Erfurt
In central Germany, a young man wandered about in a storm. Being out in the open, he became terrified of the constant lightning strikes. Eventually, he came to his knees and prayed to God for deliverance. "Save me and I will be a priest!" he promised. Suddenly, a lightning strike nearly hit him. The wind picked up as Supergirl landed next to him. She saw how frightened the man was and then blew the storm off into the distance.
"What is your name?" Kara asked as the man shivered in fear.
"Marty Luthor," he replied.
Kara simply stared at him looking for any resemblance to the man she loved and hated. "You are safe now," she assured him.
Marty held to his word and immediately enrolled in the seminary. Unlike many other professions, priests held officer ranks. Deacons and seminary students were 2nd lieutenants, ordained priests were 1st lieutenants, senior priests were captains, auxiliary bishops were majors, bishops were lieutenant colonels, archbishops were colonels, and cardinals were generals. Women were permitted to be clergy as nuns and could achieve any rank within the hierarchy but only as staff officers, advisers, and assistants to command officers, priests, bishops, and cardinals.
With the priesthood being one of the few professions where humans could achieve high officer ranks and privileges, it became attractive to many people. The clergy was allowed to be married with children, and even encouraged to do so. Only those with high intellect and integrity could hope to graduate from the seminary under Pope Barney's strict criteria. Officers of any rank that failed in their professional or moral duty were quickly sacked and reassigned.
However, during his first mass, Marty got nervous and fucked it up by accidentally pouring some of the wine on the altar, freaking out, and then leaving the scene. Pope Barney had decided not to issue a bull on whether the bread and wine were symbolic or the real presence, mandatory for salvation or not. He simply ordered that communion be done, no questions asked.
After the disastrous showing, Marty met up with his disgruntled father. "Your first mass and you crap yourself," he chided.
"I hoped we could talk," Marty said lamely.
"You should have gone into the law, a noble profession. I sweat in the mines for 20 years to give you the chance I never had. Is that how you interpret the commandment, "Honor thy mother and father?'" he asked rhetorically.
"God brought me here," Marty said defensively.
"Lightning burns your ass and you call that God?" his father mocked.
After that burn, Marty stayed in his room deep in prayer as he reflected on all of his shortcomings. Inside his room, it was as if he was wrestling with the devil, himself. "You're too hard on yourself, brother Marty. You take things way too seriously, I fear," a fellow priest named Christoph told him.
"I'm sorry about today. I'm a fuck up," Marty said mournfully.
"Marty, I'm not here to scold you. Believe me, if you're a fuck up that means nearly the entire human race is damned," Christoph told him.
"I'm too full of sin to be a priest. I must be reassigned," Marty lamented.
"You know, in two years, you've never confessed anything remotely interesting, and I've heard a lot of fucked-up confessions, a lot," Christoph told him.
"Have you ever dared to think that God is not just?" Marty asked him.
"No," Christoph shook his head.
"God is angry with us all our lives for our faults. This righteous judge who damns us threatening us with the fires of hell." "I know, I know, I'm evil to think it," Marty admitted.
"Yeah," Christoph agreed. "God is angry with you because you are angry with yourself. Just let it go."
"I wish there was no God," Marty admitted.
"What is it that you want?" Christoph asked.
"A merciful God. A God I can love," Marty cried.
"Yeah, not in the cards," Christoph shot down. "If you expect nothing, you'll never be disappointed."
"Well...fuck me," Marty realized.
Rome
Marty was later selected to go to Rome. There, he found thieves, prostitutes, and homeless beggars. He also noticed members of the clergy, in uniform, engaging in soliciting for prostitution. Disturbed by this, Marty made his way to a large cathedral. Inside, the people happened to be praying for their dead family members and ancestors who had not known the faith. Marty eventually made his way over to the Vatican where he met Pope Barney. Upon being in his presence, Marty went to his knees.
"A salute is all that is required, my son," Pope Barney said motioning for him to stand.
"Yes, Your Holiness," Marty said upon standing up.
"What do you think of Rome?" he asked him.
"Rome is a circus, a running sewer. There are brothels just for clerics," Marty said disdainfully.
"As it is in Leipzig," Pope Barney replied. "What would you have me do?"
"Sack them all," Marty said quickly.
"There are not enough priests to provide for the faithful. If I were to defrock them all, the faithful will be deprived," Pope Barney replied.
"Better to have no priest at all than a corrupt one. A corrupt priest's sacraments are tainted," Marty said boldly.
