Holy Church

The Holy Church (聖堂教会, Seidō Kyōkai^?), also referred simply as the Church (教会, Kyōkai^?), is the hidden side of the Roman Catholic Church^WP that specializes in the hunting of heresy.^[1]

Compared to the public side of the Holy Church that treats heresies as if they do not exist because those who teach the word of God must not acknowledge that which runs counter to their doctrines, the Holy Church contains the zealots who feel the heresies should be more proactively destroyed. They are a major force that has a tenuous relationship with the Mage's Association.^[2]

Activities[]

The primary goals of the Catholic Church are to preach the love of God and help the sick and poor, but the side of the organization known as the Holy Church specializes in the elimination of heresy. Those who insult God, kill people, mislead the public, and twist the very Laws of Nature (自然の法則, Jizen no Housoku^?) by occult means fall under the umbrella of “heretics” and are targets for the Church’s forces.^[1] The Church understands its mission as being to guide humanity, becoming involved in conflicts such as the Holy Grail War with the ulterior motive of “keeping the peace for mankind”.^[3]

The Holy Church are one of the very few organizations larger in scale than the Clock Tower, and in terms of manpower are the largest organization in the World of Magecraft.^[4][5] While a religious organization, the Holy Church is dedicated to "protecting the works of man in the name of the Lord", fighting to protect human society from paranormal threats even in nations where most of the population does not follow the Christian religion such as Japan.^[6]

Like the Mage’s Association, the Church attempts to monopolize the control of Mystery, but the organizations greatly differ in this respect. While the Association seeks to conceal Mystery from the public and preserve it, the Church attempts to “properly manage” it, destroying any Mysteries they deem as heresy.^[2] To this end, the Executors are tasked with both the elimination of heretics and the regulation of Mysteries that fall into the hands of the populace.^[7] Association magi see the Church’s goal as to destroy all Mystery outside its own,^[8] with some even believing that it desires to eliminate Mystery itself.^[9] While the Church generally abides by the policy of concealing Mystery that the Association enforces, it does not appear to share its rival organization’s deeper commitment to secrecy as a principle. Some of the magecraft it employs, namely the Baptism Rites, are known amongst the general public,^[10] and magecraft is utilized in the Church’s worship ceremonies.^[11] Its anti-vampire activities, however, have been covert even before the Association chose to conceal magecraft, with the organization’s methods for doing so having changed little over time.^[12]

While the Holy Church has spent most of its history in open and violent conflict with the Mage's Association, in recent years the organizations have come to a truce, forming a non-aggression pact. Despite this, conflict often occurs off the record, and those of the Church and Association frequently attempt to kill one another whenever they are given the chance.^[1][13][14] When faced with existential threats to mankind such as vampires, the two organizations are willing to begrudgingly put aside their differences and outright cooperate with the Association.^[2]

Unlike the Mage’s‌ ‌Association‌, which‌ ‌is‌ ‌a‌ ‌loose‌ ‌collection‌ ‌of‌ ‌collaborators‌ ‌unified only by the goal of "reaching‌ ‌the‌ ‌Root",‌ ‌the‌ members of the Church‌ ‌share‌ ‌a‌ ‌common‌ ‌ideology.‌ ‌The‌ ‌singular bond of faith puts the Church above‌ ‌the constant ‌infighting‌ ‌and‌ ‌atmosphere of mutual‌ ‌distrust‌ found in the‌ ‌Association.‌ ‌While ‌Church’s‌ ‌members‌ disagree on and ‌debate‌ ‌their‌ differing ‌interpretations‌ ‌of‌ ‌doctrine,‌ this amounts to nothing more than reasonable discussions on how to become better people.^[1]

One of these internal factions of the Church is the Conservative Faction, a typical member of which can be seen in Sister Ilumia. Members of the Conservative Faction have zero tolerance towards Association magi and others the Church considers heretics, not even treating them like fellow human beings. While these extremists currently coexist with more tolerant factions of the organization, several centuries ago such beliefs were more common in the Church, and those within the organization who opposed them were seen as little better than the heretics.^[10]

The Church holds a great level of animosity towards vampires.^[15] There is no great reason for specifically hunting them down with such fervency other than that they are a group that only likes humans. Beings that are not human can be controlled, so they don't need to be made into enemies. They can coexist with completely different races, but vampires are beings born from humans. They carry the possibility of "infection" to other humans, so they are treated like diseases that need to be cut off.^[16]

