Roman Orthodox Church

''' DISCLAIMER: This article may be offensive to the real world Catholic Church, but this article is purely science fantasy fiction and does not represent the real world Catholic Church. '''

The Roman Catholic Church (ローマ正教 Rōma Seikyō, lit. "Roman Orthodox Church"), also known as the Roman Church, the Catholic Church, and The Church, is a global Christian society of devout men and women seeking ultimate salvation, and it is one of the primary antagonistic factions in the Toaru Majutsu no Index universe. Throughout most of the series, Touma Kamijou is forced to confront and battle many corrupt magicians and members of the Roman Orthodox Church all throughout the series and is currently at a state of war with Academy City and the English Puritan Church. In the Toaru Majutsu no Index series, it is referred to as the "Roman Orthodox Church" from the author's naming convention. The Roman Orthodox Church also serves as the center and entirety of the Magic Side of the series.

Background
The Catholic Church was founded by Saint Peter in the early days of Christianity where he was personally apointed by Jesus Christ to be the very first Pope and leader of the church. Overtime as the years went on, it spread all over the world into Europe and eventually North America. At one point in time, the Great Calamities had occured in Europe resulting in the creation of the organization known as God's Right Seat in order to advise the Pope on matters of the church, maintain order, and eventually become more powerful than that of the entire Catholic Clergy in general. Eventually, the Roman Orthodox Church grew in size and scale to gain over 2 billion followers worldwide by the time the 21st century arrived. This international religious faith's adherents from all over the globe of the Earth are also referred to as Roman Orthodoxes, Roman Catholics, and Catholics.

Deep Blood Arc
Sometime after Index had arrived in Academy City, an alchemist by the name of Aureolus Izzard has appeared and had managed to take over Misawa Cram School and has Himegami Aisa held camptive. The Thirteen Knights of the Roman Orthodox Church are sent in to deal with Izzard but he manages to defeat all of them single handedly with only one of them actually getting killed. Touma and Styl go in to investigate and eventuallt return only to have Index being held captive by Izzard. Touma manages to face Izzard and even defeat him. Afterwards, he had left the alchemist with a different appearance and a different persona effectivly "killing" the person known as Izzard leaving the defector on his own and no longer a problem.

Orsola Aquinas Rescue Arc
One late afternoon, Touma Kamijou was walking home when he ran into a nun known as Orsola Aquinas. Touma gave her directions to her destination but she ended up getting kidnapped by the Amakusa-Style Remix of Church and Touma was then forced to help Agnese Sanctis and her forces save her. After the operation was done however, it is revealed that Agnese had manipulated Touma and that she was actually being saved from Agnese and the wrath of the corrupted Roman Orthodox Church. This causes Touma to rescue Amakusa Christians and stage a rescue operation to free Orsola from Agnese and her forces. This leads to a massive battle at the Orsola Church resulting in a victory for the Amakusa and Orsola to join the English Puritan Church and acquire protection from them.

Daihasei Festival Arc
In the aftermath of the failure to capture Orsola and her defection to the Anglican Church, the Roman Orthodox Church is put in a tough situation as the balance of power has shifted in favor of the Science Side and the English Puritan Church has gained more power. In response to this loss of power, the Roman Church allows Lidvia Lorenzetti to use the Croce di Pietro on Academy City. Lidvia uses the cross against Academy City and the Roman Church is able to slowly take over the city from the inside and from behind the shadows. Oriana Thomson, a mercenary and an expert courier and master of eluding capture in the magic side, is called in and participates in the later stages of the operation. Oriana sides with the Roman Church mainly because she believes that the Roman Church can help achieve her goal of having a belief system where everyone can agree with and have everyone united together. Oriana follows through with the plan and carries the cross around Academy City to its assigned location when she bumps into Touma by accident and after he finds out that she has the cross and is trying to overrun and take down Academy City, a chase ensues and Oriana is forced to run. During this time, she is able to set up various traps and runs away from Styil, Motoharu, and Touma as she is still being chased by Touma and the Necessarius Agents.

