Over the past several hundred years, the Holy See's consolidation of religious influence on the continent ended up serving the God Hand's ends. It is a facet of the tripartite plan by the God Hand that established Griffith as the savior of humanity (religious icon, political authority, and military power) and ushered in a new age for humanity.
But this cooperation goes further than mere coincidence of goals. The relationship between the God Hand and the Holy See is evident in the symbol of the religion.
Whoever designed this icon for the Holy See was familiar with the brand, and perhaps even the God Hand. Who was that person though, and how did that movement manifest? There are of course no specifics given as of yet. However, we know the God Hand don't generally go around making actual puppets of people. They work in the shadows, "in places where negative emotions are concentrated," on a macro scale through sweeping movements that coincide with other sweeping movements, all of which require humanity to be baited by dark urges. Whereas the leadership of the Holy See religion appears to be dispassionate old men, blindly stabbing in the dark, ignorantly armed with knowledge of the supernatural world—a world they reject. What they care about most is securing the political authority they eventually wield over nation-sates. Of course, that places them in a perfect position to be manipulated by a group like the God Hand.
A lot of this, including the connection between the symbol and the brand, has been discussed on the forum many times before, it's just not in one place. But what hasn't been done across all the years we've been talking about this connection is documenting of all the ways in which the Holy See's machinations ended up benefiting the God Hand's plan for humanity, and how along the way, it weakened any resistance that could have manifested.
1. It centralized religions on the continent under one doctrine, making it more easily manipulated.
"The current doctrine of the Holy See is nothing more than a tool by which to display its own political power." - Schierke
I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that the spread of the Holy See in Berserk mirrors the spread of Catholicism throughout the middle ages. Furthermore, the Holy See itself is not a fiction, but in our world it is an alternate name for Vatican City, the center of power for the Catholic Church. And just as in the middle ages Catholicism spread as a political and regulatory authority across the European continent, so too did it spread as a political authority across the continent in Berserk. That is of course, the human end to the Holy See. From the God Hand's perspective, as a group bent on dominating human affairs, what better way to accomplish that than by limiting humanity's worldview down to one specific lens under their control? It serves as the foundation of isolating humanity from the astral world, mollifying it through a safer, more secure world that they felt they could control.
"This world could never be encapsulated in one single doctrine. Accept the great mysteries, and explore the universe from within your inner world. That is the way of magic." - Flora
2. It pillaged and persecuted followers of polytheistic religions, including magic users.
"Witches and the like are nothing but symbols of apostacy and wickedness." - Enoch's Priest
If there were anyone who could stand as a bulwark against the wool covering the eyes of the people, it was magic users. But the spread of the Holy See religion across every little village and hamlet across the continent meant that older, polytheistic belief systems were stamped out. We are regularly shown how followers of such religions, genuine or merely feared as such, were persecuted and executed by the church for heretical practices. This aided the God Hand by driving magic users, who possess deep knowledge about the truth of the world, into the fringes of society or to the grave. The practice of magic only thrives now because of a series of elaborate safeguards on Skellig.
3. It consolidated knowledge of the supernatural.
"When the sun will have died five times, a red lake will appear at the west of the city with a name both new and ancient, and it will be the sign that the fifth angel is born. The angel shall be a Falcon of Darkness. Both master of the sinful black sheep and king of the blind white sheep. The one who shall bring an age of darkness upon the world." -Azan
When Farnese and the Holy Iron Chain Knights first appear, they arrive a few hours after the Eclipse occurred, at what they called the "Red Lake." Azan recites a prophecy from what he refers to as a Revelation, information likely withheld from the public, given how it incorporates knowledge of occultations and of course alludes to the Falcon as a being who would usher in an age of darkness.
But this prophecy itself is not unique to the Holy See, because as we know, it is repeated by Schierke later in Volume 22 when she goes to confirm the appearance of Griffith outside Shet. This means the prophecy predates the Holy See, and was likely a revelation known by practitioners of magic, but subsumed by the Holy See as it steamrolled over polytheistic religions. Furthermore, this assimilation process explains how the Four Elemental Kings, a genuine force in the astral world that govern their respective elements of fire, earth, wind, and water, was translated into scripture as the Four Cardinal Kings. The nature of the group's elemental power was clouded by dogma.
Finally, there is the existence of the Miracle Recognition Department, which is what set the Holy Iron Chain Knights out on their quest to confirm the appearance of the Red Lake and later to ascertain the truth behind the rumors of the Falcon of Darkness. For such a department to exist hints at the stockpiling of secrets / revelations / prophecies assimilated in the process of obliterating other religions, along with the assumption they are safeguarding such knowledge from the people, keeping them ignorant of sweeping movements happening on the larger stage of the world. This also aided in the God Hand's plans.