Arcueid Brunestud (Remake) describes the Church as humanity’s “defense mechanism” against hostile species such as vampires, and the primary reason that vampires conceal their existence from humans. The Church mainly began to take this view with the founding of the Burial Agency (Remake), as it was created for the very purpose of killing them. If they don't take such a stance, it has no real reason to exist. As their faith is very shallow, they have a necessity to affirm the importance of their roles. That same stance continued to escalate within the Church since then.^[16]

The Thaumaturgical Theory of the Church, the Church's Teachings and Holy Words (神の教え、聖言, Kami no Oshie, Seigen^?), is the most widespread and well stabilized in the World. This Thaumaturgical Theory makes possible the use of Sacraments^WP (秘蹟, Hiseki^?), the exclusive right of the Holy Church.^[17][18][19]

Hansa Cervantes boasts of the Church possessing “the cutting edge in all technology and Mystery”, exemplified by his body being 70% composed of cybernetic Mystic Codes intended for vampire-slaying.^[3] While there are many in the Church who make use of magecraft, the organization as a whole is not fond of using that belonging to Thaumaturgical Foundations outside its own,^[8] considering Mysteries used by those outside its ranks to be heresies.^[14] The Church views "magic" itself to be a heretical art, and as such does not refer to its Sacraments as a type of magecraft.^[1][20]

Officially the Church does not even teach any spells but the Baptism Rite, but this is just something they say to the public, as the Executors are taught practical magecraft, such as Reinforcement and telepathy, though they are all bundled up and given the name of "Sacraments".^[10] Agents of the Church that employ magecraft generally avoid using common terminology preferred by magi, instead preferring euphemisms like "holy energy" in place of "magical energy".^[21] Those who do not follow the Eighth Sacrament are forbidden from using magecraft other than the Sacraments, and the higher up one is ranked in the Church, the more one is forbidden from contact with the impurity of heretical magecraft.^[14]

Agents of the Church are embedded in local governments to help cover up paranormal activity such as the hunting of vampires, ensuring that the present status quo, in which Mysteries are unknown to the general public, remains undisturbed. These members of the organization are shown wearing the symbol of the cross, whether as ordinary jewelry or via accessories such as a pin on their clothing, to identify themselves to other Church agents. Yuugo Ando and Karius Berlusconi are examples of such embedded Church agents, with the former serving as an officer in Souya’s police force and the latter as a judge in his home country of Italy.^[22]

During the Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars, Church operatives in the city’s authorities manipulate information to cover up the truth behind collateral damage caused by the battles between Servants.^[23] To this end, the organization makes use of suggestion magecraft which can alter memories and compel people to erase any hard evidence of the Church’s covert activities which they may have captured, such as photos or videos. The Church has employed these methods for over 800 years, predating even the Concealment of Mystery as a whole by the Mage’s‌ ‌Association‌.^[24]

The so-called First and Second Magic are only known by a limited few in the Church.^[25]

Known members[]

Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament[]

• Mario Gallo Bestino
• Overseer (Fate/type Redline)
• Risei Kotomine

Bishops[]

• Archbishop Turpin
• Dilo
• Pierre Cauchon

Cardinals[]

• Cardinal Laurentis
• Cardinal Gessebarne^[26]
• The unnamed Cardinal responsible for conducting the Tokyo Holy Grail War in the world of Fate/Prototype.

Executors[]

• Argaleon
• Andrei Godbivouac
• Ciel (Remake)
• Eins
• Eiri Fumizuka
• Father Angelo Braga
• Hansa Cervantes
• Karabo Frampton
• Kiara Kisshouin — in Tsukihime worlds.
• Kirei Kotomine
• Merem Solomon
• Narbareck — current head of the Burial Agency.
• Narbareck's ancestor of the same name — co-founder of the Burial Agency (Remake).
• Noel
• Noi Seonator Granfatima
• Quartet
• Sancraid Phahn — false allegiance, his true loyalty lies with the Templars.
• Shiki Tohno — only in the Normal End of Ciel's route in Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-.^[27]
• Sister Ilumia
• Sunao Sugata
• Shirou Kotomine — in the world of Fate/Apocrypha.
• Tarantella — one of Roa's incarnations.
• Yuika Suse

