Hand of God

Hand of God (the Latin being Manus Dei) was the Vatican's original anti-supernatural organization. Founded in 380 CE based on the teachings and discovery of Christian Faeth by Saint Anthony the Great, they eventually fell to corruption and internal strife, collapsing along with the Roman Empire and being officially disbanded by Pope Victor II in 1018 CE.

The Organization
Founded to coincide with the Edict of Thessalonica by Emperor Theodosius I of Rome, the Hand of God was envisioned as organization to serve the Catholic Church and eradicate the monsters and heathens that posed a threat to the newly Christian empire. Saint Anthony the Great's voyage into the desert was seen as an inspiration for the group's message - that hardship and tests are God's way of finding the true believers. Those chosen few would, in turn, be responsible for protecting each other from the "evils" of the world.

In many ways, Hand of God was similar to modern day True Cross. Their main means of fighting the unholy was with Faeth magic, with conventional weaponry as backup. However, they also had the full force of the Roman Empire's armed forces at their disposal for means such as warfare and large-scale battles. It was also not uncommon for them to perform covert assassinations, even on high ranking members of the clergy or Roman government.

History
In 270 CE, Saint Anthony the Great entered the deserts of Egypt for an entire year, supposedly being tested by the supernatural and tempted to turn from God. For his piety and faithfulness, his deity rewarded him by granting him a fraction of its powers. Through this, Saint Anthony became the first known practitioner of Faetheric magic of the Christian faith in recorded history.

Many years later in 380, the three emperors of Rome made the Edict of Thessalonica, a decree that the Roman Empire's official religion would now be Christianity. To coincide with this and having been inspired by the stories of Saint Anthony's fight against the supernatural, Emperor Theodosius I created the Hand of God as the protectors of the new religion. Passing on the theories and teachings of Faeth to the members of the organization, they would be tasked with destroying the supernatural and the heathens seen as a threat to Christianity.

In 384, Pope Siricius began to increase the importance of Faeth in the organization, spreading its usage throughout the ranks and trying to invent ways to increase its power. Additionally, the organization had been in charge of assassinating various members of pagan organizations to help eliminate their resistance to conversion. Their power and influence slowly grew, so much so that they began to bend the emperors themselves to their whims. Destruction of many pagan artifacts and temples followed, overseen or directly carried out by the organization to try and purge the nation of unholy influence.

However, upon the death of Theodosius I in 395, a former agent of the organization by the name of Alaric declared himself King of the Visigoths and rejected Roman rule, using his knowledge of Faeth to fight against the Empire. The problem became so bad that members of the order were forced to intervene and drive him out of their territory.

Throughout the years, the Hand of God continued to increase its power. However, infighting among the members of the group became apparent, various high-ranking clergymen vying for control over the different aspects of the order. Their fight against the supernatural all but abandoned, the group now served as a shadow government for the Roman Empire, self-sabotaging different factions discretely to try and take as much power as possible.

Eventually, the order fell apart, different factions literally warring with others. By 476, the Roman Empire was officially destroyed by the Germanic tribes, and the Hand of God's power and authority with it. Despite this, they were not officially disbanded until 1018 by Pope Victor II.

True Cross
The Order of the True Cross is the successor to the Hand of God. Founded by Pope Victor II in 1056, it returned to its roots fighting the supernatural. With a unified power overseen by the Vatican and the Pope, it continues to protect the world and Catholicism from the unholy monsters roaming the Earth.