Catholic - Papal Decree

Apostolic Exhortation of His Holiness Pope Urban X on the Moral Meaning of the Catastrophe of Eros

Issued from the Vatican Apostolic Palace, Rome, Earth Anno Domini 2352

"Et facta est lux in tenebris, et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt."
("And the light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.") — John 1:5

To all the faithful of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, to our brethren in Christ throughout the Earth, Luna, Mars, and the Belt, and to all people of goodwill,

Grace and peace be with you in this time of uncertainty. It is with a heart heavy with sorrow, but steadfast in the hope of Christ, that we address you concerning the cataclysm which has struck the human family: the dreadful event at Eros.

Six months ago, a station that was once a beacon of human ingenuity became a tomb, its voice stolen, its orbit hijacked, its dignity profaned. Many thousands perished in silence, their lives extinguished by forces beyond our comprehension. To this day, the final truths of that event remain shrouded in mystery, hidden beneath the sulphuric clouds of Venus. But of this we are certain: it was not the will of God that His children suffer thus. It is not the Lord who sent this darkness upon us—but men, in their pride, who opened the door.

I. On the Nature of Eros

Eros Station, in its final days, became the site of hubris. The weaponization of a foreign substance—what some have called the "protomolecule"—was an affront to the dignity of creation. The manipulation of life, not for the healing of wounds or the feeding of the poor, but for the service of power and dominion, is an abomination before Heaven.

Just as Babel rose as a monument to man's vanity, so too did Eros fall as a monument to the same sin.

II. On the Dignity of the Dead

We call upon all nations and corporations to honour the memory of those lost. The victims of Eros must not be reduced to statistics, nor forgotten in the pursuit of military or scientific advantage. Their deaths cry out for justice—and remembrance.

We hereby declare a day of solemn mourning to be observed annually across Catholic dioceses on the anniversary of Eros' fall. Bells shall toll, prayers shall be offered, and their names, where known, shall be read aloud in the liturgy of the hours.

III. On the Role of the Church

Where fear spreads, we shall spread faith. Where conspiracy and silence thrive, we shall speak truth. The Holy Church must not retreat to the safety of cathedrals and hab modules. We shall be present in the Belt, on Ganymede, in Tycho’s shadow—wherever our flock needs a shepherd.

Our missionaries will accompany medical and humanitarian missions into the outer planets, offering not only solace, but listening hearts and firm moral witness.

IV. On the Protomolecule and Human Limits

Let it be known that the Church regards the protomolecule not as a divine gift, but as a test. We do not pretend to understand its origins, but neither must we bow to it as gods of old bowed to lightning and plague. The temptation to wield it—unhindered by conscience—is precisely what condemns the modern man to repeat the sins of Eden.

Science, when severed from humility, becomes idolatry.

V. A Call to Unity

In these days of tension between Earth, Mars, and the Belt, we remind all peoples that nationality, gravity, and genetics are nothing before God. We are one body in Christ. If the catastrophe of Eros teaches us anything, let it be that no world is immune to suffering, and no people free from the consequences of others’ sins.

Therefore, we exhort the faithful to live not in fear, but in readiness. To build bridges, not barricades. To pray not for domination, but for wisdom.

In remembrance of the dead, in defence of the living, and in humility before creation,

We proclaim this Exhortation to be binding in all dioceses of the Church, and commend it to the contemplation of all who walk among the stars.

Given in Rome, at the Apostolic Palace,
On the Feast of St. Dominic, Patron of Astronomers,
In the year of Our Lord 2352.

Urban X
Pontifex Maximus
Servus Servorum Dei