Can I depose my own anti-pope?

[eastcoastceo]

In the process of knocking out some Steam/Iron Man achievements before Holy Fury, I started a game as the King of Denmark in 1066 to create my first anti-pope. Got it within the first 3 years.

I got kinda attached to this start, and now I want to run with it for a couple hundred years and see what I can do. But the Catholic MA is below 20% (-30% coming from my anti-pope alone) and the Pope in Rome hates me with a -100 opinion. I am starting to worry I will lose my kingdom due to an excommunication or anti-king CB.

Can I preemptively eliminate my anti-pope through diplomatic decision, assassination, or title revoke? Or is the only way to have someone else take it from me via war?

I also see that it will let me switch my laws from "Free Investiture" to "Papal Investiture". If I did that, wouldn't the Pope replace my Anti-Pope with his own choice of a non-anti-pope bishop?

[WolfWhiteFire]

My suggestion would be to just go ahead and press your anti-popes claim on the papacy, if you win, the anti-pope becomes your own vassal pope and then you would just have 1 "legitimate" pope without the -30% MA from an anti-pope, and only your vassal pope's decisions would matter.

[eastcoastceo]

Originally posted by WolfWhiteFire:

Press your anti-popes claim on the papacy, if you win, the anti-pope becomes your own vassal pope and then you would just have 1 "legitimate" pope without the -30% MA from an anti-pope.

Thanks for that tip, Wolf. I did more research, and it seems that pressing my anti-Pope's claim against the Pope in Rome is the only way. I am only a king, so if I win that war, the Anti-Pope will become independent, but love me for pressing his claim- is that right? I thought only Emperors can vassalize the Pope in Rome.

The HRE also has an anti-pope, and controls most of Italy. Will the Pope be able to call other Catholic rulers against me in the anti-pope claim war, or will it just be him and me fighting it out for the future of the Vatican?

[Yaldabaoth]

Just hire mercenaries and put them on top of rome before declaring war.

[Miku]

Originally posted by eastcoastceo:

I am starting to worry I will lose my kingdom due to an excommunication or anti-king CB.

You're immune from excommunication while controlling an Antipope, as the Pope in Rome has no authority over you, and your vassal Antipope cannot take hostile actions against you.
However, the Anti-King casus belli is still a -very dangerous- possibility (especially considering that the real Pope can be called into the resulting war).

Originally posted by eastcoastceo:

Can I preemptively eliminate my anti-pope through diplomatic decision, assassination, or title revoke? Or is the only way to have someone else take it from me via war?

The death of an Antipope will just generate a new Antipope, and you cannot revoke the last temple holding from him, since he's your religious head.
Aside from losing a war with the "Depose Antipope" casus belli, you can indirectly depose him by transferring his vassal contract to someone else: it will have the same outcome, save for the heavy prestige and piety loss associated with losing the war.

Originally posted by eastcoastceo:

I also see that it will let me switch my laws from "Free Investiture" to "Papal Investiture". If I did that, wouldn't the Pope replace my Anti-Pope with his own choice of a non-anti-pope bishop?

Technically speaking, Papal Investiture just means that whenever a Bishop dies, the game automatically generates a new random character to replace them.

Regardless of that, the real Pope has no authority over the controller of an Antipope, so new Bishops will be loyal to whichever religious head their liege is following.
Then, a new Antipope won't be able to change allegiance, since they're their own religious head.

By the way, whether you follow a Pope or Antipope, Papal Investiture will please them.

Originally posted by eastcoastceo:

Originally posted by WolfWhiteFire:

Press your anti-popes claim on the papacy, if you win, the anti-pope becomes your own vassal pope and then you would just have 1 "legitimate" pope without the -30% MA from an anti-pope.

Thanks for that tip, Wolf. I did more research, and it seems that pressing my anti-Pope's claim against the Pope in Rome is the only way. I am only a king, so if I win that war, the Anti-Pope will become independent, but love me for pressing his claim- is that right? I thought only Emperors can vassalize the Pope in Rome.

Indeed, he will just go independent if you press his claim without being an Emperor, and take his original Danish Bishopric with him in the process.
He'll be very grateful (+100, pressed my claim), but that opinion bonus won't be inherited by his successor.

Originally posted by eastcoastceo:

The HRE also has an anti-pope, and controls most of Italy. Will the Pope be able to call other Catholic rulers against me in the anti-pope claim war, or will it just be him and me fighting it out for the future of the Vatican?

I think that kind of war is no different from other claim wars, so the real Pope would only be able to call in allies... which he most likely won't have, unless he's from a great house with lots of dynastic connections, and he actively decided to form alliances.