Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

[Cardinal-Bishop]

I ve been playing the game for days and i see that the Cardinals, Bishops or Priests are quite useless (except the Cardinals perhaps who elect the Pope).
Shouldnt this be rearranged somehow?
In medieval times monarchs used men of the cloth as their advisors, chancellors or ambassadors.
Does anyone agrees that they must have a larger role in diplomacy or religion beside simply chasing heretics and preaching?

[Cardinal-Bishop]

They could be used as advisors to the monarch or perhaps get some new traits such as Cardina-Dean or Cardinal Vice-Dean of the College etc.
Wouldnt be nice to work for both the kingdom and the Papacy?
Another suggestion is the import of Aulica Exclusiva a privilege held by the HRE Emperor the King of France and the King of Spain.
Aulica Exclusiva means that they had the right to veto the election to the papacy of a Cardinal that they dont like.
For example the french Cardinal Richelieu was enforced to present a veto from the French KIng against Cardinal Pamphili(?) but he arrived to late...
Cardinal Pamphili had already been elected and assumed the name Innocent X.
Aulica Exclusiva was abolished by Pope Pius X in 1904.

[sapi]

From a gameplay perspective, it makes sense to limit the roles of each unit to encourage diversity, which i think CA has done quite well.

[dismal]

They really aren't useless.

They convert people to your religion and burn heretics.

When I go to war in muslim lands I usually send a couple priests ahead, and make another 1-2 right after taking over.

Anyone know what the difference between a Bishop and a Priest is? Bishops seem to come from cities with cathedrals.

[Doug-Thompson]

Well, as a Musllim player who wants to take over Christian lands, I find the conversion by my Imans quite useful.

[Quillan]

Bishops do come from a catholic city with a cathedral. They have +1 piety out of the box, but that doesn't stack with the bonus they get for being a cardinal later. It effectively gives them the cardinal bonus early.