Cesare Salvatore

“When Christ walked the Earth, he gave innumerable examples of selfless caring, love, and devotion. He walked among the sick and healed them, he called the dead back to life. In recent years, the phrase ‘Zombie Jesus’ or ‘Vampire Christ’ have become incredibly popular as a way of demeaning the grandeur and power of Christs resurrection, yet I cannot help but wonder about this. Of course, I do not suggest that Christ was a vampire, or a zombie. No zombie ever returned from the grave and then ascended into Heaven, and if there are records of Christ drinking the blood of the living then I will go and catch an amazing tan. But, undeniably, there are similarities.

Of course, you wonder at hearing this from a vampire wearing a priests collar. You should. Traditional learning, ecclesiastical teaching since nearly the foundation of Christianity have said that the vampire is unclean, in violation of Leviticus’ commandment to not partake of the blood of the body, for the life of the thing is in the blood. Yet here is another simple truth: Vampires are no more damned than any other person. Despite their quirks, vampires remain fundamentally human, possessed of the same faculties and potential, as well as the short comings and failures. So many Christians, even among the faithful, fail to grasp basic lessons that Christ taught, and the differences between the Old and the New Testaments.

In the Old Testament, the law was total, it was harsh – it commanded an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and for those that broke the strictures of the law, death was the usual sentence. How many Christians today would be slain if they were to be judged under those laws? Are you wearing clothes made from synthetic materials? Sorry but you must die. Did you succumb to a weak moment and fornicate with your neighbor’s wife? Death for you and for her. Did you speak the name of God? Death. Touch a football? Death. Work on the Sabbath? Death.

Many Christians now seem to pick and choose which laws from the Old Testament they choose to follow, which they choose to honor, and this is a trap of the Adversary. Either the Old Testament must be adhered to totally…or the New Testament. Now, I am not saying that the Old Testament should be disregarded, no. The Ten Commandments remain a foundation for a moral life, an ethical life – and more, they are the best guidelines for the operation of any society. In a society where everyone lies, the truth fades and no trust can be extended to anyone, anywhere. In a society where adultery is condoned, the basic building block of every society, the family, begins to break down – and where family breaks down crime, and sin, flourish.

But, Christ said that the law had been fulfilled in him, and he gave one new great commandment: Love one another. The sum total of the New Testament is that the law given to Moses and adhered to by Israel was fulfilled in him, by him, and through his sacrifice and Atonement. In the place of the old law, he gave forth the new law: “Thou shalt Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thy shalt Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Christ did not ask to sick or the infirm whether they were gay or straight, whether they were kind or cruel – he gave unstintingly, without judgment and without requirement or obligation. It is on us, to honor this commandment and to adhere to the true path of Our Lord."

The Past

Cesare Salvatore was the youngest son of a noble family in Italy at the turn of the 13^th century and grew to adulthood with the finest of tutors and the most demanding of instructors. He learned all of the things that a nobleman would be expected to know, spoke Italian, French, English and Latin fluently and could handle himself armed or unarmed, and guide troops in warfare. On his 20^th nameday, a young Cesare was able to attend a feast in Rome. It was there he came across the illustrious Cardinal Chambleu. It was there, that the Cardinal took an interest in the handsome young Cesare and took him on a tour of the Vatican. It was there that the Cardinal seduced the young man, and as the Cardinal and Cesare entwined in the act of love that young Cesare felt a touch of grace, felt the calm power and glory of the Holy Spirit and heard his Call.

A month later Cesare entered into a monastery and began his training as a priest. It would take years before he had mastered doctrine and scripture enough to earn that place, and accompanied by a generous donation from his family to the Church, Cesare rose through the ecclesiastical ranks quickly. But he was troubled by the hypocrisy he saw - cardinals who were supposed to espouse a certain amount of ascetcism were given over to gluttony, and rare was the Cardinal that did not have at least one mistress or a child or three. This hypocrisy troubled Bishop Salvatore a great deal, and as he searched Holy Scripture, as well as the pronouncements of past Holy Fathers ex cathedra, he came to a great realization.

The hypocrisy present in Holy Church was due to two factors: first, all men fall short of the glory of God and all men sin. Second, was he observed a principle of humanity - nothing is so coveted or sought after as that which a man, or woman, denies themself willingly. The laws governing the clergy and the laity were the same, but the laity had fewer strictures, could marry and bring forth children, and the Church had all these rules, and laws which many ignored but which prohibitied certain behaviors. Cesare observed that outside of a few rare pious souls, humanity was inclined to over-indulgence of things and that it was this over-indulgence that which led to sin. It was the over-indulgence of basic human needs and desires which was Sin, not the indulgence of the thing itself.

As Cesare pondered on human nature, he began to draw up what he considered to be the true messages of Christ, and the principles of what he referred to as the 'Gospel of Love'. When he began teaching this gospel, he drew harsh regard from his fellows and eventually was arrested on suspicion of witchcraft. As he awaited trial, a quiet voice came to him, telling him that freedom and power could be his, as well as immortality in this world and in the world to follow. The voice promised that it would see to it Cesare was freed, and retained his station as a priest. Like Christ in the Desert, Cesare believed this voice to be a demon, the whispering of a Power of Darkness and resisted the temptation. Unlike Christ, Cesare could not resist for fourty days, and as his trial proceeded and unfolded, he began to despair and his prayers echoed that of Christ, asking "oh God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

In the end, Cesare bought his freedom with his body by yielding at least to the voice, and giving himself once more to the pleasures of the flesh, and was granted his freedom, retained his status as a priest, and was brought into Undeath.

The Present

Cesare has spent several hundred years perfecting his Gospel of Love, and ensuring the gospel is well founded on sciptural and logcal grounds. In recent years courtesy of a Cardinal he entertained and aided, Cesare has been able to secure an appointment through the Roman Catholic Church to Chicago. After spending a year or so there, he recieved a new assignment: to see if the Church of Eternal Life and the Roman Catholic Faith might be compatible. Since the Catholic church has a long history of suborning, suverting and thena ssimiliating the practices of other religions, Cesare has no doubt that with a bit of effort on his part he should be able to bring the Church of Eternal Life into the true fold once more. Even as he proceeds in his task, he is working for the organization known as the Cauldron of Storms in an effort to open two faiths to being utilized by the Cauldron as a resource and recruitment base.

Despite his rather subversive purpose, he believes that the Cauldron has the right idea, and further believes that the powers of Heaven and the Church can be used in the war against the darkness and ancient terrors that will rise up.

Personality/Recent Events

While he was in Chicago he met Miacaela Amedea, an incredibly beautiful woman with a strong love of God and equally strong Faith. Taken the woman to his bed he has begun to teach her his Gospel of Love, as well as the pleasures of carnality - especially when yoked to a high and holy purpose. Miacaela has accompanied him to Denver on this most recent assignment, and if Cesare has his way, will be his until the end of time.

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