Settlement of the Cults

The Settlement of the Cults is one of the foundational religious laws of the Holy Sanctorum - defining the relationship between the greatly varied expressions of the faith, the duties and rights of the Cult organisations, and the rights of individual believers.
While it has been updated occasionally over the years, it remains one of the principal governing documents of the Sanctorum and the thread which keeps the disparate forms of worship united as a single religion. Despite this, it is principally a legal document - known almost exclusively to the lawyers outside its principle tenet (not found directly in the document itself):  
'Every believer may be devoted to as many Cults as inspire them towards the Creator, may serve as an Acolyte in four Cults, and may be confirmed as a Sanctor in only one Cult.'

Document Structure

Clauses

The Settlement establishes its aim in the preamble: "In order that all might glorify the Creator in the manners they are inspired to, we - the assembly of the Holy Sanctorum - inspired by Holy Morgene herself, have diligently inquired into how the Sanctorum is to be governed and organised, how false belief is to be countered, how pride, sin, and mortal danger are to be prevented, and how the Sanctorum is to serve the faithful as all serve the Creator."
Then Clause 1 establishes the three ranks of the Sanctorum - which were becoming increasingly standardised, but were being augmented and embellished at will (often by charlatans and travelling mystics): "We decree that in each Cult and throughout the whole Sanctorum there shall be but three offices of the faithful: lay Devotees, inducted Acolytes, and confirmed Sanctors"
Clauses 2 & 3 dealt with the recognition of different Cults' orders (which is required of all Cults to all Cults), and the processes for admitting, confirming, and recording office holders (lay Devotees need not register, but local non-compulsory registers may be maintained).
Clause 4 stipulated that "No Cult shall at any time presume to create - or pretend to create - further offices or divisions of the faithful. Each Cult may, according to its Holy Constitutions, and with confirmation of the Grand Sanctorum Council established by the decree Foundation of the Worship of the Creator, establish administrative ranks and titles for its better governance, oversight, and efficiency. However, no such rank shall elevate a believer beyond their station. All such ranks must be confined to confirmed Sanctors of the Cult, and they shall rank among the faithful as Sanctors only, except in any such administrative capacities as the Cult shall provide." This clarified that roles such as 'High Sanctor' and 'Grand Sanctor' were not new, more holy, people - but merely administrative offices. It also forbade the practice of some Sanctors claiming additional badges and marks of holiness.
Clause 5 founded the principle of free devotion "We establish that the faithful, guided by holy wisdom and inspired by the Creator, have the sole right and ability to seek their own welfare within the bounds of the Sanctorum. We, therefore, find that any believer, of whatever secular or holy condition, may be a Devotee of any and every Cult that they are inspired to join. While we admit to each Cult the right to discipline these members, including for grave reasons excluding them from the Cult, they cannot do so on account of the faithful's true adherence to any other Cult at the present time, in the past, or in the future." The Cults of Holy Arms and of Justice were specifically excluded from these provisions (and those of Clause 6, and Clause 7) by later decrees establishing both of them. The status of Viks was regulated in this regard by the decree On Magical Power and Creation in 323 AC.
Clause 6 then worked to clean up the divisions and overlaps which the Congregation had first been summoned to consider: "Without detriment to the conscience of the faithful, the Sanctorum is charged by the Creator, as we were at our foundation through the mouth of Holy Morgene, to govern, guard, and protect the Creator's true worship across the faithful. Therefore, we decree that no believer shall hold the office of Acolyte in the more than four Cults within the Sanctorum. Any Acolyte currently holding more offices than permitted shall resign such number of offices as is required within 1 year of the proclamation of this decree within their sanctorum, and in any case within 3 years. Any who fail to do so, or in the future wilfully attempt to hold five or more offices as Acolyte, shall be deposed by our judgement of all their offices without the possibility of readmission. Before the institution of any Acolyte, they shall report to their prospective Cult all offices of Acolyte already held, and to all Cults in which they already hold office, the Cult they seek to join."
Clause 7 then establishes closely similar rules for Sanctors, ensuring that each believer can only be a confirmed Sanctor in a single cult, and that each Cult must inform all other Cults of those they have confirmed as Sanctor (again, specifying deposition for those who wilfully seek more than one office).
Clause 8 specifies that a confirmed Sanctor remains an Acolyte in the Cult they minister in, meaning that they may serve as an Acolyte in three further Cults.
Clause 9 calls for all Cults to harmonise their processes for inducting Acolytes and confirming Sanctors as far as possible - always seeking the permission of the Grand Sanctorum Council for their constitutions. This is merely encouragement - and to this day, different Cults have largely different requirements and expectations of their Acolytes and Sanctors.
Clause 10 is the final clause, calling upon all secular powers wheresoever to aid with the implementation of the decree, and take all possible steps to uphold the decree.

Historical Details

Background

Following the Reconquest, and the Revelations of Morgene, it was clear that the Creator willed organised religious observance to prevent the sins which had caused the Exile. However, there was little agreement as to which forms the observances should take. This too, seemed to be the will of the Creator - that creation should be free to worship according to their conscience, but should organise themselves for their own good.
Over the first century after the Reconquest, therefore, radically different forms of worship had developed, and different forms of worship were threatening to become different (potentially dangerously heretical forms of belief). Fearing a return of the Empty, the nascent Sanctorum spent the first century AC defining and promulgating doctrine - and forcing some organisation onto the different modes of worship, so that they could be monitored and corrected.
Eventually, by 230 AC, there were 12 of the modern 18 Cults - and cross-devotional membership was becoming an increasing problem. With free and instant ability to switch devotions, and little exclusivity, there was again the danger of a return to personal worship, pride, unrestricted Vik, and a second Fall. However, nor was it practical to insist that each believer choose only a single Cult. Some were similar and involved in many joint projects, while others were highly specific and would attract few exclusive adherents - but provided important services to all believers.
Thus, in 237 AC, under the patronage of all the great secular powers, the Third Sanctorum Congregation met with the explicit aim of defining and regulating the Cults, and their memberships. Discussions lasted 2 years (and three riots occurred during the process), but finally, the Settlement of the Cults was proclaimed in 239 AC - beginning the modern era for the Sanctorum.

Type

Decree, Religious

Medium

Vellum / Skin

Authoring Date

239 AC