Catholic Church

## Description:

The Catholic Church, currently led by Pope Diodoro Bonanni, is one of the most powerful factions on Earth. Acting as the world's largest religion, the Catholic Church exists as a major source of unity and normality amongst the chaotic and magical nature of the world after the Fracture. The Church wields an immense amount of political, social, military, and spiritual power among its followers and beyond, and exerts is authority on all the world's continents, portraying itself as a force for justice, peace, and good whilst simultaneously conducting crusades against several major groups of people in an effort to obtain further power. The Church's public mission statement is the spreading of their Good News to all the people (referring solely to humans) of the Earth, unifying the world against the Demons of Hell; in reality, the Church spreads lies in an effort to farm resources from their followers to grow their wealth and power.

Almost every sentient being on Earth will know of or about the Catholic Church, even the residents of Pilbo who are aware of the Church through their ancient ruins along the continent's eastern coasts and the remnants of the Church's missionaries.

### Organization:

#### Capital: Vatican City; founded in 1929 CE

The Catholic Church is led by the Pope, the Earthbound voice of and representative of God, "descendant" of St. Peter; currently Pope Diodoro Bonanni lays claim to the position, and has done so for nearly eighty (80) years. According to Church doctrine, the Pope is infallible on matters of religion; by contorting the definition of religious matters, Pope Diodoro Bonanni has overturned many previous Church declarations and even revised the Bible, reinstating the Inquisition and leading the Church on countless religious wars. Due to the nature of the Papacy, the Pope is granted an immense amount of divine magical power, with Diodoro Bonanni being deemed a Demigod by the JPCU. Operating under the Pope, most often as Bishops and advisors to the Pope, are the Cardinals; the Cardinals choose the new Pope in the event of his death, advise the current Pope, and lead the Church. Additionally, Cardinals are also in charge of large numbers of clergy and followers of the faith, and wield an incredible amount of power, often overseeing entire countries or regions; Cardinals also wield incredible divine magical power. Underneath the Cardinals come the Archbishops, Bishops, and other clergy of the Church who operate under the direct orders of their superiors. The laypeople of the Church are often considered to be underneath the priesthood, with the unbaptized below them, and with heretics, witches, mutants, and Demons/Spirits/other supernatural creatures sharing the very bottom level.

The Church recruits primarily through the Baptism of infants perpetuated by their parents and families, while recruitment into the clergy is achieved through attending seminary schools; the Church's seminaries and monasteries vary in quality and standards depending on region, with more religious areas having more numerous religious schools of higher quality. Recruitment into the Church's clergy is not difficult for a Baptized individual, but the attainment of a good job or honor/recognition is not so simple.

The Church's activities include the spreading of the "Good News," the continued waging of war against the Church's enemies, the perpetuation of the Inquisition, the wars against Hell, and the accruement of as much power, wealth, and influence as is possible. The Church maintains a global sphere of influence with members everywhere and with almost infinite resources, easily outnumbering and out-gunning the JPCU or SCP Foundation; the Church abuses the rights afforded it in other countries of the world and exerts its authority over secular governments with economic and military might, operating both as a sovereign state and as a religious movement, able to ignore international borders, trade embargoes, border closings, quarantines, wars and national disputes, etc.

The Church maintains a very unstable and tense relationship with the JPCU; the two groups have a difficult and complex history marked with alliances and cooperation as much as it is marred by deadly conflict, espionage, sabotage, and subterfuge. The Catholic Church and the JPCU remain locked in an arms race and cold war with one another to this day.

#### The Apostolic Limbs:

Following St. Paul's analogy of the Church as being parts of a greater "body," the Catholic Church has, over time, developed twelve (12) Limbs, or Branches, that fulfill the many tasks it requires. The list and short descriptions are offered below:

1. Peter: Vatican/Papacy; the Pope and his ruling council who oversee the Church's operations and direct its member's according to the Will of God.
2. Andrew: [REDACTED]
3. James (Greater): Witch Hunters; brother of John and infamous for his fiery temper, the Witch Hunters have been given the prestigious rank of Branch #3.
4. John: Inquisition; brother of James renowned for his temper and role as the sole Apostle to not die a martyr, the Inquisition was named Branch #4.
5. Philip: Evangelists & Preachers; known for preaching from his cross upon which he would soon die, the Church's preachers and evangelists are considered to be Branch #5.
6. Bartholomew: [REDACTED]
7. Thomas: [DOUBTERS]
8. Matthew: Vatican Reliquary Initiative; the "gift of God," Matthew was associated with the retrieval of relics and artifacts, and as such the VRI is named Branch #8.
9. James (Lesser): Benandanti; often conflated or mistaken for James the Greater, the Benandanti have also been assigned Branch #9 to reflect their similar job, attitude, methods, and secrecy.
10. Judas Thaddeus: [CENSORS/PROPAGANDA]
11. Simon: [REDACTED]
12. Judas (Iscariot): Iscariot Crusaders; the necessary evil amongst the Apostles, the betrayer who sold Jesus' soul for thirty (30) pieces of Silver (Dark Denarii), the Iscariot Crusaders are associated with Judas because of the necessary evil they are required to conduct in the Lord's name.

##### Minor Branches:

1. [REDACTED]: A Branch of the Church that operates with an absolute level of secrecy; the Branch dedicates itself to repopulating the race of Angels in God's absence, using mortal women as wombs for Angels to impregnate and birth Heaventouched who are indoctrinated into the Church, ordained, trained, and sent to the front lines of battle upon coming of age. These Heaventouched are expected to die in battle and ascend to Heaven to become Angels; this plan has since been put on hold following The Razing of Heaven, although research into an alternative continues into the modern day.

## History

### The New Pope

After the Fracture, Bonanni Became the new Pope and led the first Crusade in centuries. He personally led the Iscariot Crusaders in this Crusade. After winning, he even began censoring and eventually publishing a totally new version of the Bible. This new version focuses heavily on the wars, massacres, fights, and violence in the Bible. It also ends Jesus’ life with him obliterating the Roman Empire in a fit of violent revenge. This is meant to justify the zealous religious wars he has declared in a successful attempt to make the Church a superpower once more. The introduction of magic has certainly allowed them to keep this power.

### New Policies:

Bonanni, besides releasing a new Bible and establishing the Iscariot Crusaders and conquering Italy and tightening his grip on the Church itself, also abolished the Cardinal order (to keep himself as the ultimate authority) and reinstated the Inquisition. He pushed the Church towards conservativism, and even began purging Muslims as part of this program. He led an invasion into Turkey to retake Istanbul before the demon incursion could conquer the entire Middle East (renamed Medio Inferno after the demon invasion). He banned all religions (besides Catholicism) in Church lands, built up Vatican City into one huge fortress monastery and palace, quadrupled the Church’s treasury (through conquest of Italy and other nations), and has declared a number of Crusades in his short reign as Pope.

## Crusades Since Bonanni Was Made Pope

1. Crusade against Italy
2. Crusade against Turkey to Reconquer Istanbul
3. Crusade on Demonkind
4. Crusade on Islam and Satanism
5. Crusade to Retake the Middle East (Medio Inferno)