The Holy Church (聖堂教会, Seidō kyōkai?), also referred simply as "the Church", is a international religious organization apparently styled after the real Roman Catholic ChurchWP. It is a powerful faction in the Nasuverse, with several important characters in the games being its active or former members. It appears to coexist peacefully with the Mage's Association, though this seems to not have always been the case. They sometimes act as an arbitrary power in the Mage's Association's internal disputes like the Holy Grail Wars. The Thaumaturgical Theory of the Church, in form of its Holy Sacraments, is the most widespread and well stabilized in the world.[1]
Activities
The Church holds a great level of animosity towards Vampires.[2] 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.
The Church mainly began to take this view with the founding of the Burial Agency, 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.[3]
Known members
- Caren Hortensia.
- Ciel.
- Eiri Fumizuka.
- Kirei Kotomine.
- Risei Kotomine.
- Narbareck (co-founder of the Burial Agency).
- Merem Solomon.
- Michael Roa Valdamjong (excommunicated after becoming a vampire).
- Mr. Dawn.
- Riesbyfe Stridberg.
- Sancraid Phahn (false allegiance, his true loyalty lies with the Templars).
- Yuika Suse.
- Shirou Kotomine.
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.
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 ChurchWP, 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 magery to accomplish their goals. It is the lowest of the special agencies.[4]
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 Grail, and they are tasked with recovering it if it proves to be real, or disputing it if it proves to be false. In reality, they already know it is not the genuine artifact, and would generally ignore a special device which seeks the "Root." The path leading to 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."
Burial Agency
The Burial Agency (埋葬機関, Maisō Kikan?) is a group of special Inquisitors gathered by the Church. The original Michael Roa Valdamjong, then a priest of the Church, created a burial doctrine, the base of the Burial Agency, back in the twelfth century. He created it along with the original Narbareck, the first technical leader of the Agency, called the Burial Classroom at the time. She knew of Roa's plans to become a vampire, but didn't stop him. Though they are known as the most professional Inquisitors, they are not actually responsible for stamping out heresy, leading them to be called Executors or killers.[5][6]
They are not meant to be exorcists, but simply those who kill demons.[7] The organization operates and scouts entirely on ability. Anyone can become a member if they have the power and the will to destroy heretics and whatever else the Church finds "inconvenient." Faith is a secondary condition compared to the necessary power to obliterate the heretical, though they will baptize the members. It is made up of seven main members including the leader, and an eighth member, an exceptional candidate from the Church, is in reserve, though they are changed often because they keep dying during missions. Those on the outside see it as a group filled with magi who loved to explore the taboo, people who enjoyed enslaving the captured heretics, gun nuts, and maniacs with insatiable bloodlust.
Each member works alone under most circumstances, and they will not cooperate with foreign demon hunting organizations. The members gain powerful privileges and influence, and they will even go against the wishes of the Church without orders to eliminate heretics. They'll go as far as to skewer a Bishop if he is possessed, leading to whispers calling it the most heretical section of the Church. The Agency does not like that Arcueid has sometimes taken requests from the Church to cooperate in eliminating Dead Apostles, and they would like to seal her, despite her not being on their list, should an opportunity show up. Merem, an Ancestor, cooperates with the Burial Agency because, as he is a collector of treasures from all ages all around the world, he wants to be near the treasures that the Church sealed away.
El Nahat, another Ancestor, is also forcefully cooperating with the agency; he's being stored in a prison of mirrors and his stomach is used as a scripture. The "Alien Stomach World" operates as a summoning terminal for his main body and it is considered to be the most powerful resort of the Church against the Dead Apostles. It is carried and used by the first or second members of the Burial Agency.
Members of the Burial Agency:
- 1.Narbareck, 1st member and leader of the agency.
- 2. ???, 2nd member.
- 3. ???, 3rd member.
- 4. ???, 4th member.
- 5. Merem Solomon, 5th member.
- 6. Mr. Dawn, 6th member.
- 7. Ciel, 7th member.
- 8. ???, 8th spare member.
Chivalric Orders
The Chivalric Orders are the Knights (騎士団, Kishidan?) that make up the main military body of each church. It is one of the few groups that still uses halberds, but its use is dying out.
They only fight to defend holy ground, according to Nrvnqsr.
Executors
The Executors (代行者, Daikōsha?)
