Eight Points Agreement

Eight Points Agreement

Signed	1 March 2017
Location	Apostolic Palace, Papal State
Effective	5 April 2017
Parties	Catholic Church Caphiria
Language	Ecclesiastical Latin

The Eight Points Agreement, formally known as the Caphirian Pact or Caphirian Concordat, was an agreement reached between the government of Caphiria lead by Imperator Constantinus I and the Catholic Church. Early negotiations with Caphiria, as called for by the Assumption Accords, were undertaken by the Ministry for the Church in Urcea before Church negotiators officially assumed responsibilities. The agreement ended the 400-year old schism which established Imperial Catholicism which began in 1615, bringing Caphiria formally back into the Catholic Church. The Pact took effect on Easter Sunday, 2017 and was signed by both the Imperator and Pope Gregory XVII.

Eight Points

The negotiators agreed on eight basic points which became the basis of the treaty, giving it its informal popular name. The eight points were initially proposed by the Ministry for the Church in Urcea as the basis for further negotiation in early 2015; the points were tweaked and eventually formally agreed upon between the Church and Caphiria in January of 2017 before the formal signing of the Pact in March.

1. The Government of Caphiria, lead by the Imperator, retains the right to nominate Bishops for any ecclesiastical See in Caphiria, and these nominations are sent to the Papal State. The Pope retains the right to confirm or veto any nomination for Bishop, but provided nominated Bishops are orthodox, the Pope will often defer to the local authority.
2. The Imperator abandons any pretense of the titles of Pontifex Maximus and any claim to the office of Bishop; he retains the right to use the title Pius Felix.
3. In order to ensure the validity of holy orders in Caphiria, every Priest and Bishop abiding by the terms of the agreement will be discreetly and quickly re-ordained and re-consecrated, respectively. They shall retain their current posts and offices.
4. A particular church is erected in Caphiria under the leadership of a newly created office of "Patriarch of Venceia and All Sarpedon", replacing the pretense Pontificate of the Imperator. This Patriarch will be directly nominated by the Imperator for Papal approval. The Patriarch will sit directly above all diocese and archdiocese in Caphiria as the highest level ordinary. The Patriarch shall, additionally, serve as Patriarch of Sarpedon, though shall not have wide-reaching authority as ordinary over the entire continent; the distinction shall be mostly honorary. The Caphiric particular church shall be subject to its own canon and own liturgical rite, which will be codified by the Vatican and returned to Caphiria no later than 2020. As part of this liturgical establishment, the Easter Exsultet will retain the prayer for the Imperator of Caphiria.
5. The Catholic Church in Caphiria shall believe, profess, and acknowledge as true all things that the Catholic Church believes, professes, and acknowledges as true.
6. The Imperator is granted the title of "First and Only Honorary Canon of Saint Paugenia's Cathedral" in addition to the title of "Patron of the Patriarch of Venceia and All Sarpedon".
7. The Government of Caphiria may impose a 20% tax on the annual Peter's Pence and any additional collections for international Church functions, such as those collections for charitable purposes.
8. Any person canonized as a Saint by the Church in Caphiria since the schism will have their cause for Sainthood reopened and investigated by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to ensure the validity and legitimacy of the cause of that person