"Miracle becoming reality is what first bestows power. And controlling the recognition of that power is our obligation." - Cardinals of the Holy See
4. It severed people's connections with the astral world.
"Long ago it was quite natural to believe in the existence of elves. But with the spread of the doctrine of the Holy See, of one universal world view, those who can see them have dwindled." - Schierke
The church in Enoch village stands on top of a sacred place where worshipers of the local river god would gather. The Holy See not only outlawed the practice of worship, but stamped out the site of worship itself. By removing magic users from the mix, who spread knowledge of how people can perceive the other inhabitants of our world (astral creatures), people's ability to perceive the astral world waned, ultimately severing the connection between humans and the astral world completely, outside of myths and legends.
The practice of prayer itself did not escape being tarnished in the process of assimilation by the Holy See. Prayer as an act of faith was converted from actual communion with spirits into the neutered practice of chanting mindlessly in a church. Schierke explains to Enoch's priest that people use sanctuaries to commune with angels and spirits, but a magician constructs that sanctuary in her mind. Because the mind is the only medium for humans to perceive beings without bodies. A magician must visualize the recipient of their message:
"The arcana of invocation is not about simply chanting mantras or meditating on your own wishes. It begins with recognizing and confronting the counterpart to whom you must impart your thoughts." -Schierke
5. It primed the populace to reach for a symbolic savior in the form of a falcon.
"Someday his Wings of Light will, like it is told in that revelation, blow away the darkness which covers our homeland." -Owen
The symbol of the Falcon of Light lightly resembles the Christian cross (in particular, the makeshift symbol in which a crow was crucified by the heretic in volume 18), making another connection to our world. But the choice of a falcon is highly suspicious. Because it created a ready-made savior role for Griffith to step into once he arrived on the stage to rescue the people from Ganishka's clutches. That by itself might not have been sufficient, so supports were provided by the God Hand by way of a "divine revelation" to the Pontiff, and the mass prophetic dream to people across the world of the coming of the Falcon of Light to sweep away the darkness.
There's another more subtle trick this savior persona of the Falcon of Light affords Griffith to do. It masks the nature of his supernatural powers, and the splendor of his appearance and demeanor; so that once he appears on the stage, the powers he wields as a member of the God Hand are contextualized in the visage of an angelic savior to be revered, not a demonic lord to be feared.
The Present and Beyond
In the present day, the Holy See has fulfilled its purpose. Griffith and the Falcon of Light have fused into one being, and we've seen that in Falconia the church mostly exists in an ancillary role to provide a vehicle for Griffith's miracles. The religion can hardly even be said to belong to humans anymore. Throughout its long history it stomped out any alternative interpretation of reality from its own, and established the scaffolding for a savior to swoop down from the heavens and rescue humanity from its flailing at a chaotic existence. And if history has taught us anything about religion, it's that it inspires hardened zealots that would die for their savior before acknowledging the truth. So that even if any "truth" comes to light about the nature of their savior, the veil of religion will at the very least buffer Griffith from any fallout.
But this cooperation goes further than mere coincidence of goals. The relationship between the God Hand and the Holy See is evident in the symbol of the religion.
Whoever designed this icon for the Holy See was familiar with the brand, and perhaps even the God Hand. Who was that person though, and how did that movement manifest? There are of course no specifics given as of yet. However, we know the God Hand don't generally go around making actual puppets of people. They work in the shadows, "in places where negative emotions are concentrated," on a macro scale through sweeping movements that coincide with other sweeping movements, all of which require humanity to be baited by dark urges. Whereas the leadership of the Holy See religion appears to be dispassionate old men, blindly stabbing in the dark, ignorantly armed with knowledge of the supernatural world—a world they reject. What they care about most is securing the political authority they eventually wield over nation-sates. Of course, that places them in a perfect position to be manipulated by a group like the God Hand.
A lot of this, including the connection between the symbol and the brand, has been discussed on the forum many times before, it's just not in one place. But what hasn't been done across all the years we've been talking about this connection is documenting of all the ways in which the Holy See's machinations ended up benefiting the God Hand's plan for humanity, and how along the way, it weakened any resistance that could have manifested.
1. It centralized religions on the continent under one doctrine, making it more easily manipulated.
"The current doctrine of the Holy See is nothing more than a tool by which to display its own political power." - Schierke
I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that the spread of the Holy See in Berserk mirrors the spread of Catholicism throughout the middle ages. Furthermore, the Holy See itself is not a fiction, but in our world it is an alternate name for Vatican City, the center of power for the Catholic Church. And just as in the middle ages Catholicism spread as a political and regulatory authority across the European continent, so too did it spread as a political authority across the continent in Berserk. That is of course, the human end to the Holy See. From the God Hand's perspective, as a group bent on dominating human affairs, what better way to accomplish that than by limiting humanity's worldview down to one specific lens under their control? It serves as the foundation of isolating humanity from the astral world, mollifying it through a safer, more secure world that they felt they could control.
"This world could never be encapsulated in one single doctrine. Accept the great mysteries, and explore the universe from within your inner world. That is the way of magic." - Flora
2. It pillaged and persecuted followers of polytheistic religions, including magic users.
"Witches and the like are nothing but symbols of apostacy and wickedness." - Enoch's Priest
If there were anyone who could stand as a bulwark against the wool covering the eyes of the people, it was magic users. But the spread of the Holy See religion across every little village and hamlet across the continent meant that older, polytheistic belief systems were stamped out. We are regularly shown how followers of such religions, genuine or merely feared as such, were persecuted and executed by the church for heretical practices. This aided the God Hand by driving magic users, who possess deep knowledge about the truth of the world, into the fringes of society or to the grave. The practice of magic only thrives now because of a series of elaborate safeguards on Skellig.
