History Main / AnimeCatholicism

* ''Manhwa/TheGodofHighSchool''has 2 instances of this,the first is Nox,that although they worship God, they are not based on any real branch and do not even use crosses as symbols, the priests can be of both sexes and it is more a Badass army than a religion,now the second case is the Vatican, which in case you realize that they are this when they have a martial arts team, they have a priest who uses spells reading the bible and a kung-fu nun and we don't Let's forget about the young priest who is a {{DanteVideogame/DevilMayCry}} expy

* ''Manhwa/{{TheGodofHighSchool}}''has 2 instances of this,the first is Nox,that although they worship God, they are not based on any real branch and do not even use crosses as symbols, the priests can be of both sexes and it is more a Badass army than a religion,now the second case is the Vatican, which in case you realize that they are this when they have a martial arts team, they have a priest who uses spells reading the bible and a kung-fu nun and we don't Let's forget about the young priest who is a Dante{{Videogame/DevilMayCry}} expy

Since Japan (and other countries that produce derivative media, such as [[{{Manhwa}} Korea]] and [[{{Manhua}} China]]), [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian don't have a large population of Christians]], local audiences don't especially know nor care a great deal about the total accuracy in depiction of the Church or Church-based organizations in their writing. At the same time, their cultures do have ''some'' exposure to Christianity, which is more than can be said about many other foreign religions. As such, Catholicism has just the right mix of exotic symbolism that can still be recognized ''as'' Catholic symbolism by the target audience while still coming across as foreign and interesting. When it shows up, the Church is predominantly there to provide a sense of magic or mystery (the [[SceneryPorn beautiful Catholic architecture]] is also a plus) to the setting or backdrop of the story, with priests more akin to [[ReligionIsMagic wizards or mages]] [[RuleOfCool and the importance of correctness being secondary]], and more than likely not even factor into their priorities.

Since Japan (and other countries that produce derivative media, such as [[{{Manhwa}} Korea]] and [[{{Manhua}} China]]), [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian don't hav a large population of Christians]], local audiences don't especially know nor care a great deal about the total accuracy in depiction of the Church or Church-based organizations in their writing. At the same time, their cultures do have ''some'' exposure to Christianity, which is more than can be said about many other foreign religions. As such, Catholicism has just the right mix of exotic symbolism that can still be recognized ''as'' Catholic symbolism by the target audience while still coming across as foreign and interesting. When it shows up, the Church is predominantly there to provide a sense of magic or mystery (the [[SceneryPorn beautiful Catholic architecture]] is also a plus) to the setting or backdrop of the story, with priests more akin to [[ReligionIsMagic wizards or mages]] [[RuleOfCool and the importance of correctness being secondary]], and more than likely not even factor into their priorities.

Japan (and other countries that produce derivative media, such as [[{{Manhwa}} Korea]] and [[{{Manhua}} China]]), [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian not having a large population of Christians]], neither especially know nor care about the total accuracy in depiction of the Church or Church-based organizations in their writing. At the same time, their cultures do have ''some'' exposure to Christianity, which is more than can be said about many other foreign religions. As such, Catholicism has just the right mix of exotic symbolism that can still be recognized ''as'' Catholic symbolism by the target audience. When it shows up, the Church is predominantly there to provide a sense of magic or mystery (the [[SceneryPorn beautiful Catholic architecture]] is also a plus) to the setting or backdrop of the story, with priests more akin to [[ReligionIsMagic wizards or mages]] [[RuleOfCool and the importance of correctness being secondary]], and more than likely not even factor into their priorities.

** One particularly infamous example is ''LightNovel/MariaSamaGaMiteru'', on top of having a SempaiKouhai system that only exists in their world, using rosaries as necklaces even though that is pretty taboo. So much so that ''Manga/MariaHolic'' (indirectly) called them out on this by explaining that rosaries are for prayer and not jewelry.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', in addition to the faux-Christian title, throws elements of Catholicism at the screen more or less completely at random, often getting the context hilariously wrong. The most egregious examples probably lie in the names of the obligatory giant mech suit analogues, but honorable mention should go to "the spear of Longinus" [[spoiler:assembling Voltron-style with the main character's mech to form a giant cross-shaped kamikaze superweapon thing]], which makes about as much sense in terms of Catholicism as it does in context of the story (so...none whatsoever).

