Molotov

Here foreign leaders may direct their petitions to His Majesty Frederick VI, Crown Prince Regent of Denmark and of Norway.

Your Majesty, I - as a member of the Sacred College of Cardinals, the current regency council of the State of the Church, one unfortunately unable to attend the ongoing papal conclave in Venice - have decided to turn to more local matters, to keep an old man occupied. Although Prince-Bishop of Metz, from where I have been exiled, I have spent the last few years a humble guest of your grand realm, living in your southern city of Altona in the Duchy of Holstein. You may not be aware of that - surely, a regent and a prince alike has no time for little people the likes of me.

As the former Grand Almoner of France, one who saw my cousin - the old, blind, deaf and bedridden Abbess Marie-Louise de Laval-Montmorency - guillotined for imagined crimes, I know well the burdens of lordship, and the dangers of it. Allow me therefore to advise you, and to - with great humility before your person, Your Majesty - make a proposal on behalf of the Papacy.

Since the Reformation, relations between the State of the Church and of the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway have been poor, as is obvious. But we live in the future, in the most possibly enlightened of eras (loathe as I am to admit it at times), and such ancient facts are not unchangeable.

Your royal father is a patron of the sciences... as are you, Crown Prince Regent, I believe. Even down in Rome, word has spread of your love for... liberal reform... such as the abolition of serfdom in the Year of Our Lord 1788, and the freedom of the press. There is one matter in which you may benefit both your statue abroad as a statesman, your contribution to the sciences and culture, and the happiness of your populace. The matter of religious rights.

In the lands of your ancient rival, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Catholics currently enjoy significant privileges, at least compared to their previous status. Foreign citizens professing to the Church, such as significant amounts of vital guest workers and expert craftsmen from abroad, along with diplomats, are allowed full rights of worship within the legation chapels of Stockholm, all since the 1720s. Since 1781 the foreign-origin Catholics of Sweden likewise have the right to establish their own churches in full, although the conversion of local Lutherans remains strictly forbidden, and an Apostolic Vicariate has been established in the country to allow for communication with the Holy See.

In the more grand Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, and all their vassals and domains, the situation is... somewhat more grim. In Denmark Proper, Catholicism is recognized as a legal faith and none are directly persecuted (although, as in Sweden, local conversion is forbidden) - but no representative of the Holy See exists, and there is to my knowledge no place of worship beyond legation chapels in the diplomatic quarters. In Norway, the situation is far worse, with a complete ban and active punishment of even foreign-born, private Catholicism. Same in the Faroese and Greenland.

Hence, I humbly propose the following measures to be implemented by your government, Your Majesty. Should you allow all, or even a single one, I am sure that the soon elected new Pope shall view you with the utmost kindness, and that His Holiness will also be a most vibrant defender of Denmark-Norway's rights and interests in foreign politics, as a Christian realm.

Denmark

In liberal Denmark, I propose the following.

• 1. Apostolic Vicar. I propose that you allow His Holiness to appoint a Apostolic Vicar to the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, based in Copenhagen, as there is in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. This would allow diplomacy to flow between your court and Rome.
• 2. Church Purchase. The medieval St. Nicholas Church was almost completely destroyed in the great fire of 1795, except for the church tower and spire which remains intact. It has come to my attention that the church, inoperable since then, will be formally and legally closed later this year, with a full desanctification in a few years. I propose that the Papacy be allowed to, for a symbolic sum of 5 credits, be allowed to purchase the standing tower and the church ruins, to be rebuilt as a private church for the city's small, foreign-born Catholic community.
• 3. Access to Relics. I propose that Italian Catholic travellers be allowed the right to visit Denmark, strictly monitored and carrying travel papers at all times, to carry out pilgrimages to the relics of the Saint-King Canute IV of Denmark at Odense Cathedral (and to there observe his feast-day, the 10th of July) and likewise to those of the Saint-Prince Canute Lavard of Denmark at St. Bendt's Church in Ringsted (and to there to observe his feast-day, the 7th of January).

• Norway
  
  In conservative Norway, I more simply propose the following.
• 1. Freedom from Punishment. I propose that any Catholics living in Norway shall be freed from punishment, financial, social or physical,
  for their faith alone, and that they shall be allowed to worship - as in Sweden, in the 1720s, behind closed doors, in Catholic diplomatic legation chapels in the major cities. Conversion of currently Lutheran Norwegians shall not be allowed, as in Denmark and Sweden.
• 2. Access to Relics. Finally I propose that Italian Catholic travellers be allowed the right to visit Norway, strictly monitored and carrying travel papers at all times, to carry out pilgrimages to the relics of the Saint-King Olaf II of Norway at Nidaros Cathedral (and to there observe his feast-day, the 29th of July) and likewise to those of Saint Hallvard at the ruins of St. Hallvard's Cathedral (and to there observe his feast-day, the 15th of May).

Should you be willing to open up on these issues, I will speak greatly in your favour to the soon elected Bishop of Rome, Your Majesty, and you shall be rewarded both by God Almighty and by the peoples of the material world. I shall also then return with some very minor proposals regarding your other territories.

God bless you, Your Majesty.

Yours truly,
Cardinal Louis-Joseph de Montmorency-Laval.

As a gesture of good faith towards the League, orders have been given to withdraw the Royal Navy squadrons in the Baltic Sea and cease contraband patrols there. It is clear how these operations so close to the Baltic coasts could be seen as provocative, despite their legal basis under the laws and customs of the sea.

Serenissima wrote:

As a gesture of good faith towards the League, orders have been given to withdraw the Royal Navy squadrons in the Baltic Sea and cease contraband patrols there. It is clear how these operations so close to the Baltic coasts could be seen as provocative, despite their legal basis under the laws and customs of the sea.

Thank you for your gracious action, let it be clear that there is not hostility between Denmark-Norway and the British. Our only humble desire is to trade freely after all.

The French Republic welcomes this development as a victory for neutrality and freedom of the seas from the feigned superiority of the British navy. Long may it last, and trade continue to flow in peace and security.