Once the three of them make it to the Autobus Matenance Terminal, Oriana has her cards all set up and lays the various traps for the three of them to run into which they do. While Touma is able to use his Imagine Breaker power to deflect the traps, Oriana makes it away and eventually fights Motoharu and manages to overrun him but she is scared off by the threat of a powerful Anglican Church Magician that can eliminate her and accidently attacks Aisa due to her Anglican Church Corss Necklace she was wearing. Oriana feels guilty and at night she makes it to her objective point and the Croce di Pietro is given over to Lidvia to activate and finally conquere Academy City when Touma arrives and faces Oriana one final time when he manages to punch Oriana and she falls onto the floor and is knocked unconscious. Lidvia then telepathically contacts Touma and informs him of her plan to conquere Academy City and have all of its residents evangelized and submit to the Roman Orthodox Church. As Lidvia is in her private jet flying away when she gets contacted by Laura Stuart, the Archbishop of the English Puritan Church and Leader of Necessarius, and makes a deal to save Lidvia if she redeems herself and abandons the teachings of the fanatical Roman Church as her jet's door bursts open and she falls out of. Oriana then is redeemed and promises to leave Academy City alone and later on defects and joins the English Puritan Church after being captured by them.

La Regina del Mare Adriatico Arc
Months later, the Roman Orthodox Church is put into a state of emergency, with the destruction of the Thirteen Knights at the hands of the Georgian Spell (one of their most powerful spells), and failure to capture Orsola, and the capture of both Lidvia and Oriana at the hands of the Puritan Church, the Pope Matthai Reese orders the mobilization of the Queen of the Adriatic Sea fleet and has it placed under the command of Bishop Biagio Busoni in response to the victories for the Science Side and the ever increasing power and influence of the Anglican Church. In response to the failure of Agnese Forces, they are all branded as sinners and are forced into manual labor as punishment for their failures. During the mobilization of the fleet, Touma and Orsola, who along with Index were on vacation in Northern Italy, both are accidently thrown onto the ship after fighting off a team of assassins. There, the two of them hide in a room where Touma and Orsola runs into an old frined, Agnese Sanctis, who then explains the situation to the two. Agnese then says that she and her forces were being punished for their failures and all of her subordinates are being forced into manual labor on the ship and she is given the privilage of not doing it only to keep her followers safe and prevent them from rebelling. Agnese then tells them that she can get the two off the boat in exchange that Touma and Orsola rescue her friends Lucia and Angelene who failed in an escape attempt and are going to be punished for it. Touma accepts and he and Orsola rescue to two nuns and are planning to escape when the surrounding ice ships open fire on the one they're on and they all sink.

Later on however, Touma and the others are rescued by the Amakusa who were nearby. Saiji Tatemiya, the Amakusa Leader, then explains how they are on a submarine-like ship of theirs and how they are going to attack the adriatic fleet to prevent them from destroying Venice only because Angelene and Lucia want to rescue Agnese and eventually Touma and the Amakusa launch an attack on the fleet's command ship where they can stop their plans. Agata then detects the Akamusa's ships comeing in and open fires under orders of Biagio Busoni. The ship fires but the Amakusa remain unscathed and eventually, they reach the flagship and a fight ensues while Touma, Orsola, and Index head down below to rscue Agnese and destroy the core of the fleet. Touma and the others are separated by Busoni as Touma and the mad bishop face off against each other. During the fight, Touma is knocked down and Busoni drops crosses on him and wanders off thinking that he's dead. Busoni then wanders off and enters into the core of the flagship and admits his plan to destroy Venice and eventually Academy City when Touma shows up and faces off against him one more time and wins. The fleet is later on destroyed.