Knights[]

• Riesbyfe Stridberg

Exorcists[]

• Caren Hortensia
• Mr. Dawn
• Mr. Dawn's Partner

Other members[]

• Abbé Faria
• Alma Petresia
• Caubac Alcatraz - formerly, left the organization and hid from it after he was turned into a vampire.^{[28][Note 1]}
• Delmio Cervantes
• Father Luxter — died five years prior to the Great Holy Grail War.^[29]
• Father Simon
• Fernando Croze
• Heine Istari — left to go back to being a magus.^[30]
• Johanna — did not actually exist, but was a Pope of the Church in her legend.
• Karius Berlusconi
• Lorenz Trendel — formerly, left the organization and is now considered a magus.
• Michael Roa Valdamjong (Remake) — co-founder of the Burial Agency (Remake), excommunicated after becoming a vampire.
• Ritsuka Suse - double agent for both the Church and the Mage's Association.
• Yuugo Ando

Subdivisions[]

Abbeys[]

Abbeys are monasteries that house individuals like Caren Hortensia. She was admitted to the Citeaux Abbey, but she was permitted to leave on errands pertaining to exorcism unlike the others in the Abbey.^[31]

These monasteries are home to monastics such as monks and nuns who choose to live separate from society and take vows of poverty and chastity, but they serve a secondary purpose as locations for the training of Executors. For individuals like Noel who are forced to become Executors due to the contamination risks after being attacked by the Dead Apostle Ancestors, being sent to one can be almost like torture.

Anyone admitted to an Abbey must undergo an inspection of their chastity, which within the Church — at least when it comes to the Executors — refers not to sexual virginity, but the “purity” of the human body from spiritual corruption such as the curse of vampirism.^[32]

Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament[]

The Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament (第八秘蹟会, Daihachi Hiseki Kai^?) is a special agency made up of a group of special clerics charged with the research, recovery, and managing of holy relics scattered across the globe. The items called holy relics include the remains and blood of saints, the nails that crucified Christ, the holy cross, the thirty silver coins of Judas, and other items with the holy attribute. The members follow the "Eighth Sacrament" outside of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church^WP, the seven graces that God bestows in the Catholic faith: Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing. It is a "Grace that doesn't Exist" in the rightful faith or a "power separated from the faith", meaning the members trained to retrieve the hidden relics do not fear being involved in heretical power such as magecraft to accomplish their goals. The Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament is the lowest of the special agencies.^[1]

One aspect of their job is to watch over any claim of the Holy Grail, which has great importance the doctrine of the Church. One such claim includes Fuyuki City's Holy Grail War. They send a supervisor from the agency, such as Risei Kotomine and Kirei Kotomine, to act as a mediator between the Church and the Mage's Association. As of the Fifth Holy Grail War, they are investigating the 726th claim of the Holy Grail, and they are tasked with recovering it if it proves to be real, or disputing it if it proves to be false.^[33]

In reality, they already know it is not the genuine artifact, and would generally ignore a special device which seeks the Akashic Records. The path leading to the Akashic Records, which is also known as the Root, can be said to lead to the "outside" of the world, meaning that it will not bring any effect to the "inside." The Church only cares about the visible world, and finds the Magi’s pursuit as a meaningless plan. The ability for the Holy Grail to realize wishes is "omnipotent", granting it unlimited, mysterious power to change even the "inside" of the world.

Such a power could become an existence which threatens their belief, so they feel the need to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. They wish to guide the wish made with it, such as backing Tokiomi Tohsaka's "boring, meaningless wish." Tokiomi is one of the most right-winged magi, compared to others who would pursue the gifts of mundane riches, prestige, desires, power, all of which can be fulfilled "within" the world. He wishes to reach the Root, which has nothing to do with the "inside."^[34]

Burial Agency[]

The details of the Burial Agency differ between Tsukihime and the Tsukihime Remake.