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', in addition to the faux-Christian title, throws elements of Catholicism at the screen more or less completely at random, often getting the context hilariously wrong. The most egregious examples probably lie in the names of the obligatory giant mech suit analogues, but honorable mention should go to "the spear of Longinus" [[spoiler:assembling voltron-style with the main character's mech to form a giant cross-shaped kamikaze superweapon thing]], which makes about as much sense in terms of Catholicism as it does in context of the story (so... none whatsoever).

* ''Manga/DGrayMan'' features the Black Order, which is technically under the control of the church and not the actually part of it. It manages to ticks off half the list, including the crazy wardrobes, unrealistically young and good looking priests, priests having magic, acting as a task force, and women sharing the same roles as men. The actual church proper is only ever mentioned very vaguely and in passing, and various aspects of Catholicism are more or less just tossed around at random. The crazy wardrobes are justified in-story as being deliberately outlandish to provoke Akuma (who can hide as humans) into attacking first.
** Exorcists are not actual priests, but people capable of using Innocence, which are weapons left over from a long-destroyed civilization that fought against the series' BigBad, the Millennium Earl. Due to the fact that the Exorcists are hopelessly outnumbered, the disregard for gender roles and age is a matter of practicality and sensibility, not just avoiding accuracy for aesthetic purposes. The only ''actual'' priests seen so far in the series are rather accurate portrayals of actual Catholic Priests in terms of appearance, age, clothing, and rank.

Japan (and other countries that produce derivative media, such as [[{{Manhwa}} Korea]] and [[{{Manhua}} China]]), [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian not having a large population of Christians]], neither especially know nor care about the total accuracy in depiction of the Church or Church-based organizations in their writing. When it shows up, the Church is predominantly there to provide a sense of magic or mystery (the [[SceneryPorn beautiful Catholic architecture]] is also a plus) to the setting or backdrop of the story, with priests more akin to [[ReligionIsMagic wizards or mages]] [[RuleOfCool and the importance of correctness being secondary]], and more than likely not even factor into their priorities.

Japan (and other countries that produce derivative media, such as [[{{Manhwa}} Korea]] and [[{{Manhua}} China]]), [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian not having a large population of Christians]] [[note]]Well, in [[UsefulNotes/{{South Korea}} Korea]] Christians make up about three-tenths of the population, but are predominantly Protestant with UsefulNotes/{{Seoul}} having some of the largest protestant churches in the world (though the Catholic Church has been growing rapidly in recent years), often leading to mistakes similar to those of this trope's Western equivalent, FantasticCatholicism.[[/note]], neither especially know nor care about the total accuracy in depiction of the Church or Church-based organizations in their writing. When it shows up, the Church is predominantly there to provide a sense of magic or mystery (the [[SceneryPorn beautiful Catholic architecture]] is also a plus) to the setting or backdrop of the story, with priests more akin to [[ReligionIsMagic wizards or mages]] [[RuleOfCool and the importance of correctness being secondary]], and more than likely not even factor into their priorities.