3. It consolidated knowledge of the supernatural.
"When the sun will have died five times, a red lake will appear at the west of the city with a name both new and ancient, and it will be the sign that the fifth angel is born. The angel shall be a Falcon of Darkness. Both master of the sinful black sheep and king of the blind white sheep. The one who shall bring an age of darkness upon the world." -Azan
When Farnese and the Holy Iron Chain Knights first appear, they arrive a few hours after the Eclipse occurred, at what they called the "Red Lake." Azan recites a prophecy from what he refers to as a Revelation, information likely withheld from the public, given how it incorporates knowledge of occultations and of course alludes to the Falcon as a being who would usher in an age of darkness.
But this prophecy itself is not unique to the Holy See, because as we know, it is repeated by Schierke later in Volume 22 when she goes to confirm the appearance of Griffith outside Shet. This means the prophecy predates the Holy See, and was likely a revelation known by practitioners of magic, but subsumed by the Holy See as it steamrolled over polytheistic religions. Furthermore, this assimilation process explains how the Four Elemental Kings, a genuine force in the astral world that govern their respective elements of fire, earth, wind, and water, was translated into scripture as the Four Cardinal Kings. The nature of the group's elemental power was clouded by dogma.
Finally, there is the existence of the Miracle Recognition Department, which is what set the Holy Iron Chain Knights out on their quest to confirm the appearance of the Red Lake and later to ascertain the truth behind the rumors of the Falcon of Darkness. For such a department to exist hints at the stockpiling of secrets / revelations / prophecies assimilated in the process of obliterating other religions, along with the assumption they are safeguarding such knowledge from the people, keeping them ignorant of sweeping movements happening on the larger stage of the world. This also aided in the God Hand's plans.
"Miracle becoming reality is what first bestows power. And controlling the recognition of that power is our obligation." - Cardinals of the Holy See
4. It severed people's connections with the astral world.
"Long ago it was quite natural to believe in the existence of elves. But with the spread of the doctrine of the Holy See, of one universal world view, those who can see them have dwindled." - Schierke
The church in Enoch village stands on top of a sacred place where worshipers of the local river god would gather. The Holy See not only outlawed the practice of worship, but stamped out the site of worship itself. By removing magic users from the mix, who spread knowledge of how people can perceive the other inhabitants of our world (astral creatures), people's ability to perceive the astral world waned, ultimately severing the connection between humans and the astral world completely, outside of myths and legends.
The practice of prayer itself did not escape being tarnished in the process of assimilation by the Holy See. Prayer as an act of faith was converted from actual communion with spirits into the neutered practice of chanting mindlessly in a church. Schierke explains to Enoch's priest that people use sanctuaries to commune with angels and spirits, but a magician constructs that sanctuary in her mind. Because the mind is the only medium for humans to perceive beings without bodies. A magician must visualize the recipient of their message:
"The arcana of invocation is not about simply chanting mantras or meditating on your own wishes. It begins with recognizing and confronting the counterpart to whom you must impart your thoughts." -Schierke
5. It primed the populace to reach for a symbolic savior in the form of a falcon.
"Someday his Wings of Light will, like it is told in that revelation, blow away the darkness which covers our homeland." -Owen
The symbol of the Falcon of Light lightly resembles the Christian cross (in particular, the makeshift symbol in which a crow was crucified by the heretic in volume 18), making another connection to our world. But the choice of a falcon is highly suspicious. Because it created a ready-made savior role for Griffith to step into once he arrived on the stage to rescue the people from Ganishka's clutches. That by itself might not have been sufficient, so supports were provided by the God Hand by way of a "divine revelation" to the Pontiff, and the mass prophetic dream to people across the world of the coming of the Falcon of Light to sweep away the darkness.
There's another more subtle trick this savior persona of the Falcon of Light affords Griffith to do. It masks the nature of his supernatural powers, and the splendor of his appearance and demeanor; so that once he appears on the stage, the powers he wields as a member of the God Hand are contextualized in the visage of an angelic savior to be revered, not a demonic lord to be feared.
The Present and Beyond
In the present day, the Holy See has fulfilled its purpose. Griffith and the Falcon of Light have fused into one being, and we've seen that in Falconia the church mostly exists in an ancillary role to provide a vehicle for Griffith's miracles. The religion can hardly even be said to belong to humans anymore. Throughout its long history it stomped out any alternative interpretation of reality from its own, and established the scaffolding for a savior to swoop down from the heavens and rescue humanity from its flailing at a chaotic existence. And if history has taught us anything about religion, it's that it inspires hardened zealots that would die for their savior before acknowledging the truth. So that even if any "truth" comes to light about the nature of their savior, the veil of religion will at the very least buffer Griffith from any fallout.