Vana Dandreal
Her Beneficience The Matron of the Acronian Empire | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of the Matron painted in 2020. | |
| 37th Matron of the Acronian Empire | |
| Assumed office 23 December 2002 | |
| Preceded by | The 36th Matron |
| High Priestess of Zaram Province | |
| In office 14 April 1994 – 23 December 2002 | |
| Preceded by | Šela Davras Alandai |
| Succeeded by | Mena Indral Devražon |
| Priestess of North Dravai Parish | |
| In office 4 November 1982 – 13 April 1994 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Vana Nevran Dandreal 19 January 1950 New East Harbor, Acronis |
| Residence | New Temple of Administration, Zaram, Acronis |
The 37th Matron of the Acronian Empire is the current leader of the Elders, the governing body of the Church of Akrona, and therefore considered to be the presiding officer over the church and leader of the faith. According to custom, upon their election to office, a Matron is only referred to as "the Matron." If needed to differentiate, a Matron can be identified as "the current Matron" or by their number. It is generally considered impolite to refer to a Matron, whether living or dead, by her birth name, but it is not technically forbidden by any Church doctrine. The 37th and current Matron was born Vana Nevran Dandreal in New East Harbor, Acronis on January 19th, 1950.
Early Life
The 37th Matron was born in New East Harbor, the largest Acronian city on the eastern coast of the island of Avnatra. Her parents, Leina and Doran Nevran Dandreal, both worked at Eastern Shipworks, the largest shipyard in the country. On her birth certificate, her parents' occupations are listed as "custodial worker" and "clerical worker." Her upbringing has generally been described as "working class," and the Matron herself has spoken of how she became drawn to the Church after eating at Church-run public food kitchens because her house did not have any food.
The Matron's mother passed away in 1961 when she was 11 years old. In the course of her work as a custodian, Leina Nevran Dandreal was exposed to a particular kind of caustic cleaning chemical that was sold under the brand-name Numinol, which was found to cause lung cancer in people exposed regularly to the chemical. The story happened to catch the attention of a local newspaper reporter who launched an investigation into Numinol that found that executives at Eastern Shipworks had known as early as 1954 that custodial workers were passing away from lung cancer but continued to use Numinol because it was the cheapest cleaning chemical available on the market. This created a national controversy and Doran Nevran Dandreal would file a lawsuit against Eastern Shipworks in 1965. The lawsuit was delayed significantly by the Shipworks filing several motions to move the suit from civil to religious courts, and then back again, as well as filing numerous appeals. It was not until 1997 when the Supreme Civil Court finally ruled against the Shipworks. Doran had died the previous year, and the Matron, who was then serving as the High Priestess of Zaram Province, was awarded the largest ever payment for damages in a non-class action suit in Acronian history: 750,000,000 Nashdat, as she was the only living heir of her mother, who had died 36 years previously. The sum, which bankrupted the shipyard, was donated to the Church in its entirety.
Religious Positions
The 37th Matron is known as a much more "activist" Matron than her closest predecessors. A motto of hers as Matron has been that "our Church is a powerful force for good." She is on the record stating that the Church should take more action domestically as well as internationally to ensure the well-being of life on Urth. On her initiative, the Church began a project of funding the construction of hospitals abroad, leading to more than 50 hospitals being built between 2012 and 2020. The current Matron has traveled more internationally than any other Matron in history, which is notable in part because it requires formal approval from the civil government before the Matron can exit the country. She has encouraged the faithful to "speak out against injustice whenever you see it, whether it comes from a stranger, your family, your government, your boss, or even your church" and has made statements herself in opposition to what she sees as violations of human rights abroad.
