To continue my analogy:
The Catholic Church used to live in peace and unity, under the rule of the Pope, who had the One Ring of St. Peter, forged by Jesus Christ almost 2000 years ago.
But at the end of the last age (which ended in 1970), a great Council was called and many wicked men conspired to take over that Council. They mastered the will of the Council, which decided to throw the One Ring into the molten lava of the nearest volcano and destroy it. This was done. So the One Ring was thus destroyed, and ever since then chaos has reigned.
(Another limping point: the One Ring being destroyed would normally undo not only the creator of the Ring, but all the lesser rings. So the analogy breaks with LOTR there)
Some, like Pope Michael and others, have attempted to forge a new Master ring, but they don't have any power (authority) to pour into it. So although their rings were shiny and even looked like the original Ring of St. Peter in many ways, they didn't do squat. The chaos continued.