Dressed in his white burqa, Gregory III, supported by the two holy children, swayed into Constantine XI and Sophia, and of course, John, who had been pushed around by Evelet for the past few days. The late autumn evening breeze passes through Hagia Sophia, and the gold ornaments on everyone's bodies collide, bringing a unique rhythm.

"Your Majesty." The old pastor held out his right hand tremblingly, but Constantine XI immediately shook his head, signaling that he did not need to care about more red tape.

The physical condition of Ebel III is not optimistic at the moment. Perhaps the time for Sophia to take a vow to religion is the time of the year when he is at his best. Since the beginning of the year, the aging body has been exposed in this way on Lao Mu's wrinkled face. Perhaps the removal of his holy burqa, adorned with gold thread and bright yellow Ravenland cross and Orthodox cross, and the dense mustard spots and festering scarlet, waxy puffiness of his skin were God's punishment for the old shepherd's promiscuous private life. In John's vicious association, he was more directly concerned about the personal safety of the two holy children.

"Her Majesty...... Let's go in and talk. ”

Constantine XI came over today, and he had already spoken to Gregory III in the morning. I also know my physical condition, and he won't have too much shy about this.

Several monks closed the door of Hagia Sophia for the crowd, and then lit the candles in the main hall of worship of the cathedral.

Unlike the papacy, who single-handedly controlled the entire secular world and became an independent, irreversible power, the Ecumenical succession of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople was often held hostage by the royal family. During the Palaiologous dynasty, it was the norm for Basilius to arbitrarily depose the shepherds, but Constantine XI was already very generous and merciful to keep Gregory in office for nearly ten years until his death.

"Your Majesty, I know that too...... The old pastor is almost at the end. It seems that helping Lao Mu to sit down has become quite difficult at this time. The wild and long eyelids outside the scorched gray pupils probably also affected Lao Mu's vision. It was only a matter of a few months for a strong elder to suddenly become so old.

Constantine and Sophia did not answer. It seems that this is just an ordinary visit, but probably everyone knows in their hearts that every word that Lao Mu says at this moment may become his last words. Therefore, they chose to listen.

"This scepter, I have been in the seventh year since I took it...... You can see the Orthodox Church unfold like this, and you can see the empire from the edifice to the current Nirvana...... It's not too much to call this a miracle. "After the third generation said this long sentence, he had to rest for a long time. Then, from his throat, which was already difficult to breathe, came a sound like a blacksmith's blast furnace, "But Your Majesty, I think that no matter what stage the empire has reached, the Orthodox Church is still a necessary existence. Faith should not be abandoned, so ...... The iteration of Omaki should continue like this. ”

Constantine XI nodded, and the monk who accompanied Gregory III was already in tears. Even if I don't know if these tears are real or not, whether they are from the heart, the inside of Hagia Sophia is already soaked with sadness at this time.

"Your Majesty, the decision is yours, but I hope I can make some reference suggestions for you." Lao Mu gasped for breath twice, and then nodded to the two holy children beside him.

Then, the sacred crown from his head was removed and stored in a golden square box with a red silk base.

"Tell me, we'll respect your decision. You can rest assured that the royal family does not interfere too much in the affairs of the church. If your body can still hold on, early next year, we can elect the next pastor according to the rules of the church. ”

"No...... No...... Just stop at this winter...... Sextus was too young. Let him continue to be the archbishop of Epirus. If Constantine is the Princess, let Athanatius take the position. ”

Of the five major pastoral districts of the Orthodox Church, only the ecumenical pastoral region of Constantine (Hagia Sophia) is currently under the control of the Empire, and the remaining four pastoral districts are still in the hands of heretics or heretics. But the Orthodox Church still has the supreme supremacy of these pastoral districts, who also live only temporarily in Hagia Sophia, another form of religious regime in exile. Among them, Athanasius II was the original pastor of Jerusalem.

Athanatius II's religious policies were more radical than those of Gregory III, and to a certain extent even quite extreme. This is one of the reasons why Gregory III was able to be promoted to the position of Grand Pastor. It's a trade-off of the original form of empire. But just a few years later, the situation of the empire has changed dramatically. The relatively conservative religious policy was also gradually no longer suitable for the empire at hand.

This was probably the last compromise made by Gregory III. Faith was not yet strong in large areas of the empire, and the religious situation in Anatolia would be even more severe in the future. It would be better to have Athanasius II succeed him.

"We will give the highest respect to theocracy, worldly power...... At least the power of the people should not be above God. Constantine XI seemed to be appeasing the somewhat agitated emotions of Gregory III, "The Senate and the royal family will not interfere in the process of iteration, Your Majesty, please take a good rest......"

"Father...... Wait......" John listened in silence for a long time. Such sensationalism made him sympathetic. Since his life is short, John also plans to be a favor and give a dying gift to Gregory III.

"Your Majesty, is there anything else you have to do?"

"What do you think about the rebellion that Serbia has come in?"

"I've just heard of it...... During the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans, the Serbs never really submitted to their rule...... Thinking about being divided by the three countries, the Serbs will not be so easily succumbed. The old pastor did not move his gaze, but answered John's question quite seriously.

"After the rebellion in Serbia has been put down, I hope that Serbia will be officially brought under the rule of the Ecumenical Church. In the meantime, we will start negotiations with Hunyadi...... Set up a diocese in Hungary to become an orthodox church and win more believers. ”

Lewen