Monotheist Church

The Monotheist Church's retreat on Gemenon.

The Monotheist Church, sometimes referred to as the Monad Church, was a religious organization based on Gemenon in the years before the Fall. Lead by the cleric known as Mother, the Monotheist Chruch's goal was to spread the gospel of a single, all knowing, all powerful God to the generally polytheist Twelve Worlds.

History

The retreat at night.

Formed in the decades leading up to the First Cylon War, the Monotheist Church was housed in the rocky, seaside cliffs of Gemenese in a temple referred to as "the retreat". The location was considered by the monotheists to be the Holy Land. Inside the retreat was an elaborate cathedral distinguished by buttresses, stained glass windows and reflecting pools where the clerics met for worship as well as politicking. The halls of the Monotheist Church echoed with the sound of chanting and prayer, reflecting a bygone age of mysticism in the Twelve Colonies (CAP: "Unvanquished", "Blowback").

In the early years of its formation, the Monad Church came into conflict with its polytheistic neighbors with polytheist rebels in the east and the "Hephaistons" in the west. Despite these tensions, the Monad Chruch's relationship with the polytheist ones softened over time, though they still considered nonbelievers "unenlightened" (CAP: "Unvanquished").

The Soldiers of the One

Main article: Soldiers of the One

"Infinity" symbol representing the Soldiers of the One.

The Soldiers of the One, or STO, was the militant arm of the Monotheist Church, formed in the movement's early years to defend the church, driving out the many Gods and combating the corruption and decadence of Colonial society. Considered by the Caprican Government to be a terrorist organization, the STO was at least in part seen by Obal Ferras, with training camps set up on Gemenon (CAP: "Unvanquished").

Meeting resistance to the monotheist movement, the Monotheist Church at first heavily utilized its arm branch, crediting it with its success in leaner years. Despite the fact that they were treated as saviors, the Monotheist Church ultimately took up a more distant relationship with its STO cells, going so far as to refuse to house its leaders within the church proper (CAP: "Unvanquished").

Conclave

The monotheist conclave was a ten member group of clerics that convened on Gemenon to carry out the affairs of the Church, with members including Obal Ferras consulting directly with the Blessed Mother (CAP: "Unvanquished", "Retribution").

Apotheosis

The conclave on Gemenon.

58 years before the Fall of the Twelve Worlds, the conclave came into direct conflict with the STO. Objecting to the church's newly found "coziness" with the polytheist organizations in the Colonies, Caprican cell leader Clarice Willow sought a new direction for the church. Meeting with the conclave on Gemenon, Clarice unveiled her notion of "Apotheosis" — the realization of life everlasting in a virtual heaven. Despite a convincing argument, however, Obal Ferras found Willow's notion blasphemous, relating his position to Mother and securing permission to have Clarice disposed of (CAP: "Unvanquished").

Willow's Apotheosis had nevertheless won over many other members of the conclave and the STO who conspired to murder Ferras instead. With the conclave stabbing Ferras to death before her eyes, Mother acquiesced, giving Willow the resources she needed to complete her "science project" and granting her full control over the STO cells on Caprica. Willow quickly returned to Caprica where she set out eliminating her competition (CAP: "Unvanquished", "Retribution").