Apolitan Church
 Apolitan Catholic Patriarchate of Kartha | |
|---|---|
| Patriarkana Katolike Apólytos e Kartës | |
 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 | Koine Piraean |
| Liturgy | Austerian Rite |
| Headquarters | Kartha, Austeria |
| Founder | Gregory the Illuminator |
| Separated from | Episemialist Church (1441) |
| Members | 3,000,000 (self-reported) |
| Other name(s) | Austerian Church Apolitan Catholic Church |
The Apolitan Church, officially the Apolitan Catholic Patriarchate of Kartha, is the national Sotirian church of Austeria. It traces its history to the early 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 succession of the church's leadership which stemmed from the iconoclastic controversy. Initially the split continued due to political reasons, but the Church's theology began to diverge following the Amendist 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 region's religious minorities, expanding their rejection of the principle of error has no rights to include non-Sotirians and opening the communion to willing non believers. Afterwards Austeria's Irfanic and Ezekielan communities no longer faced active suppression, although they still faced certain restrictions. 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. As a broad church, the Apolitian Church contains several distinct doctrines; the main traditions today are the Absolutists, Kausists, Ritualists, and Galenists. Tensions between the doctrines are reflected in the central dispute over open communion with non-believers as well as the debates over the ordination of women and homosexuality. The church follows the Austerian Rite for its liturgy, prayer and devotional patrimony and uses Koine Piraean as the official and liturgical language. Austeria is religiously divided and Sotirianity makes up just over half of the population of which the Apolitans forms Austeria's largest Sotirian sect. The religion is most closely associated with the Tethian ethnic group, but there are significant communities of Montesurian and Piraean Apolitians. The Church only exclusively exists in Austeria, although the Church maintains some international offices where the Apolitian Austerian diaspora may be found.