"All sacraments come from God, not the priest. My son, you know who and what I am. According to the law, I have committed more sins than all of humanity combined. Yet, here I am as your Holy Father," Pope Barney said.
"These people pray for the dead? Why?" Marty asked.
"The dead and the living are all part of the Body of Christ. We pray for the dead and they pray for us. Death does not divide the faithful, death does not divide the body," Pope Barney replied.
"I believe you have a lust for power," Marty said accusingly.
Pope Barney walked towards him. "I feel neither love nor lust. I feel nothing."
"Well...fuck me," Marty realized.
"I'm sending you to Wittenberg. You will graduate with a doctorate in theology. You'll then preach," Pope Barney ordered.
"I'd be a fraud as a preacher," Marty objected.
"We preach best what we need to learn most. In Wittenberg, you will be able to change hearts and minds. That's what you want, isn't it?" Pope Barney asked knowingly. "To change things? To reform things? To...protest...things?"
Marty merely stared at Pope Barney wondering about his motive. "I will obey."
"We'll see," Pope Barney replied. "Now...go."
Pope Barney held a meeting with his cardinals over an important question. "Outside the church, there is no salvation," Cardinal Lucio declared.
"Outside Christ, there is no salvation," Cardinal Marco corrected.
"What's the difference?" Cardinal Lucio asked him.
"The Greek Christians have not officially pledged their allegiance to the Holy Father. Therefore, they are outside the church but not outside Christ," Cardinal Marco said. "Are you claiming the Greek Christians are damned?"
"Well, I'm not saying they're damned. I'm just saying they're not saved," Cardinal Lucio said defensively.
Pope Barney then intervened in the discussion. "No one may state the damnation of another...even if it seems obvious. However, we may make abstract judgments on populations that defy Christ and his church. It is conceivable a person could be saved outside the visible membership of the church if it is the will of Christ. It is Christ who judges, not the church. Whoever does not listen to us, the church, is to be treated as a pagan and a tax collector. The church is the pillar of truth and whoever hears the truth has heard Christ. The church is the bride of Christ and, therefore, rebellion against the church is to be treated as a rebellion against Christ."
"So...are the Greek Christians damned or not?" Cardinal Marco asked confused.
"Individually, they are saved. As a whole, they are damned," Pope Barney replied.
"Yes, Your Holiness!" the cardinals shouted.
"Now...onto the issue of suicide," Pope Barney said moving on.
Wittenburg
In Wittenburg, Marty witnessed a teenage boy hang himself. The people were noticeably upset wondering about the fate of the boy. Marty ordered that the boy be given a proper funeral and burial. Immediately, this caused an uproar requiring Kara's intervention. "The fuck you think you're doing?" she asked Marty as he personally dug a grave in the cemetery.
"Some say this boy is damned because he took his own life. I say he was overcome by the devil," Marty said to her.
"No one is overcome by the devil. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it," Kara quoted.
"Is this child anymore to blame for the despair that overtook him than an innocent man who is murdered by a robber in the woods?" Marty argued.
"Despair didn't kill him. He killed himself. And do we free murderers because they fell into despair and temptation?" Kara asked him.
"If they be insane, it is innocence by reason of insanity," Marty replied.
Kara eyed the mourning parents, the crowd, Marty, and then reflected on her own past. A reason, perhaps the reason, for why she had not taken her own life in her despair was her fear of hell. And now this priest was taking away that fear, that motivation to stay alive. She couldn't agree to this. "The boy will be put on trial by the local authorities," she ordered.
"A man is innocent until proven guilty," Marty reminded her.
"Then burry him now. Should he be found guilty, his remains will be dug up," Kara replied. She then left the scene disturbed by the whole ordeal. Marty then prayed over the body as he was buried.
Rome
Pope Barney met with his cardinals on another matter that just come up. "Without a system of money, how can the faithful expect to pay for indulgences and...," Cardinal Lucio brought up.
"The fuck did I just hear?" Cardinal Marco interrupted.
"Finish your thought," Pope Barney allowed.
"The scriptures require believers to love, to be charitable, to serve. How does one do this without money?" he asked.
"Time is money. The faithful can pay through extra duty or by reducing their rations for a time," Cardinal Marco said obviously.
"But in exchange for what?" Cardinal Lucio asked.
"There is no exchange in this life. The giver simply receives more treasure stored for them in heaven," Cardinal Marco said simply. "If we have a quid pro quo, it is not love, it is not charity. It's simply business."
