Apolitan Church
 Apolitan Catholic Church | |
|---|---|
 Cathedral of Kartha, the mother church of the Apolitan Church | |
| Classification | Western Sotirian |
| Orientation | Apolitan Catholicism |
| Theology | Apolitanism |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Governance | Holy Synod |
| Head | Karekin II the Patriarch of Austeria |
| Region | Austeria |
| Language | Ecclesiastical Solarian |
| Liturgy | Austerian Rite |
| Headquarters | Kartha, Austeria |
| Founder | Gregory the Illuminator |
| Separated from | Episemialist Church (1441) |
| Separations | Open Communion |
| Members | 3,000,000 (self-reported) |
| Other name(s) | Austerian Church |
The Apolitan Church, officially the Apolitan Catholic Church, is the national church of Austeria. It traces its history to the early Sotirian church established in the Solarian province of Austeria in the 4th century CE. Following the events of the Lesser Schism of 1385, it became an autocephalous church in communion with the wider Episemialist Church.
The Apolitan Church formally broke communion with the rest of the Episemialist churches in 1441 at the conclusion of the Iconoclast Wars due to a dispute over the church's bishopric succession and the iconoclastic controversy. Initially the split continued due to political reasons, but the Church's theology began to diverge following the Admendist and Valduvian Reactions, culminating in the Apolitan Declaration. The Declaration led to the adoption of parts of Amendist theology by the church, such as the Amendist view of the eucharist, branch theory and sola scriptura. Most controversially, the Church redefined their relations with the Irfanic minority of Austeria, rejecting the principle of error has no rights and opening the communion to willing Irfanics. Under the Apolitan Kingdom, it remained as the state church until the kingdom's conquest by the Etrurian First Republic in 1789, where it faced suppression under the Solarian Catholic governments of Etruria. Following the Legionary Reaction, the Church played a major role in the resistance against the Functionalists; for this reason it was not repressed under the Austerian People's Republic, although the socialist government had significant influence over its leadership.
The bishop of Kartha, known as the Patriarch of Austeria, heads the church and possesses apostolic succession through James the Less, according to sacred tradition.