History Main / TurbulentPriest

An [[TheEmpire Evil Empire]], [[PresidentEvil Repressive Dictator]], GovernmentConspiracy or even a CorruptCorporateExecutive has sinister plans. Where will the hero find an ally? In TheChurch.

--> '''Tyrion''': ''Give me priests who are fat and corrupt and cynical, the sort who like to sit on soft satin cushions, nibble sweetmeats, and diddle little boys. It's the ones who believe in gods who make the trouble.''

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Tumart Ibn Tumart]] declared a ''jihad'' to topple the [[UsefulNotes/MoorishSpain Almoravid Empire]] whom he regarded as corrupt and "insufficiently Islamic", though to be fair very few Muslims lived up to his standards since he believed they have strayed from their religion and "purification" was necessary. Tumart was considered such radical by his contemporaries that he was expelled from every city he visited (including Mecca during his pilgramage) because of his inflammatory preaching. Nevertheless, he gained a big enough and devoted following to successfully overthrow the Almoravids. Unlike other examples of this trope, he actually went a step further by proclaiming himself the [[AGodAmI Mahdi]] - the Islamic Messiah - to legitimize his campaign.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Tumart Ibn Tumart]] declared a ''jihad'' to topple the [[UsefulNotes/MoorishSpain Almoravid Empire]] whom he regarded as corrupt and "insufficiently Islamic", though to be fair very few Muslims lived up to his standards since he believed they have strayed from their religion and "purification" was necessary. Tumart was considered such radical by his contemporaries that he was expelled from every city he visited (including Mecca during his pilgramage) because of his inflammatory preaching. Nevertheless, he gained a big enough and devoted following to successfully overthrow the Almoravids.

* Cardinal [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicente_Enrique_y_Tarancón Vicente Enrique y Tarancón]] was despised by the most immovilist elements of the Franco dictatorship to the point of being greeted with the cry ''¡Tarancńn al Paredón!'' ("Gun down Tarancón!") at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrero_Blanco Carrero Blanco]]'s funeral. It should be noted that after Vatican II the Franco dictatorship was a bigger Catholic hardliner than the Vatican itself.

* During the UsefulNotes/BrazilianMilitaryRegime, the government was a right-wing Catholic junta who (initially) enjoyed the Church's support, yet several individual priests, nuns and bishops were persecuted alongside Marxists and leftists for speaking out against it. One of them, Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns, helped save the torture records in the Brazilian dictatorship and store them abroad for later use (as evidence against the torturers, hopefully, but, at the very least, as a registry of that dark period), besides providing aid and abode for those that resisted said dictatorship. He actually managed to copy all or most of the records in a measly 24 hours as well by using the structure of the Church (and against the wishes of its conservative side, which meant he had to do it subtly), making it a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' plays with this in the form of two minor NPC's, a Hanar evangelist and a Turian C-Sec officer. It's a neutral situation of GreyAndGreyMorality, as the evangelist is preaching in the Presidium, where all preaching is forbidden as a form of religious neutrality (those who wish to do so must obtain a permit and preach elsewhere), but the C-sec officer is trying to move him along out of bigotry against the Hanar and/or their religion (as he only refers to the evangelist using a racial slur and the religion's he's espousing as "nonsense"). Siding with either, depending on how it's done, can get either Paragon points, Renegade points, both or none. * ''VideoGame/JustCause3'' features churches that can be unlocked and used to clear heat. Visit one while being pursued by the military and the priest will sweep you inside while the game fast forwards to night and all of your heat is cleared.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' plays with this in the form of two minor NPC's, a Hanar evangelist and a Turian C-Sec officer. It's a neutral situation of GreyAndGreyMorality, as the evangelist is preaching in the Presidium, where all preaching is forbidden as a form of religious neutrality (those who wish to do so must obtain a permit and preach elsewhere), but the C-sec officer is trying to move him along out of bigotry against the Hanar and/or their religion (as he only refers to the evangelist using a racial slur and the religion's he's espousing as "nonsense"). Siding with either, depending on how it's done, can get either Paragon points, Renegade points, both or none.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Romero Oscar Romero]], a Catholic archbishop in UsefulNotes/ElSalvador during the Salvadoran Civil War. He spoke out against the persecution of priests and human rights abuses carried out by the Salvadoran government and was consequently assassinated during mass by a member of a state-sponsored death squad. Currently he's being considered for sainthood in the Catholic Church, though his cause for canonization has [[DevelopmentHell been taking a while]].

