Chapter 367, Torch Relay

In short, the first Prometheus Prize succeeded in covering up the conflict between the Holy See and Austria, and when the Prometheus Prize trend gradually subsided, because both the Holy See and Austria seemed to have forgotten about the previous events and did not make any other noise on the matter, no one mentioned the matter of the Holy See Revolution except for the membership of Emperor Fritz II.

The cardinals of Austria still call Fritz II His Majesty, and Fritz II still participates in various religious activities and is still blessed by the members of the Church in these activities – as if Austria had never had any conflict with the Holy See.

At this time, the hot spot of public opinion began to gradually shift towards the upcoming Olympic Games. First of all, Science Pravda began to introduce the main venue of the Olympic Games, as well as the setting of the competition program.

The reporter of Scientific Pravda interviewed Mr. Lucien Bonaparte, who is also the president of the French Olympic Committee. Lucien showed them a huge model of the main stadium that was placed in his office.

"You see, this is going to be what the main stadium will look like when it's finished in the future. There are stands all around, and there are 80,000 seats. Combined with these non-seating areas, the entire grandstand can accommodate about 90,000 people in total. ”

"What is this building?"

"The cauldron of the games." "On the site of the ancient Olympic Games, we will light the torch that symbolizes the Olympic Games by convex lenses to gather sunlight, and then the torch will carry different people from country to country from Greece to Paris," Lucien explained. Each country the torchbearers passed through would represent France, sending a call to peace to the countries they passed through and invitations to the Olympic Games in Paris. If these countries are willing to accept the Olympic truce and stop all acts of war during the two weeks of the Games, they will be eligible to send athletes to the Olympic Games.

The torchbearers would carry the torch from several such routes. The first torchbearers would first go to Constantinople and extend an invitation to Turkey, then north into Russia and all the way to Petersburg, where they would extend an invitation to Russia, then Sweden, Prussia and Denmark, then the Rhine Union and the Netherlands, then embarkation from the Netherlands, finally to England, and then from England to return to France.

The second torchbearer will travel first to Austria, then the Republic of Northern Italy, then Spain and Portugal, before taking a boat to the United States and from there back to France. The final two torches will be reunited at the Panthéon in Paris, and then carried to the main venue, where a representative chosen by the people of Paris will carry the torch and light the cauldron and announce the official start of the Olympic Games. After that, the flame on the cauldron will never stop until the end of the Games. ”

"Minister Bonaparte, I have to say that the relay of the flame was a very creative operation. The fire traveled through the entire civilized world, bringing peace to the entire world. What a great idea! I think this kind of action requires the coordination of many countries, and the work must be very complicated, right? The reporter asked again.

"Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's also very rewarding, so we all enjoy it. Countries throughout the civilized world are very supportive of this initiative. People everywhere are also enthusiastic about it, and the people of every country and city through which our torch relay passes are very supportive. We intend to recruit volunteers for the torch relay in the cities we pass through, and we hope that more people will participate in the event. Even if you can't come to Paris in person, you can still run with the Olympic torch held high or escorted. ”

"It was just perfect. Also, I would like to know, if I also want to participate in the sports day, or the torch relay, where can I sign up? ”

"Ah, you can go to the Ministry of Truth building, the Olympiad office to register, whether it's as an athlete or as a torchbearer, that's where you register. However, if there are too many applicants, we may have to use a qualifier or draw to determine who is eligible. Lucien replied.

"Last question, we have been rumored that this Games will be different from the ancient Olympic Games in terms of events, is that true?"

"Ah, that's right." Lucien replied, "We are people who respect tradition, but we have to see that times are changing, and we can't copy everything from antiquity, or should we converse in ancient Greek at the games, and make the athletes unclothed as they were?" This is obviously impossible, in ancient times, only men were qualified to watch the game, but now, we have to take into account the feelings of female spectators. So, we're going to make some adjustments to the sports program......"

After this interview was published, the whole of Europe was once again lively, and almost everyone's eyes were drawn to the new Olympic Games. The governments of the countries where the torch passed also announced the registration of those who participated in the torch relay. Of course, it is said that the Turkish side did not select people by voluntary registration and then lottery selection, but only allowed volunteers from other countries to pass on designated roads with torches in their hands. Because they think that the act of torch relay has too much of an idolatrous pagan overtone. But given their friendship with the French – there are now not many countries in Europe that dare not value their friendship with France – they allowed the torch relay to pass through Turkey and promised to send teams to the equestrian events at the Olympic Games.

Russia, by contrast, was more open, but the torch relay became a horseback relay in Russia, given that Russia was so vast. Russia will also send athletes to the Paris Olympics.

Austria has also expressed its willingness to participate, and even Archduke Karl of Austria has expressed his desire to compete as an equestrian. There were so many people who signed up for the torch relay that they had to draw lots to select the runners.

As for the Rhine League, they were already so moved that they were desperately singing praises for France. The people of the Rheinland Union have said that France is the beacon of democracy and freedom, the direction of France is the hungry direction for all mankind to advance, and it is the greatest honor to be able to be an ally of France (GOU), and the Rhine Union unconditionally and fully supports this great event.

