Soter II has also not publicly stated any notion of appointments to the congregations and government bureaucracies as of yet. Insider rumors have it that he is waiting for the peace negotiations with the Empire of Turtleshroom to conclude before he starts naming appointees, although that same source has indicated that Cardinal Pierre d'Euse-Borgia has already been (unofficially) tapped to return as head Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Supreme Inquisition. This indicates that Pope Soter II will continue the policies of his predecessors, Sixtus VI (in his tenure as head) and Victor IV to ruthlessly root out and destroy dissent, religious and secular, from across the empire. The docket of people to be burned already sits around 500.
These nine days have also seen a whole flurry of reforms. First among them the abolition of Pope Victor IV's papal bull, Equss Albus, which instituted the world's harshest measures against the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Lockdown is over, but mask mandates remain in effect until the population can receive Spain's vaccines. The second among them was a declaration of intent for the 'theme' of this papacy, via a papal exhortation. In it, His Holiness declared, 'The Catholic World must continue to devote itself before the Marian image, as the mother of god and intercessor of our sins. It is her light that blesses the world and has led us from the darkness of the past and our souls'. A new and vigorous era of Marian devotion and iconography is set to be enacted, with the Pontiff even altering the national flag to bear the Virgin's image and the color of her cloak.
Other changes to the laws include:
The abolition on bans against homosexuals donating blood.
Requirements of conversion for those seeking asylum in the Papal Empire.
Shift to a digital only economy.
Strengthening of laws against sexual assault and harassment, encouragement of abstinence until marriage.
The abolition of the parental license alongside a renewed encouragement of procreation, as the former is "not in accordance with the teachings of the church."
A more rigourous educational system, with higher standards overall and at every level.