"It has come to my attention that many pray for the sanity of our queen," Pope Barney brought up. "It is problematic that one should receive so many prayers while many others are given no prayers. It is the human instinct to pray for those that are close to them, family, friends, and colleagues. What of those who have no family, friends, or colleagues? The indulgence of old was a quid pro quo: payment of money in exchange for a close relative's release from purgatory. It became a profitable business, a corrupt business."
"How do we ensure everyone within the Body of Christ is sufficiently prayed for?" Pope Barney asked.
"If a person is prayed for more than others, it is because they have earned those prayers," Cardinal Marco argued.
"All persons should be prayed for equally, according to their needs," Cardinal Lucio countered.
"All indulgences shall be paid for via service, fasting, and prayer but the target of that indulgence shall be the church community as a whole, not any one individual," Pope Barney ruled.
"Yes, Your Holiness!" the cardinals shouted.
Wittenburg
As a result of Pope Barney's ruling, local churches stopped engaging in services, fasting, and prayer to Rome but rather their own local communities. This came to be known as subsidiarity. Clergy from Rome in Germany started to receive less support. Making matters complicated was when Marty spread an email to the entire faithful network challenging the church. Marty made a number of theological declarations: the Body of Christ only pertained to the living, saints could not be prayed to, and did not intervene in human affairs, salvation came from faith alone, good works in the attempt to gain favor with God were actually sins, all souls were shit covered in snow that is their faith, free will did not exist, those saves and those damned were predestined from the beginning of existence by God, and church law was not applicable to salvation.
The email circulated widely around Germany and made its way to Rome. Cardinal Lucio looked over the contents of the email. "This drunken priest is intoxicated with himself. Sober him," he ordered his men.
Augsburg
Martin was summoned to Augsburg to get chewed out by Rome, personally. Kara came to meet him before the inquisition could begin. "Take a seat," Kara gestured.
"It was never my intention to say anything against the honor and dignity of the Holy Father," Marty said submissively.
"Let's not jerk him off too hard. He's a fucking machine," Kara rolled her eyes. Marty simply stared at her. "So, that being the case, we all want peace. You are to kneel before the inquisition."
"If the church takes any exception to any of my points, I will submit immediately," Marty assured her. "But I am sure Pope Barney and Cardinal Lucio will understand and respect my position. They'll find no fault with me."
"Your naivety amuses me," Kara smirked. "Tell them you recant and the matter is over."
"I came to Augsburg to warn the pope about the abuses towards the faithful," Marty protested.
"The pope decides what is and what isn't Christian," Kara said painfully.
"Did not the faith come from you? Is it not your faith? Shouldn't you be the decider?" Marty asked her.
Kara turned away from him. "Your ancestor once thought as you do. You don't know the power of the pope. I must obey."
"I will not turn and you'll be forced to kill me," Marty predicted.
"If that is your destiny," Kara allowed.
"You know you can't do this. Let go of your fear," Marty beseeched her.
"It is too late for me, Marty. The pope will show you the true meaning of the faith," Kara said submissively.
"Then your faith is truly dead," Marty shook his head sympathetically.
Kara gestured for her guards to take Marty away. She then remained behind lost in thought deeply troubled.
Marty came before Cardinal Lucio's chair and was forced to lay prostrate before him for a good hour while he played on his phone. "My son, I know you desire to be a faithful servant of God and His church. I am here to help you," he said finally. "Stand on your feet, my son."
Marty painfully got back on his feet. "What do you have to say?" Cardinal Lucio asked.
"Have I erred?" Marty wondered.
"No shit," Cardinal Lucio said obviously.
"How? That I may avoid such error again," Marty asked diplomatically.
"You have erred by teaching new doctrines. For one, we are saved by faith and love. Faith without works of love is dead. You can have all faith but if you do not have love, you have nothing," Cardinal Lucio told him.
"From faith, comes love," Marty argued.
"If this is true then those who do not love do not have faith?" Cardinal Lucio questioned.
"Yes," Marty replied.
"The Holy Church compartmentalizes these two things: faith and love. There are those who have faith but are deficient in love and there are those who have love but are deficient in faith. By linking them together this way, you create confusion. Some of your followers no doubt believe they can have salvation through faith alone," Cardinal Lucio rebuked.
"And they're not wrong," Marty insisted.
Cardinal Lucio sighed annoyed. "What if I were to tell you that faith is sincere belief, good works, and the law as a trinity?"
"Okay," Marty allowed.
"So, as you can see, it's faith and works," Cardinal Lucio said victoriously.
"We are saved by faith apart from works," Marty argued.