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_%C5%BDelivsk%C3%BD Jan Želivský]] was a Czech priest who triggered the Bohemian Crusades by literally throwing the city council of Prague out of the window after his teacher Jan Hus was burned at the stake because of his radical ideas for church reformation, which the King of Bohemia and the Pope didn't take too kindly. Želivský served as one of the {{rebel leader}}s, and while he was executed by beheading later on, the rebels eventually won out after more than 25 years of fighting and the Bohemian Church gained its independence from the Papacy.
* Antônio Conselheiro was a Brazilian preacher that supported the monarchy and opposed the newly formed Republic established by rich farmers who deposed [[UsefulNotes/PedroII Dom Pedro II]]. He rallied support from the disenfranchised, former slaves and many others into creating an autonomous community in the Northeast, which culminated into the Canudos War, the bloodiest conflict fought on Brazilian soil.
* Bogdan Zimonjić was an Serbian Orthodox priest who advocated Serbian freedom from the Ottoman Empire and led two uprisings to achieve that. Also doubles as a BadassPreacher, since he personally served as ''voivode'' or military commander.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B4nio_Conselheiro Antônio Conselheiro]] was a Brazilian preacher that supported the monarchy and opposed the newly formed Republic established by rich farmers who deposed [[UsefulNotes/PedroII Dom Pedro II]]. He rallied support from the disenfranchised, former slaves and many others into creating an autonomous community in the Northeast, which culminated into the Canudos War, the bloodiest conflict fought on Brazilian soil.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_%C5%BDelivsk%C3%BD Jan Želivský]] was a Czech priest who triggered the Bohemian Crusades by literally throwing out Prague city council out of window after his teacher Jan Hus was burned at the stake because of his radical ideas for church reformation, which the King of Bohemia and the Pope didn't take too kindly. Želivský served as one of the {{rebel leader}}s, and while he was executed by beheading later on, the rebels eventually won out after more than 25 years of fighting and the Bohemian Church gained its independence from the Papacy.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B4nio_Conselheiro Antônio Conselheiro]] was a Brazilian preacher that supported the monarchy, opposed slavery and attempted to rally against the rich farmers who deposed [[UsefulNotes/PedroII Dom Pedro II]] to institute the Republic.

* Two examples from the Catholic Church: one, Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns helped save the torture records in the [[UsefulNotes/BrazilianMilitaryRegime Brazilian dictatorship]] and store them abroad for later use (as evidence against the torturers, hopefully, but, at the very least, as a registry of that dark period), besides providing aid and abode for those that resisted said dictatorship. He actually managed to copy all or most of the records in a measly 24 hours as well by using the structure of the Church (and against the wishes of its conservative side, which meant he had to do it subtly), making it a CrowningMomentOfAwesome. Two, some bishops of the "Sul-1" branch of the Church tried to interfere in the Brazilian presidential elections in 2010, using abortion (changes to abortion laws weren't really being discussed) as an excuse to attack a candidate, ignoring the rules the Church itself set regarding interference in politics in the process. It got bad enough that the Pope became known to some people as the losing candidate's most effective campaign volunteer.

* Two examples from the Catholic Church: one, Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns helped save the torture records in the Brazilian dictatorship and store them abroad for later use (as evidence against the torturers, hopefully, but, at the very least, as a registry of that dark period), besides providing aid and abode for those that resisted said dictatorship. He actually managed to copy all or most of the records in a measly 24 hours as well by using the structure of the Church (and against the wishes of its conservative side, which meant he had to do it subtly), making it a CrowningMomentOfAwesome. Two, some bishops of the "Sul-1" branch of the Church tried to interfere in the Brazilian presidential elections in 2010, using abortion (changes to abortion laws weren't really being discussed) as an excuse to attack a candidate, ignoring the rules the Church itself set regarding interference in politics in the process. It got bad enough that the Pope became known to some people as the losing candidate's most effective campaign volunteer.

* One episode of ''Series/{{Blackadder}} I'' has the title character, the younger son of the king, made Archbishop of Canterbury after his father had the previous one assassinated for being turbulent. Blackadder spends the whole episode trying not to make waves, even attempting to talk a dying nobleman ''out of'' leaving all his money to the church. The king celebrates the fact that, unlike Henry II, he will never have to ask "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?" Unfortunately, a pair of drunken knights overhear part of the conversation and think it means they should go kill the new archbishop.

** The Order of the White Lotus is this, including members of the Fire Nation, [[spoiler:Jeong Jeong]] and their leader [[spoiler:Iroh]].