The executors of the church
are the heretic inquisitors of the Church established by the 120th Cardinal. They are not charged with the purpose of demon 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. They have varying specialties, including those specialized and geared for magus hunting, demon killing, or vampire slaying. They also include Exorcists (エクソシスト, Ekusoshisuto?), special kinds 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 demons. While the mere likes of humans are no match for a mature demon, the real problem for the visiting exorcists is the protection of the soul. The experience of demon exorcism is said to be one that a person cannot withstand once again, making an iron faith more sought after than physical prowess. They don't fear demons, but rather they fear the breaking of their will.
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 as His representative, His Executors, despite being mere mortals. They 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.
They consider demons to be messenger 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.
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. They seem to specialize in heretic hunting and often lend some of their own heretic hunters to the church, when necessary. Sancraid Phahn is a member and one of their top Heretic Hunters.
Artifacts
- Alien Stomach World.
- Black Key
- Keys of Providence (摂理の鍵, Setsuri no Kagi?) are types of Conceptual Weapons used for purification, which is the forcing of natural laws onto the vampire 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.
- Holy Shrouds (聖骸布, Seigaifu?) are cloths used to wrap around the remains of saintsWP. Kotomine owns the Shroud of Martin and Caren Hortensia owns the Shroud of Magdalene. Archer's cloak is also made from a Holy Shroud.[8]
- 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 and the Seventh Holy Scripture is used by Ciel
References
- ↑
[] Tsukihime Dokuhon PlusPeriod - TSUKIHIME Dictionary: Holy Church [Organisation name], p.183 The Holy Church [Organisation name]
The hidden side of the prominent religion whose name means "universal". In Tsukihime, it is referred to merely as "The Church".
Those who teach the word of God do not acknowledge things which run counter to their doctrine. Though the public face of the Church simply treats these heresies as if they do not exist at all, there were zealots within the organization who felt they should be dealt with more proactively. This enormous division that specializes in the hunting of heresy is known as the Holy Church.
They lead the devil exterminators called Executors, and exist for just two reasons: to completely expunge all heresy, and to properly manage those mysteries that are beyond human control. Naturally, they are on bad terms with the Association, which seeks to conceal sorcery, and the two have crossed swords time and time again. (At present the two have reached a tenuous agreement, and overt hostilities have, at least for now, come to an end.) However, their real enemies are the monsters known as "bloodsuckers". For the sake of combatting this greater threat, they have even been known to cooperate with the Association on occasion.
Also, there are various jurisdictions within the Church as well. The Burial Agency, which Ciel belongs to, are like the elite commandos of heresy hunting.
Arcueid, Roa, and Ciel all have deep ties to the Church, but since Tsukihime is set in the Far East outside of the Church's influence, it serves as little more than a backdrop to the story's events.聖堂教会【組織名】
- ↑
[] Character material - Prelude II: The Holy Church [Organization], p.036 The Holy Church [Organization]
The organization that ran contrary to the "universal tolerance" of the religion.
Preaching the word of God, they absolutely did not tolerate anything against the doctrine. Although on the surface they denied the existence of "heretics", within the ranks there existed some who rejected heretics with unmatched fervor. They turned "heretic hunting" into a profession, and a immense department was established for this purpose.
"Executors" were individuals with the power to vanquish Demons. They physically eliminated things that did not exist in the Lord's teachings. On the other hand, Exorcists were individuals in the clergy who tolerated the existence of Demons, but merely temporarily repelled them.聖堂教会 [組織名]
“普遍的な”意味を持つ一大宗教の裏側。
神の教えを説く彼らは、その教義に反したモノたちを認めていない。“異端”という存在を表向きでは無いものとして扱うが、中には熱狂的に排斥しようとする者たちがいた。その「異端狩り」が特化し、巨大な部門となったもの。
中でも魔を滅ぼす能力、資格を持つ者は「代行者」と呼ばれ、主の教えに存在しないモノを物理的に排除する。一方、悪魔祓い（エクソシスト）は魔を容認し、これを一時的に退ける聖職者である。 - ↑ TYPE-MOON Long Interview - Kanwa Tsukihime - The Burial Agency and Vampires
- ↑
[] Fate/complete material III: World Material - Theory of Magic - The two great forces in the Thaumaturgy world: The Holy Church, p.052 Holy Church
The Catholic Church that we know also exists within the world of Fate/stay night. Centered in western Europe, its influence stretches over the entire world. The primary missions of the Catholic Church are to preach the love of God and to help the sick and poor, but beneath this is a mysterious organization that pursues different goals — the Holy Church.