"The 'works' that are being referred to are the works of the Jewish Law. The Gospels, the epistles of Paul, and the Catholic letters all declare that salvation comes from those that are the doers of the law, who follow Christ's commandments," Cardinal Lucio replied.
"I don't dispute that," Marty said.
"Then...what the fuck?" Cardinal Lucio wondered.
"If one has faith, they will be compelled by the Holy Spirit to do good works. Therefore, no man can boast because their faith is a gift from God and their works are compelled via their faith," Marty said.
"I have free will to do good works or not while still faithful. I am not some robot. I am made in the image of God," Cardinal Lucio said.
"We are literally shit...covered in snow," Marty countered.
"The pope says your wrong. So...there," Cardinal Lucio said stubbornly.
"The honor of the papacy is not preserved by the naked assertion of papal authority but by safeguarding the pope's credibility," Marty said diplomatically.
"The pope interprets scripture because he can read it a million times within a fraction of a second," Cardinal Lucio told him.
"He may interpret it but he's not above it. If only the people could read the scriptures for themselves, they would know how broad the church has interpreted them," Marty said boldly.
"The scriptures are too complex even for priests to understand, much less the common man. The central authority of the pope, the unity of the church, one law gives comfort to millions of simple Christians," Cardinal Lucio said.
"I'm not really interested in comfort," Marty said argumentatively.
"The survival of Christianity is at stake. The French are on our western border. To the east, we have millions who have never heard the name of Christ. So, as you can see, we're incredibly busy and don't have time for your bullshit right now," Cardinal Lucio scolded.
"I feel I'm entitled to the truth," Marty insisted.
"You want answers?" Cardinal Lucio asked annoyed.
"I want the truth!" Marty shouted.
"You can't handle the truth!" Cardinal Lucio shot him down. "So, shut the fuck up and let me do my job."
"The Gospel cannot be denied for the word of man or a machine," Marty said boldly.
Cardinal Lucio then stormed off. "I refuse to argue further with that smartass," he said to Kara who had been listening in on the whole argument. Marty then sheepishly exited the room.
"Holy shit, dude. You were only supposed to say one word," she scolded Marty.
Kara then walked off where she talked with Cardinal Lucio in his office. "You said he was a retard," Cardinal Lucio said displeased.
"To be fair, you all are compared to me," Kara excused herself.
"He questioned the pope's authority," Cardinal Lucio raged.
"Don't we all," Kara rolled her eyes.
"I have my orders. Either he rejoins the church and recants or he dies," Cardinal Lucio reminded her.
Afterward, Kara confronted Marty. "You are to go to my castle at Altenburg. You will be safe there, I promise. Go now."
Pope Barney sent Marty a harshly worded email telling him to recant. When Marty refused, Pope Barney excommunicated his ass formerly. Concerned for his well-being and intrigued by the theological spat, Kara suggested a trial in Worms having no intention of handing Marty over if found guilty. Kara took the throne with cardinals on either side of her. Cardinal Marco came forth to take a whack at Marty this time.
"Do you, Marty Luthor, recognize these books? The 95 feces, A Sermon on Indulgences and Grace, the Babylonian Whore, Freedom from Rome? Are you the author?" Cardinal Marco questioned.
"All are mine," Marty said after a long unnecessary pause.
"Do you recant what you have written?" Cardinal Marco asked bluntly.
"May I have time to consider?" Marty requested.
"Fuck no. You've had the time and you should have been prepared to answer. We are all expected to bear witness at any time, especially a theology professor," Cardinal Marco told him off.
Kara could see Marty was troubled and nervous. "He shall have one day. Then, he'll answer," Kara ruled.
"Fuck me," Cardinal Marco sighed.
After a long night of arguing with Satan, slamming himself against the walls, and self-punishing himself, Marty was ready to answer the next day. "Marty Luthor, are these your writings?" Cardinal Marco asked of him once more.
"They are," Marty answered.
"Thank God," Cardinal Marco said relieved. "Do you recant these works?"
"May I have time to consider?" Marty stalled.
"He shall have one day. Then, he'll answer," Kara ruled.
"God damn it," Cardinal Marco sighed.
The next day, Marty was brought again to trial. "Your answer?" Cardinal Marco asked.
"I cannot renounce all my works because they're not all the same and I don't remember everything I wrote," Marty evaded.
"That sounds like bullshit. Do you submit yourself to the authority of the pope?" Cardinal Marco asked.
"Through the laws of the pope and the doctrines of men, the consciences of the faithful have been vexed. I will not add strength to tyranny and ungodliness. Let my errors be proven by scripture," Marty replied.