Academy City Invasion Arc
In the aftermath of the destruction of the Adriatic Fleet, the Roman Orthodox Church remains in its emergency state. One night, Pope Matthai Reese meets up with the magician Vento of the Front in St. Peter's Basilica where she hands him a paper and if he signs it. it'll declare Touma an enemy of God and she will be given the legal authority to kill him. Pope Reese signs the paper and thus, Vento of the Front and the rest of God's Right Seat are deployed to Academy City with Vento being the one to kill Touma. At 6:33 at night, Vento breaks into Academy City by breaking down Gate 3. She then uses her Divine Punishment Abilities on nearby Anti-Skill and Judgement Members and knocks them down, allowing her to roam around the city without any resistance. With literally no one to stop her, Vento walks around the city and eventually finds a walkie talkie and has a conversation with Aleister Crowley where she taunts him and plans to destroy Academy City. Crowley tells her not to underestimate the city but she ends the conversation by declaring the city's destruction and Touma's death. While wandering around the city, Vento comes under fire from Kihara Amata and the Hound Dog organization where she survives the attack and she is left to face off against three Hound Dog operatives of which she defeats without much effort.

Meanwhile, Motoharu is active as he confronts the magicians of the Roman Orthodox Church trying to kill the incapacitated civilians and figures out their plan. He meets one of the Roman Magicians and fights them and wins. He eventually goes on to figure out the inevitable war between the Roman Orthodox Church and Academy City. Over the course of the invasion, Vento eventually stumbles across Touma with Last Order hiding in a diner and they meet each other once she takes out a small group of Hound Dog operatives nearby. Vento then introduces herself, anounces her affiliation with God's Righ Seat, and then proclaims her goal to Touma to kill him as he has been declared an enemy of God and must be killed like all who have been labeled with such a claim. The two of them fight as if they don't, Vento will kill all of the civilians who have been incapacitated by her Divine Punishment ability and were still alive ao Touma faces off and fights her. Vento then withdraws after a mysterious signal causes her to cough up blood and she leaves. Eventually as the invasion keeps progressing, Touma and Vento face off one-on-one again in the midst of the ruins of the city with Kazakiri admiting an angel signal and the two then fight each other in fierce combat amongst the ruins of Academy City. In the end, Touma beats Vento and she is rescued by Acqua of the Back and he leaves with her only and the Roman forces withdraw from the city. Int he aftermath, Terra of the Left begins his plans and Academy City is left weakened with concerned parents trying to get their kids out and Skill-Out beginning a little rebellion afterwards. On the night of October 3rd, Touma and Motoharu talk on how Academy City and the Roman Church are going to war and the church begins to mobilize and act while Academy City is still down and its strength is weakened.

Document of Constantine Arc
In the aftermath of the invasion, the balance of power had shifted toward the Roman Orthodox Church and both the Roman Church and Academy City were equal in terms of power. Both sides had began to mobilize for the inevitable war between them and so, the Roman Church went to the Russian Orthodox Church which was still left undecided on its stance for the upcoming war. The goal of the Roman Church was to convince the Russian Orthodox Church to join them in an effort to prevent the meeting between the Russian and Anglican Churches and believed that the Russian Orthodox Church would be the best since the English Puritan Church had been an ally and protector of Academy City for a long period of time. Terra of the Left finds the Document of Constantine in Avignon, France and also takes over the Palais des Papes and activates the spiritual items. This causes a worldwide event known as the Anti-Academy City October Riots which put an already weakened Academy City on edge.

Academy City had feared that the riots would end up inspiring economic downfall for the city and they scattered to gather the needed funds for the upcoming war. They host the Interceptor Show in School District 3, a weapons show, and soon assemble their forces. During this time, all 52 Members of the Amakusa-Style Remix of Church are sent to major cities all across France to investigate what is truely going on. Eventually Touma and Motoharu are sent to Avignon, France where he meets with Itsuwa and acompanies her as the city falls into chaos. During the trip, they are attacked by Terra of the Left. Terra's attack causes Itsuwa's spear to break but she manages to replace it rather quickly and Touma then confronts and faces off against Terra of the Left of God's Right Seat who had orchistrated the riots in the first place.