While historically most Matrons are known as very reserved and formal figures, the current Matron has relaxed many of the formalities that have traditionally bound her office. For instance, she regularly appears in public wearing "non-religious" clothing while not performing religious ceremonies. While her clothing is still conservative by any standard, with her skirts regularly reaching to the ankles, she is considered to be something of a fashion icon in Acronis. She also favors the usage of more contemporary language in ceremonies, and encourages clergy to focus on preaching in ways that reaches out to their temple-goers rather than focusing strictly on formal rituals. She has said that "it is far more important that we do work out in the world - feed the hungry, shelter the exposed, welcome the outcast - than it is for us to earn a perfect attendance award from the local temple." In a more blunt quote, one of her most famous, she has also said "I would rather you sleep in on the full moon and enjoy your day off work rather than come to the Temple if all you're going to do is balance your checkbook and hum along to the hymns. You can try again in the next life."
Her style has led to some friction within the Church, as more conservative clergy resist the Matron's urges to move away from established tradition. However, she is far and away the most popular Matron in modern times, with approval ratings regularly over 80%, compared to an average before her term in office of 64%. Of the people who approve of her work in office, 40% report that they feel either "inspired" or "very inspired" to be active in the Church. Despite her famous quote regarding people staying home from temple, in her term in office monthly temple attendance has increased by 14%. Given her popularity, the Church has largely accepted the current Matron's changes with very little public opposition from members of the clergy.
Pre-Tavari Burial Site Controversy
In 2020, a Pre-Tavari burial site known as a necropolis was unearthed at Joint Defense Facility Two, the most secure military base in the country. An international agreement signed in 1894 between Acronis and Tavaris called the Joint Executive Agreement on the Repatriation of Cultural Heritage mandated that upon the discovery of Tavari remains in Acronis, the Acronian government was to notify Tavaris and make arrangements for the Tavari to come to Acronis to inspect and return the remains to their country. However, the civil government announced that it would not give formal notification until an "independent investigation" could be conducted to confirm that the remains were Tavari. This would have taken several months, where the Agreement called for notification in three days.
In response to this decision, the Elders issued an Edict that directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to give notification to Tavaris within seven days. This was the first time in history where the Elders had mandated a particular action in foreign affairs, and it is believed that it was primarily by the Matron's urging that the Elders issued the Edict, and is understood to have taken the civil government by surprise. It was speculated that, if the civil government had refused to follow the Edict, the Matron herself would have to deliver notification herself, perhaps by ordering the commander of a military aircraft to fly her to Tavaris without formal permission from the civil government.
However, before the seven day deadline could be reached, the King exercised the rarely-used power to overrule the Matron, declaring the Edict unconstitutional and null and void. The King's declaration, in part, stated that the Matron's office "is a domestic authority, not an international one" and that "the authority of the Matron has always been understood, and most continue to be understood, as to allow for the principle of 'morality' to be used to overrule the civil government only in circumstances in which the moral character of the civil government is in mortal jeopardy." It was the first time King Mital II had ever overruled the Matron, and only the tenth time any monarch had done so since the turn of the 20th century.
The Matron's office had no official response to the King's action other than to say that it would comply with the order. However, privately, the action has been reported to have soured relations between the Church and the civil government.
2020 Lantaž Temple Attack
On September 29th, 2020, East Parish Temple in Lantaž, the capital of Rodoka, was attacked. 38 people were killed, most of them Temple administrative employees and individuals who were staying at the Temple's accommodations for the homeless. In response, the Matron gave an internationally televised address that earned plaudits from across the community of Akronist faithful and the world for its passionate, aggressive response towards the attackers.
—The 37th Matron, responding to the Lantaž terror attack on 30 September, 2020. |
The Matron also issued an Edict to reactivate the Order of the Peacekeepers, which was a traditional militia and security force answerable to the Church that had in the past protected Akronist Temples. It was dissolved after the end of the Fifth Tavari War. More than 11,000 people serving in the Armed Forces Reserves alone applied to join the Peacekeepers in less than 24 hours, and the Peacekeepers have been rapidly deployed. By the end of 2020, the Matron plans to have every Temple in Rodoka and 75% of those on the home islands of Acronis staffed with Peacekeepers, and every Temple in the world staffed by the end of 2021. On Church property, Peacekeepers are authorized to carry lethal weapons and use deadly force, if necessary. Off Church property, however, Peacekeepers have no legal authority, and legislation to accord them the status of "civil officers of the peace" is still pending in the Diet.