• Burial Agency - Tsukihime
• Burial Agency - Tsukihime Remake

Chivalric Orders[]

The Chivalric Orders are the Knights (騎士団, Kishidan^?) that make up the main military body of each church. They only fight to defend holy ground, according to Nrvnqsr Chaos. A Knight of the Church fighting a foe in a one-on-one duel is almost unheard of, and they generally operate in groups.^[35] They are known for using halberds, but the weapon's popularity is dying out among them.^[36]

Riesbyfe Stridberg is the captain of the Vestel Shield Knights and an official vampire hunter. She possesses the Conceptual Weapon "True Apocrypha Gamaliel", a pile bunker shaped like a string instrument. Some Knights of the Chivalric Orders are also involved in training Executors.^[10]

Executors[]

The Executors (代行者, Daikōsha^?)^[37][38] are the heretic inquisitors of the Holy Church established by the 120th Cardinal. They are not charged with the purpose of Daemon exorcism, but rather have the task of Demon killing and the destruction of other heretical beings.

It is known as the bloodiest department of the Church, called the Shura's Den for its responsibility of punishing heresies. It takes a certain amount of willpower to be part of it, and being able to achieve the title of "Executor" signifies that one is a first-rate murderer that has passed brutal and pious training to become mankind's weapon.

Kirei Kotomine was ten years old when he was made into an Executor, but he later changed positions a number of times.^[39] They have varying specialties, including those specialized and geared for magus hunting, Demon killing, or vampire slaying. Kirei Kotomine is an example of an Executor specialized in the hunting of magi.^[13]

One of the ironclad rules of the Holy Church is that Executors operating in the field are granted complete independent authority to resolve the incident until their task is complete, and not even someone at the top of the organization’s hierarchy such as Cardinal Laurentis or members of his powerful family have the authority to interfere with them while they are under this protection. Despite this high degree of autonomy, the Executors are of low rank in the Church’s hierarchy, below the status of bishops and cardinals. They are disposable soldiers who exist to fight and die on the battlefield.^[40] The work of an Executor is extremely dangerous, with a high mortality rate. Even when operating in pairs, it is common for one or both to die in the field. It is rare for anyone actively working as one to survive more than a decade, and those who do are subject to rumors and suspicion from their comrades as to whether they had secretly become Dead Apostles themselves.^[41]

The Executors also follow the Eighth Sacrament, granting the permit to stray away from the rules of their religion as long as one thing, the name of the Almighty, is protected. They are followers that do not teach the words of the Lord, but act as His representative, His Executors, despite being mere mortals.

The Executors take part in trials that should have only been watched, and slay heretics that should have only been denied. They are those who should not have even existed, who dispel the demonic and hunt what does not exist not in the teachings of their Lord. The existence of Demons has sometimes made man mistake the calculations of heaven as the powerlessness of heaven. They sought a miracle from their Lord in the incomprehensible work of the demonic, causing exceptions in the form of the Executors to be born.

The Executors consider Demons to be messengers of heaven according to their doctrine, making it so a priest teaching the words of God has no right to destroy them. They follow the idea that God is the one absolute, that which is supreme and that which is all, and that as The Holy Spirit, He is the creator of a perfect world. It is impossible for Him to allow the existence of Demons to defile the world He created by violating His own children. Even with that ideal, it is a fact that they do exist, corrupting man and defiling the world, playing out miserable tragedies and comedies beyond the reasoning of man. That which ought not be taints the world of God, and so, they reasoned that even these Demons, the corruptors of man, are a vital part of the world the Lord constructed and one of His precious creations. They simply follow that if it is the work of the holy to strengthen the goodness of man, then what strengthens the evil of man is the demonic. The Executors are those who hunt that which is not in their doctrine, meaning that they can not be held back by that doctrine, and allowing them to annihilate even Their Lord's own demonic creations. That is the one point that distinguishes them from Exorcists.^[42]

Among those who become Executors are ordinary humans who have had contact with the Dead Apostle Ancestors and are rescued by the Church. Contact with the Dead Apostle Ancestors makes one a potential contaminant or vector for vampirism, and the Church thus offers such individuals a choice between being quarantined in a convent, or taking up the role of an Executor. Noel is an example of such a person, and is one who chose the latter option.^[43]

Exorcists[]

Exorcists (エクソシスト, Ekusoshisuto^?), are a special kind of priests charged as "representatives" by the bishop of a diocese. They are a type of Executor not geared for heretic hunting, but rather answer pleas for help and visit those towns to exorcise Daemons.

