*looks around suspiciously*
I'm almost positive I started this conversation before, but I can't find it...

It's fantasy. Right? I can't have catholics. And yet, in the Last Wizard, I have a Catholic priest. Now I'm working on outlining it for the second draft, and I'm stumbling over how to reconcile Father Matthew with his fantasy world.

Question: Why do you need him to be Catholic? Does his religion play a part in his character? If so, how?

Take those elements and work them into a new order that fits more comfortably into your fantasy world. It doesn't have to be a religion (especially if you're not comfortable with making up religions); it could be a political position, and honorary position, or a structured order like Boy Scouts (say, monks without the religions implications, for lack of a better analogy). He could be a town elder, highly respected in a certain culture, for instance; or perhaps an advisor to the king, or a veteran of war.

If, however, there is an "allegory" of Christianity in your fantasy world, there's no reason you can't have an "allegory" of Catholicism and other real-world religions as well.

He's the village priest. He acts like you'd expect a village priest from 1200 AD to act. Most of the catholicism is implied... I don't actually have a religion, there is no allegory. It's a very complicated world, and this seems to be the worst part. I spent a lot of time in my first draft skirting the issue and it shows.

He's Morgon's foster father. He represents the forces of Love. He's the mentor character (who doesn't die, BTW.) I guess he could be a kind of druid character...

Is it really such an issue? What parts of his religion do you have to talk about, and is there any way that you could twist them to sound more "fantasy-ish"?

Do you want to have religion in your book at all? If not, I would attempt to remove references to it. Matthew can be a scholar in something else - folk lore, herbal medicine, magic (if you're using it as a learned art). He would still be wise and in a leadership position, but it isn't religiously-inclined.

*wonders how in the world to explain this*
*thinks maybe it's because she doesn't understand it herself*

It's an implied religion...
It is a religious position. He prays, blesses people, conducts ceremonies, speaks over funerals, and is basically the religious leader of the village. He's not the political leader, because later there's a mayor, but he's the accepted head. The one the people go to for help and answers. Their priest.

Then, later, there's the college at Brisgard. The College is run by priests; others of Father Matthew's order. So obviously they're the accepted masters of knowledge...

*sigh* I didn't plan this out in advance, you know, and now I'm stuck with it.

Does your MC character believe in the religion one way or the other?

I actually wonder how many people will question it. If you don't use Catholic-specific terms (i.e., direct references to God, "first communion," Mary, etc.), it will have the feel of medieval religion and probably blend nicely into the background. If this isn't a story where faith plays a large part (as in, the character isn't coming to terms with God), I think it can pass as a facet of the character. It's a religion and strictly that. Just a sort of social order, not a personal relationship. To my knowledge, most medieval serfs were attended by the village priest, but only monks were serious about religion. (Oversimplification, but many people just "go to church" and that's as far as it goes for them.) You may wish to come up with a few fantasy terms for the deity, give him a holy book of some kind, etc. - just to make the distinction.

Mm... yeah. That's kind of what I'm trying to do. I guess I'm looking for help on how to do it. The plot hinges on much more abstract concepts... I never actually mention a God. I have wizards, I have evil, possibly demonic, creatures, and I have witch-doctors, but it's kind of a love conquers all kind of story. I'd give you another example, but I've lost network connection and can't access anything right now.

I guess it would only be trolling to point out that most village priests in 1200 AD weren't as well-educated as your Father Matthew seems to be. In fact, if they could read they were doing pretty well for themselves from what I've found in my various studies. Again, irrelevant tidbit, but thought I'd throw it in anyways. I guess from this you could say that there's no need for him to be too similar to Catholic priests since he's clearly more educated than they were.

Well, there is that. Thanks for pointing that out, Seer.

Can't you just create your own religion, Katie, influenced by Catholicism?