"The scriptures are clear that the church is to be unified, that division is to be stamped out, and that the church, the only church, is the pillar of truth, the bride of Christ. Logic compels that this church has a central authority figure to lead the church in the same manner as Moses to Joshua, David to Solomon, Elijah to Elisha, John the Baptist to Christ, and Christ to St. Peter. So...who the fuck anointed you?" Cardinal Marco asked him.
"Who anointed our current pope? Why do we permit a machine to dictate our faith? A machine that has no soul? A machine that is accountable to no one, not even God? Why? Because he's intelligent and knowledgeable? Is that what faith is: intelligence and knowledge? Or should the pope be a man of flesh and blood who has a spirit, a spirit that has a relationship with God?" Marty questioned.
"That machine keeps us all holy. Unlike man, he cannot be corrupted," Cardinal Marco replied.
"I beg to differ in a shit-ton of ways," Marty doubted.
"Will you recant or will you not?" Cardinal Marco demanded.
"I cannot and I will not recant," Marty replied. "Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me."
Kara gave Marty continued protection throughout Germany. His brand of Christianity soon kicked off all over Germany, Denmark, and Scandinavia. Revolts of a different sort started occurring in Switzerland, France, Spain, and Italy. News of the rebellion also affected large areas of the Americas. Pope Barney required every citizen to declare their allegiance to Rome or be cut off from the system. When many denounced Rome, they were now forced to barter and come up with a new kind of currency creating an economic depression in those areas. With carrot and stick, Pope Barney began a counter-reformation to get the people back to his side. Soon thereafter, there was a revolt all over Germany. Pope Barney was handed several articles by these rebels. They demanded that the people be able to sack their priest if he misbehaves, hunting rights without restriction, collective ownership of the forests, no overtime without due compensation, rent control, an end to eminent domain, and so forth. Pope Barney, in his capacity as pope and also as the administrator of the entire economic system ignored the demands.
Several thousand commoners went up against Mon-El and his own drone army. What followed was a total blowout with the rebels nearly completely slaughtered on the battlefield with zero casualties on Mon's side. Kara arrived on the battlefield stunned by the death toll. "It was just supposed to be a fun little debate," Kara said sadly. "Why the fuck did it come to this?"
"These are Marty's most recent writings," a Brainiac 5 drone said as he gave her a datapad.
"These rebels are outside the law of God and empire so they deserve death in body and soul, if only as highwaymen and murderers. They are committing their sinful acts under the banner of the Gospel," Marty had written.
"He double-crossed them. They believed in him and he abandoned them," Kara realized.
"There's more," Brainiac 5 said.
"I, Marty Luthor, have during the rebellion slain all the rebels, for it was I who ordered them to be struck dead," he wrote. Kara simply stared at the quote in disbelief.
"What can you expect from a Luthor?" Mon smirked amused.
"It's time you give him up," Brainiac 5 pressed.
"I can't. He's the only Luthor left, the only remaining heir to his legacy," Kara refused.
"Lex Luthor was an enemy," Mon reminded her.
"He was also more than that," Kara said sadly. "So much more than that."
"There is another," Brainiac 5 replied and showed a hologram of a woman named Mary Luthor.
"You knew this entire time?" Kara asked accusingly.
"Of course," Brainiac 5 said.
"It would appear this is a teachable moment," Mon mocked.
Kara gave them both dumbfounded looks. "Damn it," she realized.
"It is unwise to have these attachments to individual citizens as a ruler," Brainiac 5 lectured.
"I'll take care of this," Kara assured him.
Kara found Marty rewriting the Bible from memory. He started throwing out epistles and verses that he found inconvenient in his own eyes and making corrections to the King James Bible Kara had brought to this time. "We should talk," Kara said to him.
He turned away from his work and seemed to realize his fate. He pressed the enter button sending his work off for others to contemplate. "What is faith?" Kara asked him.
"Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake," he replied.
"Amen," Kara agreed and then punched him lightly in the chest. Marty clutched his chest and then collapsed as his heart gave out.
Marty was buried but divisions within the church continued. With Brainiac 5 tying allegiance with Rome to his economic system, public resistance started to die out. However, due to Marty, many continued to believe in his teachings privately.
Author's Notes: It wouldn't be a Supergirl story without a Luthor causing trouble. The theological arguments made here are done...poorly and shouldn't be taken too seriously. While they mirror the debates of the 1500s, it's a different scenario in the 31st century.