While the mere likes of humans are no match for a mature Daemon, the real problem for the visiting Exorcists is the protection of the soul. The experience of Daemon exorcism is said to be one that a person cannot withstand once again, making an iron faith more sought after than physical prowess. The Exorcists don't fear Daemons, but rather they fear the breaking of their will. The only known Exorcist to ever exorcise a mature Daemon from a person is Mr. Dawn from the Burial Agency (Remake).

The Church values people like Caren Hortensia whose body itself possesses an unusual property which is known as Masochistic Spiritualist Constitution;^[31] if there is a person nearby who has been possessed by a Daemon, her body will mimic the end effects that the Daemon Possession will eventually have on the possessed human.^[44] As a result, Exorcists employ her to act as a radar of sorts to find Daemons. This ability cannot be gained from training since it is purely genetic, which is why people born with these traits are valued by the Church as Daemon detectors.^[31]

The Templars[]

The Order of the Templars (テンプル騎士団, Tenpuru Kishidan^?) is a small but powerful faction in the Church that has only appeared in Fate/Prototype. Although they have a considerable amount of connections and allegiance to the Church, the Order of the Templars is often not considered a part of the Church. They are in truth a separate independent organization of their own and hold only loyalty to themselves.

The Templars are considered to be far more radical, bordering the line of terrorism in their activities, as they hire criminals to work for them or even join their ranks. They seem to specialize in heretic hunting and often lend some of their own Heretic Hunters to the Holy Church, when necessary. Sancraid Phahn is a member and one of their top Heretic Hunters.

Artifacts[]

• Ash Lock (灰錠, Hai Jō^?) are Conceptual Weapons that are standard equipment for Executors. As they are easier to use than Black Keys, requiring minimum of training to unleash their devastating power, the majority of Executors prefer them. They come in a variety of forms, from armored gauntlets to small knives and crossbows, disguised as gloves or boots until the tag is removed, reverting them to their original form.^[45]

• Keys of Providence (摂理の鍵, Setsuri no Kagi^?) are types of Conceptual Weapons used for purification,^[46] which is the forcing of natural laws onto the Dead Apostle and baptizing their flesh to turn them back into ash. They open the structure of physical body and lock it back into its original form if the target was a Catholic during their human life, or if they have devoured or sucked the blood of a Catholic. They lack much of an effect if they were not Catholic, on the other hand, they will have some effect on a Christian vampire even if the user is a non-Christian. If both are believers of the faith, their power is absolute. Black Keys are types of Keys of Providence.
  • Black Keys
• Holy Shroud
• Relics of the Son of God (神の御子の聖遺物, Kami no Miko no Sei Ibutsu^?) - Holy artifacts related to Jesus, typically recognized and managed by the Holy Church with the exception of things like the Fuyuki Holy Grail.^[47]
  • Holy Grail
  • Holy Nail

• Hands of Glory: Right Hand of Glory (栄光の右手(ハンズ・オブ・グローリー), Eikō no Migi Te(Hanzu obu Gurōrī)^?) are holy relic Mystic Codes made from the right arm of a sinner who was hanged. While the process to make them is difficult, they are common Mystic Codes with the ability of making people fall asleep. There is a particular Right Hand of Glory, made from a "special person's" right arm, that is sealed away by the Holy Church due to its exceptional nature, stolen by the Third Reich during the Imperial Capital Holy Grail Strange Story to use as a catalyst to bring forth the Neo Fuhrer.^[48]

• The fourteen relics that make up Monte Cristo Mythologie.
• Scriptures (聖典, Seiten^?) are powerful Conceptual Weapons that have only been granted to a few selected Executors. Kirei Kotomine believes weapons of this level could potentially allow a person to defeat a Heroic Spirit. The holy shield Gamaliel is used by Riesbyfe Stridberg, the Seventh Holy Scripture (Remake) is used by Ciel (Remake) and the Scripture of the Stomach World is used by the first or second member of the Burial Agency. Yet Scriptures are also used by individuals who are not Executors, namely the Holy Burial Artillery Scripture (聖葬砲典, Seisō Hōten^?) by Enhance and the Holy Scripture Triten by Caubac Alcatraz, who are both members of The Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors (Remake). In both cases, the Scriptures originated within the Church in some way, with Enhance’s weapon originally belonging to the organization, and Triten being the creation of Caubac, a former member.

Notes[]

References[]