Databook - Holy Church
The Church in this DxD is halved into 2 separate factions. Just like how Angels and Fallen Angels are a thing, The Vatican and The Holy Church are too.
The Vatican is the ones who are "Good", they side with the Angels on most decisions and are less prone to actual manslaughter when it comes to things.
The Holy Church is the "ROOT" of the "Konoha" that is The Vatican.
They don't get along.
The Holy Church's mindset is like this–
"If a Vampire is in a city and is staying there while controlling the populace from the shadows, what would you do?"
The Vatican = Discreetly find a way to get inside and sneak attack the vampire without causing many problems for the civilians and the city. If all else fails, retreat and look for a sacred gear wielder or ask favors from other factions to help. The people are the priority.
The Holy Church = Nuke the fucking city. Their equivalent of a nuke would be a Burial Agency member. And when I say equivalent, I mean a Burial Agency member would massacre the city to lessen the power the vampire has. They don't really care for casualties because vampires must die.
That said, they really don't see things eye to eye in several things either.
The Vatican keeps the death of God a secret, and when one finds out they excommunicate them to keep the little peace they have.
The Holy Church uses the fact that God is dead to weed out the ones who are loyal to the faith or not.
Simply put, The Vatican's are babied, and The Holy Church couldn't care less. If you can't accept the truth, then get the fuck out.
Now, because of this very humanitarian way of thinking, unlike the Vatican's who work with the Angels and other factions, the Holy Church very much would like to stab a Devil in the face at any given time, they only believe in "Humans must be the one on top" thinking and not the "All factions must be in peace and equality" therefore, they don't really like other factions.
Regardless of whether they're good or not.
The Holy Church is subdivided into 8 different factions. Because they have to spread the workload of protecting humans in all and attacking the supernatural while others do the rest not mentioned.
The first one is the [Assembly of the Sacraments]
The reason it's called Seven Gospels and not Eight is that first, it fits the cards. And second, the Assembly of Sacraments are more or less the cleaners and dirty workers. They're the archaeologist, scientists, and cleaners of the Holy Church. Due to their rather mundane job, they have the lowest mortality rate.
After a Burial Agency member gets rid of a stray devil, they swoop in and collect the corpse, they would cut it apart and check for anything useful, if not they'd do as they usually do with it. When a Burial Agency member massacres a city, they clean up all the corpses and burn them to prevent viruses whilst they get whatever remains of the vampire for stuff. When a raid from the other factions is done, they swoop in and clean it up.
They are the backbones of pretty much any after the event, but since they only do that, they have the highest members as well.
Their motto is "Collect, Research and Recycle"
The second one is the [Gospel Libraries of God]
They are the info gatherers/brokers, assassins, and spies. The shadows aren't made purely for combat, but they can kill humans who are in the way. Each member of this faction is equal to one Jiraiya. Not in strength, but on being sneaky and spy networks. They handle and distribute every little information, and that information becomes missions.
If you ask The Vatican what they think would be the greatest information network group in the whole supernatural world available for Humans and they would say.
"Gospel Libraries of God, but no one really wants to admit it. They're with THEM, after all"
They have the 2nd highest amount of members and mortality rate as most of them don't really go up against anything too monstrous.
The third one is the [The Order of the Templars]
Shields meant to stall, guard, or contain. In a raid, they will be sent first to guard the entrance and exits. In a sudden mission, they'd be sent first to stall for reinforcements and exhaust the enemy. For other missions, they guard the upper echelon when on the move or something important.
They're all trained to be defensive and wields a giant shield and heavy armor, both blessed and has runes.
The shield itself is made up of stray devil skin that is stacked and stacked up over and over again and coated with blessed metal and then had runes engraved on it. All for defense. Their armor is made the same way. It's mass-produced sometimes, but those of higher rank would get the higher quality ones obviously.
The Templars are scary when paired up with another offensive faction, for example, the Chivalric Order. It's well known among others that you either kill both at the same time or you run when facing the duo.
They have the third-highest members and third-lowest mortality rate due to the fact that any smart member of the supernatural would rather waste their time running than fighting against a Templar, who would just do it's best to be a pest and stall.
