THE PAPAL STATES: 2045-2076
2076.
Since the day the Church seized partial control of its national legislation, the Papal States have become a mere shadow of what they once were.
The Papal States divide their citizens into four classes of citizenship:
1. Non-humans — they hold no rights: no health care, education, etc. Their only option is to be hired by the corporations and thus become corporate citizens.
"…But this will soon change, for every devil's spawn will be erased from these sacred lands," as Cardinal Baschi declared when he proposed the "Anticitizen Law." Non-humans, unlike Bronze citizens, cannot work their way up in the Papal States' social hierarchy.
2. Bronze — the lowest class of state citizenship, granted to all jobless humans and to those who come from other Italian states. They receive no health care, education, or benefits of any kind.
3. Silver — human citizens who work for the state and are therefore fully accepted by the Vatican. They are entitled to private housing, basic health care, education, and the like. All human males may vote for the Senate and stand for election as senators.
4. Gold — human citizens of the highest rank. Among them, only women hold the right to vote and to be elected to the Senate.
5. Corporate citizens - they only answer to corporate laws.
Many non-humans and Awakened choose to become corporate citizens in order to escape persecution — with the exception of vampires and ghouls, for the state has branded them enemies of mankind, a stance the corporations have readily endorsed.
THE ANARCHISTS.
The future of this nation is uncertain. The state and the corporations are its two dominant factions — but there is still a third to reckon with.
Standing against both the Vatican and the corporations are the anarchists who, despite their crushing defeat, have managed to regroup and carry out numerous terrorist attacks over the past few years.
To the Vatican press, the anarchists appear to be a single organized group with a taste for terrorism. In reality, they are far more varied than the press gives them credit for.
1. Illuminatrix — a tightly organized and violent cell that has staged several uprisings in recent years. The little we know is that the group seeks to "flip the table," as they put it, with the backing of four Shadowrunner teams.
2. APM (Associazione pro-metaumani) — the very opposite of Illuminatrix. It is closer to a political movement, made up largely of non-humans, and rather than resorting to violence, it seeks to persuade the Pope to put an end to bloodshed and discriminations. Its leader, Darzi — a former Enlightened bishop excommunicated by Alexander IX — is widely respected and beloved by the people, yet the government persistently ignores his words. Worse still, though this left-wing party was lawfully elected and won 10% of the seats, it was subsequently outlawed by the government. Needless to say, Darzi and his followers are now branded anarchists by the Pope, and the Praetorians have the order to kill them on sight. Some of his followers, however, have taken up arms and carried out numerous terrorist attacks without his consent.