Transcript

1: Live news footage footage of the Grand Al-Tav Temple shows a crowd gathered in the temple commons, surrounding its central obelisk. It is a circular plaza of stone tile bordered by tall, Romanesque religious buildings and the dark stone is decorated in stark white runic lines.

Caption: Vatican City, Rome, 2039

Reporter: Just before dawn, a restless crowd began to gather in the Grand Al-Tav Temple commons. Over six hundred people have arrived thus far, many with picket signs protesting the temple.

2: The crowd is holding up various signs of protest. Signs include: “Not your HISTORY, not your PROPERTY”; “STOP war profiteering!”; “Rapists / Oligarchs / Murderers / Extortionists”; “HOME, not ROME”; “ROME no MORE”; “Bring Them Home!”; “Set our culture free!”

Reporter: Unrest has been building after revelations last week that the Vatican had been illegally hoarding over two thousand “culturally significant” artifacts: many now confirmed to be from other religious institutions, primarily O.E.D and Egyptian Orthodox.

3: The main temple’s facade ofcolumns is shown; in the foreground is the tall, black stone obelisk around which the crowd has begun to congregate. A line of armored guards is visible on the temple steps.

Reporter: The protest has been peaceful so far, but temple officials worry that the gathering may turn violent and have deployed Vatican Private Security to supervise the demonstration.