!!!ArtisticLicenseReligion or more specifically ArtisticLicenseTraditionalChristianity
->Actual aspects of the religion and their beliefs will probably not be mentioned much and if they are, it will be vaguely, generally, or just incorrectly.
!!!JesusTaboo
->Jesus's crucifixion mostly won't be mentioned, or he might even be [[CrystalDragonJesus replaced with another figure entirely]]. If for some reason the story needs to mention an actual religious figure, Mary is a good candidate, or Jesus as a baby in the manger.
!!!ChristianityIsCatholic
->The religion is extremely Catholic-esque to the point that actual Bible verses may be quoted, but is referred to as 'The Church', and not expressly stated to be Catholic. It may be implied that it is the ''only'' church in this world, and there aren't denominations such as the myriad that split from the Church and followed different trends of the Protestant Reformation (the "Mainline Protestant" groups: not to mention the 29,984 that have formed since then and continue to schism at an exponential rate to the present day).
!!!JapaneseMediaTropes
->Will feature Japanese tropes, obviously, which might look strange to some people who aren't used to seeing the Church with a distinctly animesque bent. And will definitely seem strange when all the western priests seem to be weirdly familiar with Japanese culture.
!!!NunsAreMikos
->Is stated to be Catholicism but has clergy perform rites or other actions or tasks that are characteristic of other religions or non-western cultures, such as a Catholic priest (in a western setting) sitting under a waterfall and meditating as if that's what all priests do.
!!!ImprobableAge
->The members of the clergy are uncharacteristically young, in their early twenties or teens, and there might even be a child pope. Anyone older than thirty will be the minority and definitely won't be the main character, unless they are actually [[{{Immortality}} immortal]], which is [[ReligionIsMagic also]] [[WizardClassic very common]].
!!!CastFullOfPrettyBoys and girls
->''Everyone'' is especially good-looking. One or two elderly priests may appear as TheMentor but they aren't as common as in real life.
!!!GenderIsNoObject
->Women and men are not segregated in their roles. There may be female priests or even a female Pope. This may be {{justified|Trope}} in cases when it is not readily apparent that the denomination in question is Catholicism -- the Anglican Church, for example, ordains female priests and bishops. Female popes may be inspired by certain legends, such as Pope Joan.
!!!NaughtyNuns and NunTooHoly
->Clergy have romantic relationships with each other and no one seems to notice or care that it's against their vows. Actually chastity and modesty might not necessarily seem to be a requirement at all, considering the actions of the characters. Again, this may be justified for priests if there is no vow of celibacy in that world, since Catholic priests were not always sworn to celibacy, and to this day Orthodox and Anglican priests are permitted to be married. It is never, however, justified for nuns, because a major point of consecrating a nun is celibacy. Compare NunsAreMikos, since Mikos, the closest Japanese equivalent, do not have a vow of celibacy.
!!!PlayedForLaughs
->The whole series may be a comedy, with a large percentage of the clergy portrayed as incompetent, ditzy or air-headed, especially if they are in-training junior nuns or priests. Even if the story is a drama, there will usually be a handful of idiot acolytes who act as PluckyComicRelief. This is very uncharacteristic in the west.
!!!TheChurch is TheEmpire, TheGovernment, TheOrder, or [[OrganizationIndex some other kind of organization]]
->The Church is portrayed as having some kind of mission or authority other than just religious, as in they are a task-force, or protectors against supernatural forces, or just the ultimate authority in the world, more like an empire.
!!!WalkingTheEarth
->Priests or nuns are seen traveling a lot from place to place, usually on missions, but sometimes for [[ButNowIMustGo no apparent reason]].
!!!ReligionIsMagic
->Very often, priests and/or nuns are endowed with some kind of magical powers.
!!!ImpossiblyCoolClothes
->Priests are seen wearing armor or extremely unlikely wardrobes. For example, even more elaborate than an actual priest would wear, in a cute, stylish or sexy cut that is completely at odds with the strict oaths of modesty that clergy (especially nuns) have, or just reminiscent of a different culture, for instance a kimono or Buddhist monk's robes.
!!!ChurchMilitant
->And if characters typically whip out swords, guns, magic or staffs or other weapons, then it's probably a done deal. Same if they all seem to know Kung Fu.

* In the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}, the Roman Catholic Church wields powerful magecraft on par with the Mage's Association... though it's really only effective if you [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve believe in the faith]]. Not only that, there are some members of the church who engage in rather questionable behavior, like an [[ChurchMilitant Executor]] [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} having a fetish for anal sex]] or a priest who [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight attempts to summon all the evils in the world]] for his own amusement. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking There's also apparently no rule against priests marrying or having children.]]

* In the Franchise/NasuVerse, the Roman Catholic Church wields powerful magecraft on par with the Mage's Association... though it's really only effective if you [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve believe in the faith]]. Not only that, there are some members of the church who engage in rather questionable behavior, like an [[ChurchMilitant Executor]] [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} having a fetish for anal sex]] or a priest who [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight attempts to summon all the evils in the world]] for his own amusement. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking There's also apparently no rule against priests marrying or having children.]]

So you are watching an {{anime}} and here comes a 12-year-old boy in some interesting, religious-looking robes and...wait, this pre-teen is supposed to be a Catholic priest? But, 12-year-olds can't be priests! That isn't typical Catholic priestly attire, either, that robe looks like it's made of 100% pure [[RuleOfCool awesome]], and... oh look, [[BadassPreacher he's pulling out guns and shooting up a]] [[LegionsOfHell demon]]. And there's a [[MsFanservice hot]], [[{{Meganekko}} glasses-wearing]] nun sidekick [[ReligionIsMagic casting magic spells]].

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': In [[TropesAreTools a broader sense]] than just Catholicism; the 'Index' of the title belongs to the British Puritans. The series barely portrays religion correctly ''if at all''. For starters, 'Magic' is synonomous with 'Religion', as almost all magic users are either part of, or were once part of, fantasy versions of real-life religions. Then we have characters like Stiyl Magnus, a 15 year old chain-smoking priest, or Kanzaki Kaori, a KungFuJesus version of a saint. In season 2, nuns fight while wearing miniskirts.

