Stronger Orthodox Church

This is the reworked version of Stronger Orthodox Church. Reassign kingdoms to the local or the Ecumenical Patriarch, pass agnatic laws, closely control the Ecumenical Patriarch, crusade, declare other Christians heretics, a dynamic holy order and more.

Some of you may be familiar with this title as I have published hard-to-update versions of this mod before. The mod was rebuilt from zero in a way that should be much easier for me to update.
This version is also closer to Orthodoxy than previous versions (and 9/10 of my haters agree).

This mod does not change anything by itself.
All changes that are to come to Orthodoxy will be implemented by you through decisions. The AI can also pass reforms, although it is unlikely without your help as a vassal.

The Orthodox Church is an autocephalic church, the head patriarchs do not report to the Ecumenical Patriarch. This status makes it resistant to change. Still, should you want to implement changes you will need piety and the most important patriarch, the Ecumenical Patriarch, as a vassal.

Five patriarchs with equal authority will inevitably lead to conflict. If you ever conquer the old territories of the Romans you should not want to repeat their mistakes. While the patriarchs outside the empire will not report to the Ecumenical Patriarch, the patriarchs inside will bend the knee whether they are in Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem or Rome.

You have succesfully put an end the claims of the pentarchs, but your vassal kings will each attempt to declare their religious head autocephalic. By reassigning their kingdoms’ dioceses (with a right-click on the coat of arms of the kingdom) to the Ecumenical Patriarch instead of the local patriarch you can thwart any of their plans of religious independence. Any AI that controls the Ecumenical Patriarch will try to reassign dioceses to him, while any AI that does not will reassign dioceses to the local patriarch.

There are two ways your vassals amass land: through war and inheritance. If you have banned vassals from declaring war you should also prevent them from inheriting titles from both their parents. By passing agnatic laws women will not inherit resulting in vassals only inheriting titles from their fathers, not their mothers.

Perhaps the patriarch refuses to lift your excommunication, perhaps he is not of your dynasty or perhaps he is just wicked or uneducated. You can now appoint a courtier that is heir to no titles as the new Ecumenical Patriarch.As your grip tightens, the Ecumenical Patriarch will be able to grant you claims.

Although he’s a heretic, the Catholic Pope has had one good idea. By promising wealth and land to our vassals, and perhaps some other Orthodox rulers as well, they will join us in pushing back against the darkness.

Because Paradox implemented the Catholic Crusades mechanic very well I had to play jazz so you should read this:To join the crusade you need to do this by decision.Do not join the crusades if you do not have the Ecumenical Patriarch as your religious head or you will be kicked. To avoid this either reassign the diocese of your kingdom or simply fire your court chaplain.You can right-click on a county and set the new target of the crusade which will be the de facto independent ruler of that county and the de jure kingdom of that county.

The Catholic Pope has always had an influence on the Catholic monarchs. The Pope losing Rome does not mean the Catholic rulers will just abandon Catholicism and convert to Orthodoxy. Mending the schism was always just a fantasy.But if you have conquered Rome and there are more Orthodox provinces than Catholic provinces you can safely declare them heretics and wage holy war against them.

Perhaps there are Miaphysite and Nestorian realms in the world. You should be able to wage holy war against them. Especially if you have retaken Alexandria and Antioch.

About every ten years, the grandmaster of the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre will reorganize the holy order. After the reorganization the order will increase or decrease in size based on the number of orthodox provinces. Spread the true faith and more recruits will join the holy order.To donate wealth or vassalize the order you can right-click the grandmaster.

If the liege of the Ecumenical Patriarch becomes the grandmaster of the Community of Saint Basil, they might declare the future emperors always welcome guests. Any future liege of the Ecumenical Patriarch will then be able to reach the final rank of the Community of Saint Basil.