The fourth one is the [Chivalric Order]
Knights. They don't wield artificial holy swords, but they have their very own blessed swords. Swords that are made out of blessed metals, ones conductive with holy energy and the higher tier ones have a Fallen Angel's core at the hilt to make the holy energy. They're the foot soldiers and main components of a raid. They usually come in swarms and groups but the higher your rank, the more often you'll be sent solo.
They mesh well with the civilians as they are knights, they are also the only subdivision respected by the Vatican's to a point. It's well known that the high-ranking Chivalric Order members are strong enough to be a counted members of the Burial Agency but they value their lives.
The First Sword is equal to the First Member of the Burial Agency. They aren't pushovers. They have the normal mortality rate as only the higher rankings are usually on solo.
The fifth one is the [Exorcist Circle]
They are what you usually see in the series, artificial holy swords at hand and light clothing. It's not because they are weak, but their priorities are actually ghosts, spirits, Devils if they have the chance. They mostly stop Devil worshippers or something. They are combat-oriented, but not by much. The higher the rank of the Exorcist, the greater their experience and knowledge would be, so they're pretty handy sometimes.
Sometimes. Enoch was a case of when a genius was on his element. He's the best because he could blend traps, sneaky attacks, and tactics all in one to defeat anything. If he was a servant, he would have Eye of the Mind (True) at A.
They have an above-average mortality rate and an average amount of members. Usually from priests.
The sixth one is the [Executors]
A special breed of Exorcists that is very much just released to catch wanted members, sacred gear wielders, beat up some weak supernaturals, or just cause a massacre wherever they were. They were barbaric, to a point. They rely on heavy brute force on almost anything and was very destructive.
The Holy Church uses them as the "WARNING". If an Executor was sent to wreck shit up, you better run or hide, and cease all the stuff you were doing, because the next one would be a Burial Agency member or a raid.
The higher the rank, the more allowed to wreck shit up they were. Cain was the prime example. He kills about 50% of the population wherever he is sent and the other 50% are his targets and whatnot. They're cruel. 2nd Highest mortality rate and 2nd fewest members due to the nature of being one and the job itself.
The seventh one is the [Abbey Monastery]
They're hand-picked combat nuns that can do basically anything and fill the spots for the other factions. They have the lowest mortality rate and the lowest members. Since they're so few, it's really rare to see one die in the first place. All the members are female and usually connected to the upper echelon of the Holy Church. They're meant to be pop idols or something like that. Didn't work quite well.
The last and eight one is the [Burial Agency]
Let it be said that they aren't really only eight members. It's just that everyone else dies too fast that only eight members can be said to be permanent. They were human monsters, hand made and picked to fight against something everyone will die against and then return with either "Mission Complete" or "Mission Failure". Their natures are to live and survive no matter what. They exist to fight against an evil that anyone else can't fight even in a group. Alone. And then live to tell the tale.
They have a ridiculous mortality rate it's not even funny. You either die on the first mission or the second. If they live for more than 5 missions then you're a member candidate, survive for a year and you're in. They are equipped with a walking fortress. A type of clothing that was taken from the Norse faction.
Super lightweight, yet enhanced to the point of surviving a rocket launcher. They also have black keys, weapons that are more or less concentrated holy energy given a physical form, those things could literally kill a vampire if hit right, and they can be mass-produced like heck because unlike a blessed sword, it's really only just super concentrated holy energy and only eight members live long enough to actually use them and the walking fortress.
Combat wise, they are dangerous. A single one can kill an entire city's population. They are never partnered up with anyone and act alone because a pair with them is another word for "Double Suicide"
They're the type of guys to kill a puppy or a kitten to throw the blood on the face of a vampire and then proceeding to use the corpse as a projectile.
If that doesn't work then throw a kid or two.
If that still doesn't work then burn the entire place down.
If the vampire escapes, then chase until the ends of the Earth, if it hides, then burn every city they might be in.
If the vampire completely disappears, after all that, then report back.
They also take jobs of killing people.
The Vatican doesn't really like the eight members. In fact, they have the rule to sabotage the efforts of the faction whenever they can.
In their own words. "What use is a human monster that harms more, than helps the people?"
The member would then reply "What use are the people when they're all dead either way?"
Overall.
The Holy Church is far darker and desperate than the Vatican's. They're the type that the Devils are more worried about.
A single member of the Holy Church is considered something like a wild beast for the Devils. You run or get mauled.