Current Members

 * Pietro Yogdis - Current acting Pope and Bishop of Rome following the end of World War III.
 * Matthai Reese - Former Pope and Bishop of Rome both prior and during World War III.
 * Fiamma of the Right - Former leader of God's Right Seat and former de-facto ruler of the Roman Orthodox Church. Currently an adherent and regular member of the church.
 * Vento of the Front - Former Member of God's Right Seat and Magician. Devoutee to the Roman Church.
 * Acqua of the Back - Former God's Right Seat member, Mercenary, and Member of the Church. (defected from the Anglican Church)
 * Lidvia Lorenzetti - Adherent of the Catholic Church and high-ranking official.
 * Biagio Busoni - Roman Church Bishop.
 * Balbina - Magician and Member of the Church
 * Vittorio Cassera - Leader of the Thirteen Knights (alive but missing).
 * Agnese Sanctis - Leader of Agnese Forces, Magician, and Battle Nun (serves as Catholic representative to England).
 * Angelene - Member of Agnese Forces, Magician, and Battle Nun (serves as a representative of Catholicism in England).
 * Lucia - Member of Agnese Forces, Magician and Battle Nun (serves as a Representative of Catholicism in England).
 * Agate - Member of Agnese Forces and the Catholic Church.
 * Caterina - Member of Agnese Forces and the Catholic Church.

Former Members

 * Terra of the Left - Member of God's Right Seat (deceased)
 * Parsifal - Member of the Thirteen Knights (deceased)
 * Aureolus Izzard - Alchemist and Cancellarius to the church (defected to the Anglican Church)
 * Oriana Thomson - Magician, Mercenary, and former field agent (defected to the Anglican Church & Necessarius)
 * Orsola Aquinas - A nun-in-training who was a former devotee of the Roman Orthodox Church (defected to the Anglican Church and is being protected by Necessarius in England).

Sub-Factions

 * God's Right Seat - Political organization deeply active within the Roman Orthodox Church. Often advises the Pope on matters of the church and is more powerful than the actual clergy in general. (dissolved)
 * Agnese Forces - Paramilitary Unit comprised of 250 Battle Nuns. Serves the church in eliminating its rivals. Post-September 8th, Agnese Forces had defected to the Anglican Church but later on rejoined the Roman Orthodox Church once more after World War III.
 * Thirteen Knights of the Roman Orthodox Church - Special Task Force tasked with eliminating heretics and traitors to the Roman Orthodox Church (status unknown)

Trivia

 * The word "orthodoxes" means people who have faith in something, similar to other terms such as "adherents", "converts", "disciples" and "followers".
 * The word "Catholic" comes from the Greek word καθολικός (katholikos), which means "universal".
 * The Roman Catholic Church also possesses the "Book of Law" (named after Thelema text of the same name), a grimoire written by great magician and Academy City founder by the name Aleister Crowley (named after the controversial occultist of the same name).
 * The Roman Orthodox Church also have magical Knights, primarily the Thirteen Knights of the Roman Catholic Church (also called the Roman Orthodox Thirteen Knights Group), an idea borrowed from the Knights of England. Necessarius member Stiyl Magnus remarked they are but second-rate amateurs compared to the originals.
 * Virtually all antagonists from the Magic Side of the series are members of the Roman Orthodox Church with the exception of Sherry Cromwell, Cynthia Exment, and Carissa, who are all Anglican Christians and Laura Stuart as well being a morally grey anti-heroine.
 * The Roman Orthodox Church is the largest faction in the entire A Certain Magical Index series as it has over 2 billion followers worldwide, making much of the human population members of the church.
 * Although Orsola had defected to the Anglican Church and Necessarius, she still remians a devouted Roman Catholic despite serving a Protestant Institution.