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In Catholicism, magic is rejected and seen as something from the devil, witches, heathens and probably heresy. Miracles (which could be seen as magic by others) dont use a spell or a ritual as fair as I know.

According to this

Conspirancies & Catholicism - Magic

All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one’s service and have a supernatural power over others – even if this were for the sake of restoring their health – are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons

In a Certain Magical Index, Catholics are seen portraying all kinds of magical powers. Now I don't know much about the non-catholic cristian anglican puritan english church , but I doubt they allow magical rituals in their practices either.

Why nuns, bishops and catholics have magic powers in A Certain Magical Index? Is it just because of ignorance of the japanese authors about the Catholic (and perhaps also English puritan church) religions , or is there any reason which gives an argument to this inside the story?

Pablo
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    Borrowing elements from real-life religion for a manga story does not really require following every detail down to the book. I doubt this is ignorance to Catholicism, it's probably more likely just to make things fit to the world the author wants to create. This is an alternate world, after all, not the same world we live in. – W. Are Aug 01 '19 at 14:46
  • I'm not catholic, but I was raised as one, from this perspective, it isnt seen as a detail, but as a major/core theme of the religion. They burnt alive thousands of people for practicing/ or believing they practiced magic in the past, and the persecution against heresy called Inquisition (which included practicing magic) lasted 3 centuries in the catholic church – Pablo Aug 01 '19 at 17:59
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    The Roman Orthodox church of A Certain Magical Index isn't the same church as the Roman Catholic church of the real world. The churches of the novels are mishmash of real world churches against the backdrop of a very different cosmology. – Ross Ridge Aug 01 '19 at 22:32
  • If the author did not include the belief that magic is not tolerated by the church, then it's probably unimportant to the story or not part of what the author wants to convey through the story. It might be part of the religion but that's not just what the Roman Catholic church only is about (I too was raised as and is still a Roman Catholic). It's similar to what's in Naruto. You see the mangaka borrows some elements of Buddhism and Hinduism but not all. – W. Are Aug 02 '19 at 07:24

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As with most fiction, it's because the world is different. In the simplest way, ours doesn't have magic while the Index world does, and magic must be incorporated into the history of the world and its religions.

In our world, the occult in Christianity and Catholicism does not hail from God, and magic is an unnatural force disturbing the world, and is derived from unholy sources. In Index, religion begets Phases (a sort of reality filter that alters the world seen and experienced) placed upon the world, and the Phases each beget their own form and style of magic. As such the phase generated by a (class of) religion(s), such as Christianity, is wholly natural and intrinsic to that religion. It is generated by the faith of the people itself.

The distinction between the magics is the theory of phases they use, and the supremacy they associate to particular phases. Many magic schools only derive magic from a particular phase, and this includes most religions. It is unified theory schools, like the Hermetic school that Aleister Crowley was trained in, that use magic based on multiple phases; these operate in fairly unique ways, which is central to Aleister's backstory.

zibadawa timmy
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  • Pretty much. As far as i believe, any magic in *our* world originates from some sort of demonic power. However, as you brought out, different worlds have different rules. I am designing a fantasy game myself, and in this world there is a distinction between devilish magic and natural magic. Some stories follow a similar premise, having magic being a natural force. – The Mattbat999 Aug 01 '19 at 20:36