Yet another in a long line of “Help me find this story” posts on the Dope.
Anyway, this was a Charlie Stross story, I think. It involved the Catholic Church populating planets or just one planet in the galaxy. One of the scenes that stands out is a priest lying in bed with a young girl, but other than that I really can’t remember any details. It might have involved a person who thought they were the second coming of jesus, but I might be combining two stories I can’t remember.
It might be “The Way of Cross and Dragon” by George R.R. Martin. It is set in a future where the Catholic church has spread out to many planets - the pope in the story is an alien - and the main character, Damian, is a priest who goes around the galaxy putting down heresies. I don’t remember anything about him being with a girl in bed, though.
“The Martian high priestess regards Gallinger highly, and over the course of months, his theological and poetical discussion elevate him to a status something like a prophet. Ultimately, he is seduced by a Martian temple dancer and impregnates her, the first such pregnancy on the planet in hundreds of years. The Martians appear not to take this well, as it contradicts their religion’s expectation of extinction.”
When did you read this story? Was it in a book or a magazine? Try to picture where you were when you read the story. Where was this? Did you buy the book or borrow it from a library? If it was in a magazine, what magazines were you reading at the time?
Here’s a complete list of Stross’s works Summary Bibliography: Charles Stross so you can check out whether any of those names sounds familiar. Me, I’m going to guess that you’re thinking of a work by Dan Simmons in his Hyperion series…
It’s definitely not that story, although that’s a very good future-RCC story (and BTW it’s not the Pope who’s an alien; it’s the cardinal who gives the protagonist - an inquisitor - his marching orders).
Sorry everybody, I didn’t abandon the thread, just went up into the mountains for the weekend sans interwebs.
montag01, it’s not The Way of Cross and Dragon, although that looks lilke a great read!
A few more tidbits came to mind this weekend. The Messiah keeps popping up on planets in the system, and the Church sends out an investigator to either prove or disprove their veracity. This time he might actually be the next coming, which doesn’t fit into the Church’s plans at all.
I’m trying to remember if this was a stand alone story, or if it was in an anthology I read, and it just feels like it was a short story.