of contact for diplomatic relations between the states within their dominion. But mostly their duties are the facilitate the Regional Churches and allow for their growth and administration in a way that the removed Curia simply cannot. As such there will be as much or as little interaction with His Office as your government would see fit. But as he is our most senior Diplomat in the region, that would also entail that the grounds of the Papal Palace would be under the territoriality of the Holy See, and be granted all the rights and privileges of an Embassy. If that is acceptable, or if you need to negotiate or require further information on that point, please do not hesitate to ask.

Yours in our shared and eternal faith,

<Signed>
Raymond Burke
Secretary of State of His Holiness

 

[Taranis]

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French Republic
Official Correspondence

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Classification: Restricted

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To: Raymond Burke, Secretary of State of the Holy See ( Ender )
From: Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Minister for Culture
Subject: Re: Communique to France

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Your Eminence,

The research centre currently does research in the fields of history, theology, philosophy and archaeology, among other smaller fields related to the history of Avignon and the Church. It is done by the French School of Rome and due to its work I can confirm that it has close links, and is in favour of, the Catholic Church.

I have spoken to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and they have no problem with having the Palace put under a special status with diplomatic immunity, given our ties and our trust in the Holy See.

To move forwards we ask for any relevant information which you believe would be helpful, for example:

1. How many people will be employed there;
2. The structure of the Palace (rooms, buildings, and so on);
3. Estimated value of artifacts or other items of cultural value (e.g. paintings) you wish to bring into the Palace;
4. Any other requests.

Asking the blessing of Your Eminence, I am, yours respectfully in Christ,

Jean-Jacques Aillagon
Minister for Culture

 

[Ender]

(Secret and written entirely in Latin)

Unto: Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Minister for Culture (Taranis)
CC: Georges-Joseph Toussaint, Patriarch of Europe
From: Raymond Cardinal Burke, Secretary of State of his Holiness

Greetings and Blessings,

To address your questions directly, I have contacted the Office of the Patriarch who has kindly included a revised floor plan (Based on the blueprints we have in the archives). As to the matter of Employees, we suspect that the non-religious employees would number about 100, with approximately 200 religious (Monks, Nuns, and Priests). As to the Estimated value of Artifacts and Cultural Items, it is hard to make a finalized decision before the completion of the work when we will dispatch the appropriate personnel to actively oversee what needs to be dispatched in regards to furniture, artwork, and artefacts. But I would suspect that it will be in the tens of billions of dollars worth.

Yours in our shared and eternal faith,

<Signed>
Raymond Burke
Secretary of State of His Holiness

 

[Taranis]

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French Republic
Official Correspondence

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Classification: Restricted

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To: Raymond Burke, Secretary of State of the Holy See ( Ender )
From: Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Minister for Culture
Subject: Re: Communique to France

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Your Eminence,

I can confirm that the Ministry of Culture has granted a permit to you to build, alter, remove or demolish any portion of the Palais de Papes, and that it will be placed under the jurisdiction of the Holy See as soon as the relevant documents have been drafted; this is outside our control.

However, this is giving you authorisation to begin your project.

Asking the blessing of Your Eminence, I am, yours respectfully in Christ,

Jean-Jacques Aillagon
Minister for Culture