Charity Empire

In the luxurious drawing room of the "Caesar" Grand Hotel—no, it should be the "Caesar" battleship— Joseph and Pope Pius VII held a cordial and friendly meeting, and had a cordial discussion on the issue of Ireland's spiritual and cultural development. Joseph made a suggestion to the Pope, believing that the Holy See should focus its efforts on medicine and education, so as to ensure both revenue and maintain the image of the Church.

Pope Pius VII expressed his agreement and gratitude for Joseph's suggestion. At the same time, he also expressed some concern about the Irish Republic's decision not to establish a state church and its intention to follow France's example by implementing a policy of "religious freedom."

"I'm not saying that France's policies are bad, but there are differences between Ireland and France. France has always been the core of Catholicism, France people have been believers for generations, and are among the most favored by God. So even without a state church, the France people will still uphold their correct faith. But Ireland is different. These days, I've spoken with Ireland clergy and discovered many problems. Because of the persecution and suppression by those heinous heretics, our Ireland brothers have developed many misunderstandings about the doctrines. Although they remain faithful to the true faith, the poison of heresy has still infiltrated them over the years. How can we adopt a policy of religious freedom under these circumstances?" Pope Pius VII said.

"Your Majesty," said Joseph, "What other important heresies are there in Europe today besides the orthodox Catholic Church? They are nothing more than the Eastern Orthodox Church in the East and those heretics who call themselves Protestantism. Though these heresies are cunning and adept at deceiving the Lamb of God, are they not inferior to those heretics if there are priests of true faith who preach the true Gospel to them, upholding the power of God?"

Joseph paused for a moment, then continued, "By the power of God, the orthodox Catholic Church is far superior to the other two heretical groups in its missionary work. Your Majesty, look at how many seminaries we have, compared to how many those heretical groups have? Their theological theories are simply inferior to ours. Moreover, how many priests do we train each year, while they only train a handful? Therefore, with our help, the orthodox Catholic Church can accomplish far more in charitable work than those heretical groups."

For example, Your Holiness, you know that in terms of medical expertise, France far surpasses other regions where heresy is prevalent. If the Catholic Church were to cooperate sincerely with us and establish various church-affiliated, charitable hospitals throughout Europe, what do you think the results would be? I simply don't believe those sheep led astray by heresy wouldn't fall ill. And if they do, would they go to the heretics' low-level hospitals or our high-level hospitals?

Perhaps a few stubborn individuals will cling to their superstitions. But the effectiveness of our hospital's medical care is evident to anyone with eyes. Although, theoretically, the level of medical expertise and the purity of one's faith are completely unrelated, ordinary people don't think that way. They simply believe that since this hospital is Catholic and can save their lives, it proves that the Catholic Church is the true faith.

Your Holiness the Pope, Jesus Christ said, "How ungodly the people of this age are! There are no miracles to be seen in this age." But isn't the progress of medicine a miracle? Did Jesus not perform miracles when he was spreading the truth? Without his walk on the sea and the five fish and two loaves, would so many people have followed him? Even now, how many believers in heresies haven't been influenced by miracles? Now that miracles are in our hands, are we still worried that the flock will follow heresy?

Pope Pius VII nodded and said, "The progress in medicine is God's reward for our piety. However, building large-scale charitable hospitals is a very large undertaking."

Joseph immediately understood the meaning behind Pope Pius VII's words: to put it bluntly, the old man was stingy with money. Clearly, in an era untouched by modern life, even a pope didn't understand that charity was the most profitable business.

"Your Majesty, have you considered something?" Joseph said. "Jesus said, 'For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.' In fact, those who only want to keep money will inevitably lose it, while those who give it up will gain more. Charitable hospitals can accept donations, and with our influence, we can easily secure tax-free treatment for charitable hospitals in many Europe countries. Furthermore, we can implement tiered healthcare, meaning our charitable portion will only target the very low-income population, while wealthy people receiving treatment here will be charged. And we can clearly state that the fees collected from them will go to charity—but frankly, what church activity isn't charitable?"

Indeed, what church activity can't be labeled as charity? Even building a magnificent cathedral and adorning it with all sorts of luxuries can be said to be to show people's piety and please God—isn't that public welfare, isn't that charity? Even if they take that money and put it all in the bank without using it, only collecting a portion of the interest, such as donating 3% of it to charity each year, isn't that sustainable charity? Many charitable organizations in later generations only use 3% or 4% of their total assets for charity each year—this is almost the norm.

Clearly, Joseph's words opened a door for Pope Pius VII, allowing him to see a view he had never seen before.

"Ah, Dean Bonaparte, this is truly... truly worth studying carefully." Pope Pius VII smiled so much that his eyes narrowed into slits, making the pupils of his dark yellow eyes seem to shrink into slits as well.

Two days later, the battleship "Caesar" returned to Le Havre. At Joseph's invitation, His Holiness the Pope and Joseph boarded a train together for a France to Paris.

According to the impromptu plan devised on the ship, His Holiness the Pope would travel to Paris to visit Napoleon's consul, Minister Lucien, to discuss how to establish a "charitable empire."