* ''Manga/ZeroSevenGhost'' is a CrystalDragonJesus version which would almost be indistinguishable from Catholicism except that in addition to God they worship 7 'ghost/angel' things. (Also, everyone is ridiculously young and good looking, wearing over-elaborate vestments, they do magic, wield weapons, act quite immorally and are involved in a huge conspiracy.)

* ''Manga/BlueExorcist'' lives and breathes this trope. It is a Shounen supernatural[=/=]ReligiousHorror, series with Exorcists after all. It does avert "Catholicism" being the only religion mentioned by having TheLancer and a couple of his friends be Buddhist monks.

->Jesus's crucifixion mostly won't be mentioned, or he might even be replaced with another figure entirely. If for some reason the story needs to mention an actual religious figure, Mary is a good candidate, or Jesus as a baby in the manger.

* Plenty of YuriGenre anime set in [[OneGenderSchool all-female Catholic schools]], and don't have RomanticTwoGirlFriendship-kind, conveniently ignore how the Church and Christianity, in general, are notorious for being HeteronormativeCrusaders. In fact, while they have tried to soften it in recent years the church considers it a mortal sin (i.e. [[OhCrap will send you immediately to eternal damnation if not forgiven]]).

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'': The Maxwell Church [[HowWeGotHere Episode Zero]], where Duo lived for a period of time (after his StreetUrchin gang got caught stealing food.) The other kids were all adopted out, but Duo kept being brought back because the would-be parents couldn't handle him. Fr. Maxwell and Sr. Helen acted as parents for Duo seems more like a [[NunsAreMikos Miko]] than a Catholic nun.) Apart from the NunsAreMikos aspect, though, it seemed fairly realistic.

Japan (and other countries that produce derivative media, such as [[{{Manhwa}} Korea]] and [[{{Manhua}} China]]), [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian not having a large population of Christians]] [[labelnote:*]]Well, in [[UsefulNotes/{{South Korea}} Korea]] Christians make up about three-tenths of the population, but are predominantly Protestant with UsefulNotes/{{Seoul}} having some of the largest protestant churches in the world (though the Catholic Church has been growing rapidly in recent years), often leading to mistakes similar to those of this trope's Western equivalent, FantasticCatholicism.[[/labelnote]], neither especially know nor care about the total accuracy in depiction of the Church or Church-based organizations in their writing. When it shows up, the Church is predominantly there to provide a sense of magic or mystery (the [[SceneryPorn beautiful Catholic architecture]] is also a plus) to the setting or backdrop of the story, with priests more akin to [[ReligionIsMagic wizards or mages]] [[RuleOfCool and the importance of correctness being secondary]], and more than likely not even factor into their priorities.

* ''Manhwa/SoulCartel'': The story of {{Faust}} and the functionality of heaven and hell are rewritten entirely. For one thing, there's reincarnation, and the Angels that keep demons from escaping from hell are known as Azraels. Yes, that was plural. It's established that people die and go to the underworld as souls, and work towards being reborn. Inside the underworld there are a large number of devils, and Mephisto from Faust was one who wanted to tempt the eponymous character with his contracts and Faust himself claiming that he would be able to resist. It was a contest between man and demon, with God as the judge. And Mephistopholies is a borderline SuperDeformed child with long red hair. The actual story follows a young Korean boy who's caught in Mephisto's rematch with the now-reincarnated Faust, as Mephisto takes a liking to him, claiming that he will be his next target and asking ''him'' to act as the judge of this contest, because he claims that God unfairly intervened and ruined his chances when he was about to win.

** It should be noted that [[VisualNovel/Tsukihime Ciel]] may be a member but she made it very clear that she is not a believer; the Church recruited her based off of her usefulness.

** It should be noted that [[VisualNovel/Tsukihime Ciel] may be a member but she made it very clear that she is not a believer; the Church recruited her based off of her usefulness.

** To be fair, both examples cited follow the Eighth Sacrament, which permits those so consecrated to stray away from the rules of their religion as long as one thing, the name of the Almighty, is protected. Everyone else follows the regular laws.

* The Ormus Church of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' is essentially the Catholic Chruch InSpace. It is headed by an individual known as the Pope ([[{{Bowdlerise}} Bowdlerised into the "Patriarch"]] in the English edition), is comprised of cardinals, and its [[ChurchMilitant military wing]] is called the "Inquisition". Even the two Popes/Patriarchs seen in the series have Catholic papal names implying a continuity with the historical line of popes: Julius XIV and Sergius XVII.