The objective of the Holy Church is the extermination of heresy. The use of occult arts to insult God, to kill people, to beguile the public, and to twist the laws of divine Providence that govern the world, all fall under the umbrella of heresy and must be eradicated. However, heretics are powerful. Vampire fangs and magical bullets all make short work of human flesh. For this reason, the Church possesses trump cards such as Executors, knightly orders, and the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament.
The Church has long been engaged in bloody conflict with the Magic Association, but in recent times they have finally reached a state of peace. (Though, covert and private battles still occur.) In contrast to the Magic Association which is a loose collection of collaborators whose sole, absolute goal is to reach the Root, the Holy Church is a gathering of compatriots who share a common ideology. The unity among those of the Church who are connected by the singular bond of faith is far removed from the infighting and mutual distrust of the Magic Association. In this sense, the Church is a powerful organization. Although the Church’s members debate their interpretation of doctrine, these simply amount to reasonable discussions on how to become better people.
•Executors, purgers of heretics
Executioners of the Church. Pure, armed agents that carry out the Church’s denunciation of “heresies outside the doctrine of the Holy Church,” be they bloodsuckers, monsters, or magi.
Although they do work with other parts of the Church, the task of Executors is not the purification of demons via exorcism, but rather execution — the direct destruction of demons.
While the Executors have no doubt in the Church or God, the values and morals of many agents deviate from the norm.
Kotomine Kirei is also an Executor of the Holy Church, and was affiliated with the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament. His combat strength, which combines bājíquán and magic, is superhuman.
•Magic and baptismal rites of the Holy Church
Magic is viewed by the followers of the Church as a heretical art that should never be studied. However, it is permitted to learn the Church’s form of magic: “miracles.” These have been codified into simple rituals called baptismal rites.
These rituals use the global foundation that is the Church’s doctrine, so they can be activated regardless of the caster’s physical location. Unlike other magics that use mystic energy to smash stones, baptismal rites have no power of physical interference. However, they exert tremendous power against spiritual bodies.
A spiritual body that receives a rite of baptism is immediately compelled to sublimate by the word of the Lord, and returns to where it belongs. This is so-called exorcism, the purification of demons.
Kýrie, eléison: When this holy seal bears the sacred scripture “Lord, have mercy,” it radiates the light of God. Wayward souls are purified by its guiding light, and sent to the place where they belong.
•Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament
The remains and blood of saints, the nails that crucified Christ, the 30 silver coins of Judas, and other items with the holy attribute are call holy relics, and the special agency for collecting and managing these holy relics scattered across the globe is called the "Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament".
"Sacraments" refers to the seven graces that God bestows in the Catholic faith: Baptism, Holy Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing. The "Eighth Sacrament" refers to the "Grace that doesn't Exist" in the rightful faith. Put into other words, this can also be said to be "power separated from the faith". In other words, the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament is a group of special clerics who do not fear being involved in heretical power such as magery, and are trained for retrieving the hidden relics.
•Burial Agency
An armed organization composed of the Church’s most powerful members. In addition to its immense fighting strength, the Burial Agency has the authority to summarily purge someone judged to be a heretic, even if they carry a rank as high as archbishop.
The quality that the Burial Agency seeks in its members is the ability to kill heretics with certainty; faith and personality are secondary and tertiary considerations. Unsurprisingly, its agents are full of character flaws. They are also powerful enough to match Servants in battle, despite having merely human bodies.
The Burial Agency’s greatest foes are vampires, particularly the most ancient and powerful Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors. Oddly enough, the agency’s policy to seek strength above all has led it to employ one of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors in its ranks. - ↑
[] Tsukihime Dokuhon PlusPeriod - talk. Glossary: Burial Agency [Organisation name], p.196 Burial Agency [Organisation name]
The Inquisitors of the Church who were given special privileges. However, since they were not actually responsible for stamping out heresy, they were also called Executors or killers.
Their policies had always been "shoot first and report later".
Faith was secondary, the only necessity for the job was the power to obliterate the heretical.
From the outside, it seemed like the ranks of the Burial Agency was filled with magi who loved to explore the taboo, people who enjoyed enslaving the captured heretics, gun nuts, and maniacs with insatiable bloodlust.
It consisted of seven members, with one on reserve.
