Erin: Earlier, I asked for your theories about the Eastern Orthodox equivalent of Hellsing, and how they might feel about Alucard. Some of the ideas got very interesting…

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Structurally the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church are fundamentally similar. This is probably due to the fact that the East-West Schism (the break-off between the churches) happened around 1054.

During the life of Pope John Paul II, the relations between the two churches greatly improved and that the current Pope, Benedict XVI is working on furthering this relationship. Interestingly enough, in May 1999 (just a few months before the battle of London in Hellsing), Pope John Paul II became the first Pope to go to a predominantly Orthodox nation since the schism in 1054.

Enrico: Interfaith cooperation? Then what was the point of having a schism in the first place?

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I could easily imagine the Orthodox version of Hellsing being a surviving sect of the Order of the Dragon.

According to a surviving copy of its statute, the Order was required to defend the Cross and fight the enemies of Christianity. I don’t see why that wouldn’t include vampires and werewolves and the like, especially in the countries of Eastern Europe, where folklore was full of such creatures.

Alucard: Ordinul Dragonului, represent!
[Patch of the Order of the Dragon]

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I think Vlad converted to Catholicism when he married his second wife. I imagine that, back then, the Romanian Church wasn’t exactly happy about his decision.

The Orthodox Church only answers to the representatives of its own country (as in, they don’t have a Vatican like the Catholics). So it is really up to the patriarchs of Romania to decide if they want to aid the Vatican or fight against it to recover Vlad. However, as far as I saw, the Romanian Orthodox Church is doing its best to be on friendly terms with the Vatican right now so they might aid them.

Still, some priests might be against that decision (especially the ones from the Snagov Monastery) so a little internal ‘war’ of sorts might break out.

A ‘Hellsing’-type Romanian organization with financial aid from the government would be a very nice way of explaining why we’re always having money problems. And, in my opinion, that organization would be aided by at least a half of the Orthodox Church.

Erin: Snagov Monastery is where Vlad Țepeș is said to be buried. It is, naturally, a tourist site.

I looked up more information about Vlad’s religion. It seems there are websites from both Catholic and Orthodox groups who want to claim him as a “hero” for their own religion. It also seems that these websites tend to be…how do I put this politely…horrifyingly racist. Among other things.

Websites:
– We need to not only ban abortion, but restrict the travel of pregnant women so they can’t get one anywhere else!
– How can you call [racial slur] and [racial slur] German just because they have a passport?
– The British monarchy is a Jewish conspiracy!
– Obama is corrupting the country with homosexuality!
– Donald Trump is a socialist plant. Catholics should support Ron Paul!

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Due to their similarities the Orthodox might even have their own Vampire/Demon hunting division that disapproves of the Iscariot’s seemingly stance that Alucard must be destroyed even though he is (in a way) acting as a holy soldier of God once again.

The only problem is that he is doing it in the service of a Protestant. They could, conceivably, try to remove the control-art that binds Alucard to the Hellsing family so that he is able to make his own decision on the matter.

Email:
I imagine that the Order would feel much the same way about Alucard as he does about himself; a once great king, fallen from grace. They’d probably try to kill him so that they might send his soul back to God.

Alucard: I don’t think I want to go back to these people any more, Master.
[three-bar cross, commonly used in Orthodoxy]

Integra: Good. I wouldn’t let anyone else get ahold of you anyway.