I've been thinking a lot about the depiction of the Catholic Church in Castlevania Nocturne today, and how I think they did such a brilliant job at displaying how it can both be something that can uplift and bring people down. The period the show is set in is a very interesting one for the church, as during this time the catholic church is being really cracked down on in France, as ideas of reason and logic start taking over. The church at this time, is known to be incredibly corrupt as well, and with the revolution cracking down on rich land owners, it only makes sense that the church would be cracked down on as well. But the thing about that is, while many of the bishops, priests, cardinals, who are running the churches, are corrupt, and are only apart of the church to gain wealth and power, a lot of the common people do truly believe in the church and its teachings, but they're not allowed their beliefs because of the revolution, and that ends up hurting a lot of people as well. But on the other side of that, we have people like the Abbott in Nocturne. While he truly is devout and believes in God, his personal biases get mingled in with his faith, and through his faith, he starts to convince himself that his ideals, his personal wants are the wants of his God, and that no matter what he has to do, he will do it if he thinks he's acting on behalf of God's will, even if it means summoning demons from hell. He still thinks he's a good man, because in his head, this will all justify the means, that this will protect the church and the faithful from the revolution.
And I think that's so terrifyingly real. So many people in real life get their biases, their hatred twisted into their faith, making their faith this horrific, beast that consumes them and fueling the hate in their hearts, when religion isn't supposed to be a thing about hate, it's supposed to uplift and make yourself better, yet people are able to twist the messages their faith into something hateful, and make themselves the victim, making it so, no matter what they do, they are justified, and I think Castlevania Nocturnes detection of the church encapsulates all of this perfectly, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Just another reason why I love this show
