Tiberian Church

Tiberian Church
Ecclesia Tiberia
Classification	Tiberian
Scripture	Tiberian Bible
Theology	Tiberian Theology
Polity	Episcopal
Great Vicar	Great Vicar Xavier IV
Government	High Church
Administration	Council of Cardinals
Distinct fellowships	High Church and 47 Vassal Churchs, 19 Ecumenical Churches, and 11 Boundary Churches
Dioceses	Archdioceses: 959 Dioceses 3,456
Parishes	308,432
Region	Worldwide
Language	Ecclesiastical Tiberian
Origin	1st Century Tiberian Empire
Members	1.954 billion
Clergy	Bishops: 7,461 Priests: 594,322 Deacons: 63,639

Organization

Great Vicar and the Council of Cardinals

Organized as an episcopal polity, the Tiberian Church is led by ordained clergy holding ranks such as Bishop, Cardinal, and above all, Great Vicar. Different types of churches within the Tiberian Church may have varying structures owing to tradition or autonomy.

At the top of the church is the Great Vicar, a clergyman who's a member of the Council of Cardinals and direct leader of the overall Tiberian Church, High Church, and all Ecumenical Churches. Upon the death of a previous Great Vicar, the Cardinals will vote on one of their own to be the next Great Vicar. Cardinals themselves are the heads of their own individual churches typically, though some may be lower-ranked clergymen appointed as functionaries by the Great Vicar; appointed Cardinals will keep their title for life or until stripped of it by a Great Vicar.\

High Church, Ecumenical, Vassal, and Boundary Churches

Within the Tiberian Church there are three specific types of church- Ecumenical Churches, Vassal Churches, and Boundary Churches, in order of how autonomous they are within the Tiberian faith.

Ecumenical Churches, the least autonomous of the churches, are directly administered by the High Church and as such have little to no differences between themselves and the High Church in [!THE VATICAN]. These churches are typically smaller and either inhabit a very small country, or states that used to have Vassal Churches but not longer do. The Ecumenical Churches do not have a Cardinal, though a couple retain purely ceremonial Cardinal positions assigned to a ranking Archbishop.

Slightly more autonomous are the Vassal Churches, which are also the most numerous and populous of the churches. Vassal Churches are apolitical, national churches each headed by an Archbishop Cardinal, or Archiepiscopus Cardinalis. The Cardinal will swear fealty to the authority of the High Church; this authority is technically limited to matters of theology and structure, though in practice it generally is a very top-down structure. Some Vassal Churches will have slightly differing terminology, such as Diocese vs. Bishopric.

Most autonomous are Boundary Churches- a form of church led not by an Archbishop Cardinal, but by a Catholicoi Cardinal. Boundary Churches are subservient to the High Church on theological matters, but in terms of organization, traditions, major rites, liturgical language, Cardinal nomination and more, they may vary highly and also happen to be the most rare of the church types.

	Name	Est.	Classification	Rite	Leader	Seat	Polity	Jurisdictions	Bishops	Members
	High Church	1st Century CE	Ecumenical	Tiberian Rite	Great Vicar Xavier IV	!vatican	Patriarchate			1,295,000,000
	West Arcadian All-Saint's Church	1856	Vassal Church	Tiberian Rite	Archbishop Cardinal Bob Duncan	Arco Cathedral, Arco, Cascadian Commonwealth	Patriarchate			11
	Arcadian Rite Tiberian Church	1833	Boundary Church	Arcadian Rite	Catholicoi Cardinal Derrick Brewer	St. Cyrus National Basilica, Gotham, New Estarian Commonwealth	Patriarchate			11
	Church of Argea	1st Century CE	Vassal Church	Imperial Rite	Archbishop Cardinal Vissarion Paraskevaidis	Old Imperial Basilica, Kadmos, Argea, Argea	Patriarchate			13,340,001
	Ecumenical Church of Isole de Santi	1789	Ecumenical	Tiberian Rite	Cardinal Alan Ward	St. Caesar Cathedral, Santa Crista, Isole dei Santi, Thalassic Federation	Patriarchate			5,943,231
	Ársa Rite Church of Antepodea	1766	Vassal Church	Ársa Rite	Archbishop Cardinal Stephen Landers	Holy Name National Cathedral, Strafton, Southeast Highlands, Thalassic Federation	Patriarchate			21,569,429
Total						7000100000000000000♠1	7000100000000000000♠1	7000100000000000000♠1