The reserved member was always an exceptional candidate from the Church, but it kept changing because the person kept dying during missions.埋葬機関【組織名】
教会における、それぞれが特別権限を持つ異端審問員。が、彼らが異端を審問する事などない為に代行者、または殺し屋とも言われる。
彼らの行いが事後承諾でない時などない。
信仰は二の次、ただ異端を抹殺するだけの力を必要とする部署である。
（表立っては）禁忌とされる魔術を好む者、捉えてきた異端者を奴隷として扱う者、はては近代兵器マニアから殺人快楽性と中々に飽きさせない人材が集まっている。{*}
構成は七人プラス、予備の一人。
この予備の一人は教会で優れた者をスカウトするのだが、審問のたびに死亡するため目まぐるしく変わっていく。 - ↑
[] Fate/side material - Encyclopedia: The Holy Church [Others], p.063 [T] The Holy Church [Others]
The other side of an ubiquitous major religion.
They preached the Lord's teachings, and did not tolerate anything that violated their dogma.
On the surface, they assumed "heresies" did not exist, but there were zealots amongst them who wished to ostracize the heretics.
Thus the "Heretic Hunters" were born and specialized, becoming an enormous department within the Holy Church.
They were the Executors. Their missions included Demon-slaying, elimination of heretics, and proper regulation of Mysteries that fell into the hands of the populace.
Of course, the Holy Church's relationship with the Mages' Association, whose mission was to conceal magecraft, was very poor. The two groups had crossed blades numerous times to date. (Currently there is a truce, providing a temporary respite.)
Against their greatest foe, the monsters known as vampires (READ: Blood Suckers), the Mages' Association occasionally provided assistance.
Kotomine was responsible for the control and collection of relics. He had the role of an Executor of the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament.
The arms forces of the Holy Church consisted of the excellent fighters known as Executors, the Knights that each church held reserve, and the monsters known as the Burial Agency hidden within the headquarter of the Holy Church.
The Holy Church was the largest organization in the world of Fate. For those who fell outside of humanity, the Holy Church was the greatest enemy.聖堂教会【その他】
“普遍的な”意味を持つ一大宗教の裏側。
神の教えを説く彼らは、その教義に反したモノたちを認めていない。“異端”という存在を表向きでは無いものとして扱うが、中には熱狂的に排斥しようとする者たちがいた。
その『異端狩り』が特化し、巨大な部門となったものを聖堂教会と呼ぶ。
彼らは代行者と呼ばれる悪魔退治を擁し、全ての異 端を消し去り、人の手にあまる神秘を正しく管理する為だけに機能する。
当然、魔術を隠匿する魔術協会とは折り合いが悪く、今まで幾度となく刃を交えてきた。（現在は協定が結ばれ、仮初めの平穏を一謳っている）
もっとも、彼らにとって最大の敵は『吸血種』と呼ばれる怪物たちであり、魔術協会とは時に協力し合う間柄でもある。
言峰は聖遺物の管理・回収を任務とする第八秘蹟会に席を置いていた代行者。
卓越した戦闘者である代行者、各教会が保有する騎士団、そして聖堂教会本部が隠し持つ埋葬機関と呼ばれる怪物たち。
聖堂教会は「Fate」世界において最大の組織であり、人間の範疇から外れてしまった者たちにとって、最大の敵として君騙している。 - ↑
[] Character material - Prelude II: Burial Agency [Organization], p.038 Burial Agency [Organization]
A branch of the Holy Church. A group of Executor responsible for the inquisition of heretics.
They were not Exorcists who repelled Demons, but executioners of the Demonic.
They never worked with Demon hunting organizations of any nations, and its members frequently operated alone.
The Burial Agency favoured raw power above all. If an individual possessed powers that could vanquish difficult foes of the Church, he/she would be welcomed without any consideration of his status. The Agency consisted of eight members. This included seven members led by Chief Narbareck, as well as one reserve member.埋葬機関 [組織名]
聖堂教会における、より専門的な異端審問の代行集団。
悪魔払いであるエクソシストではなく、悪魔殺しのエクスキューター。他国の退魔組織と協力することは絶対になく、常に単体で行動する。
完全な実力主義制で、能力があり教会にとって都合の悪いモノを始末するのなら何者であろうと迎え入れる。局長ナルバレックを含めた七人と予備の為の一人、計八人で構成される。 - ↑
[] Fate/side material - Encyclopedia: Holy Shroud [Armament], p.063 [T] Holy Shroud [Armament]
The shroud that wrapped the remains of Saints.
The Holy Shroud that was wound around the arm of Shirou was a portion of the Shroud of Martin.
It was likely something Kotomine hid away while he worked as an agent of the Church.聖骸布【武装】
聖人の亡骸を包んだ布。
士郎が腕に巻いたものはマルティーンの聖骸布の一部。
教会時代、言峰が隠匿していた物と思われる。