* The Archdeacon of the Cathedral in Disney's ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' interferes with Judge Frollo's more morally questionable acts, such as drowning babies and violating the sanctuary law. Amusingly, the original Frollo from [[Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame the book]] was both a more moral person... and archdeacon of Notre Dame. It's like Disney split him in half and made him fight himself.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola]], the 15th-century Florentine preacher, political reformer, and self-proclaimed prophet. He was charismatic enough to have won converts like Sandro Botticelli [[MadArtist who willingly burned his own paintings during the Bonfire of the Vanities]]. It ended however in overall failure because, as Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli said, Savonarola was a charismatic but an unarmed prophet and he had no army to enforce his theocracy before his defeat.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_Jong-nam Son Jong-nam]] was a North Korean defector and Christian missionary, who died in a Pyongyang prison after being arrested in 2006. In January 1998, Son defected from the tyrannical regime, took his wife and daughter and fled North Korea, joining his brother in Yanji, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Region in northeast China's Jilin province. A South Korean missionary, who lived in the region on the pretext of involvement in the lumber business, sheltered them for some time after their arrival. However, Son's wife died of leukemia seven months later. Son, distraught, began to grow closer to the missionary, leading to his eventual conversion to Christianity; he then aided the missionaries in converting other North Korea defectors in China. He was arrested by Chinese police and deported back to North Korea in January 2001, where his brother says he suffered electrical shocks and beatings with clubs, causing a limp in his leg and the loss of 32 kilograms (71 lb) of body weight. Son returned to North Korea with Bibles and cassette tapes in an effort to proselytize people in his home country. However, in January 2006, police found the Bibles at his home in Hoeryong and arrested him again. According to his brother, the charges were illegal border crossing, meeting with enemies of the state, and disseminating anti-state literature.

** During UsefulNotes/RedOctober, the Russian Orthodox Church was widely despised for its support of the deeply unpopular Tsar, its nasty antisemitism and opposition of any reforms and revolutions. So naturally the Bolsheviks felt compelled to suppress the Orthodox Church by promoting state atheism, by supporting minority religions (such as Russian Muslims, Jews and Old Believers), and by actively executing clergymen and closing down churches. This policy ended when Stalin, a centrist who made an effort to restore some of the privileges of the battered Orthodox Church, albeit within limits. He especially tapped into this sentiment during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII despite being an atheist on a personal level. He also reversed Lenin's policies towards religious minorities.

* Some priests, Catholic and Protestant, were this to the Nazis. Many preached against the party's actions from the pulpit, while others hid those bound for the camps in their orphanages and abbeys. Several of these {{badass preacher}}s were caught by the Nazi's and imprisoned and/or killed.

** King Baelor the Blessed from the backstory proves an interesting case. He was an utter pacifist who walked barefoot across the continent to make peace with his elder brother's enemies, and constantly gave away the kingdom's treasury to the poor, but it was only through the political savvy of his machiavellian uncle Viserys that the nobility were kept from rebelling. In ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'', it is suggested Baelor might have been assassinated because he got in his head that all infidels must be converted, which would have led to a humongous civil war against the Northmen and Ironborn, who practice different faiths from the rest of Westeros. That said, even Baelor backed away from reviving the Faith Militant, so yes even the Befuddled One had more political sense than Cersei (though again that was due to his pacifism-he felt no weapons were needed, only prayer).

* The Sparrows ''Series/GameOfThrones'' spring up and cause a ruckus in response to the corruption of the Westeros nobility, getting their leader made High Septon in Cersei's (failed) attempt at making them her pawns. [[AdaptationalVillainy They're considerably worse than in the books]], as while the Sparrows are the most significant political force advocating for the poor, they're also a bunch of [[HeteronormativeCrusader murderous homophobes]]--one thing they dislike nobles for is being immune to the same sexual laws everyone else has to follow.

* Cardinal [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicente_Enrique_y_Taranc%C3%B3n Vicente Enrique y Tarancón]] was despised by the most immovilist elements of the Franco dictatorship to the point of being greeted with the cry ''¡Tarancón al Paredón!'' ("Gun down Tarancón!") at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrero_Blanco Carrero Blanco]]'s funeral. It should be noted that after Vatican II the Franco dictatorship was a bigger Catholic hardliner than the Vatican itself.

* Many leaders of the CivilRightsMovement in the U.S. starting in the 1950s were religious leaders, with the most famous examples being Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. Many leaders in the continuing effort to correct racial injustices in American society today are also religious leaders.