As for the British, the reaction of the British was very interesting, after being pressed by the French in terms of science, everyone was a little frustrated, and now that the French have come up with such a play, the British have come to the momentum, and feel that this is an opportunity to revive the national prestige and let the French see the power of the British. So not many people signed up for the torch relay, but there were quite a few people who signed up for the Games, so that the British had to prepare for several rounds of elimination. Of course, this did make the Briton quite good in the subsequent races.

As for other countries, they are also very willing to cooperate. Even the Holy See is doing well.

It is said that the Sultan of Turkey said that the torch relay seemed to be a bit of an idolatrous pagan thing, because after the news came that his own people were not allowed to participate, some journalists, who always wanted to make big news, ran to highlight the problem to a bishop of the Holy See.

"Those Greek gods are demagogic demons, right?"

"Yes, child, you must know that there is no salvation except Jesus. There is no other god in this world except the Holy Trinity, and all who claim to be gods are in fact evil spirits. The same is true of the demons in Greece, of course. The bishop replied.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with the TA's answer. This is the most basic creed of Catholicism, if you don't even adhere to this, then what kind of Catholicism is there? Even in later generations, Catholicism was forced by the political correctness of religious freedom and rarely expressed this in public, but from the doctrinal point of view, they still believed that everything such as the Buddha and the Taishang Laojun were all evil spirits.

The reporter then asked: "You know, Mr. Bishop, that the ancient Olympic Games originated from the worship of pagan spirits, which was later banned by the Holy See. Is it true that the French are reviving such pagan practices again in violation of the basic teachings of Catholicism and on the path of idolatry? ”

As soon as the bishop heard the reporter mention the Olympics, he immediately knew that this guy was not in good spirits. If you want to say whether the French have betrayed God's teachings and embarked on an evil path? Does this need to be asked? If you are a devout believer, you know, of course. But the problem is that everyone knows this kind of thing, and everyone can only think about the same thing in their heads, and they can never say it. Say it, it's going to make a big deal. Perhaps, you will see, the whole Holy See will move to Avignon again. So, you journalists, you're so ......

"My child, of course, the ancient Olympics were cult sacrifices, but that doesn't mean the Olympics are the same now." Fortunately, the Pope's crown has long guarded against these pervasive journalists. Over the years, His Holiness the Pope has been teaching everyone to prevent fire, theft, and journalists. When the French had just come up with the idea of the Olympic Games, His Holiness the Pope had already prepared a set of answers, which had been submitted to the dioceses through internal channels in the Church, so that when he encountered such a question, the bishop immediately began to explain it according to the content of the training.

"You see, winemaking, especially winemaking, both in Greece and in Italy, is associated with pagan spirits, but after Jesus Christ gave wine to his disciples, didn't this pagan thing also become part of the sacred ritual? It's the same with the athletic meet.

You see, my child, before Jesus went to the cross for mankind, everything in mankind was corrupt and sinful, but after Jesus atoned for the sins of mankind with His precious blood, everything was not the same as before. Amen! ”

"Amen!" The reporter had no choice but to follow the bishop.

"The original sin is washed away, and what was originally unclean becomes clean, like wine, like ......" the bishop switched himself to sermon mode and began to preach. According to the bishop's talents and habits, it is estimated that it will not end without an hour or two when he speaks like this. What's worse is that in this mode, almost every time the bishop says a word, he will say "Amen" or "praise God", and then the reporter can only quickly put down his pen and draw a cross on his chest, followed by a sentence of "Amen" and "praise God".

The bishop spoke for more than two hours in one breath, quoting from various texts, and finally came to the conclusion that although the "Olympic Games" of the French today look very similar to those of the heretical spirits, they are different in essence. There is no problem that the Paris Olympics today are fundamentally the Olympics of Christians. It's like pagan wine and Christian wine, although they look the same and taste the same, but they are fundamentally different.

After using a whole lot of complicated logical manipulations to confuse the reporters, the bishop finally came to the conclusion that he had to come to the conclusion that the French had made the "Paris Olympics" the Olympics of Christians, the Olympics that would glorify the Lord.

In the end, he told reporters:

"His Holiness the Pope has been invited by His Excellency Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, to come to France to pray for the Olympic Games before the opening of next year. From now on, the Olympic Games will inevitably become a common festival and festival for Catholics all over the world. ”

When it was reported that the Pope was going to attend the Olympics in person, it immediately attracted widespread attention, and the Holy See finally made the front page headlines in various newspapers.

A reporter asked the Pope about the information revealed by the bishop. The Pope pointed out that the Olympics unite all those who believe in God, so that they can stop wars and care for each other—there is nothing more in keeping with the spirit of Jesus, so it is only natural that he will strive to bring about such good things.

The pope's statement made headlines in many newspapers, including many Austrian newspapers. Since the conflict between Austria and the Holy See, things related to the Holy See have rarely made headlines in Austrian newspapers. Moreover, even if the Holy See appears in the newspapers, it is most likely to be the object of criticism.

But this time, even the Austrian newspapers agreed with the Holy See again. Of course, some newspapers still exclaimed: Why is the Pope so reasonable in the face of France? And then...... The newspaper went out of business for rectification.