Doctor of the Church

"Doc" Adams became a Doctor of the Church, and later the patron saint of the American "Wild West."

A Doctor of the Church is an honourary title given to a member of the Catholic Church who displays exemplary superpowers and uses them for the benefit of the Catholic community. Aside from the Pope, individuals classified as Doctors of the Church under the Vatican Post-Human Files are among the most powerful beings in the universe. Most Doctors of the Church are immortal and receive their title only after many hundreds of years of dedicated service to the Church. Others receive the award posthumously if, for instance, they are killed in a cosmic battle with the Silver Surfer or have been ripped from normal continuity.

A cleric may be made a Doctor of the Church for a pathbreaking contribution to dogma or doctrine. Among these was Saint Constantine the Constant, who ended a great era called the Schism by writing the simple solution, "Maybe they both did."

Contributions made by Doctors of the Church vary greatly. Some, like Dr. Strange, are honoured for their important reality-warping powers, while others, like Pope John Paul II, are noted for their outstanding character and for their defence of the Catholic Church against an external enemy (in the late Holy Father's case, the threat of Communist Robot Invaders). Because of the flexibility of criteria, it typically takes many years before a new Doctor is inducted.

Doctors of the Church are not to be confused with Saints, who are warriors of the Church and used mostly for marketing purposes. They are also not to be confused with typical surgeons. You never visit a Doctor of the Church for a tubal ligation.

List of Doctors of the Church

Name	Year Promoted	Nationality	Superpower
Constantine	1099	Roman	Teleportation; force fields; master of the mystical arts
Dr. X	1171	American	Invisibility; flight; mind-control
Fed Acker Huang	1205	Unknown	Dark magic; immortality
Sir Thomas More	1320	British	Mind-control
Santa Claus	1341	Norweigan	Flight; mind-control; immortality
Nok, Jungle Goddess	1481	Cambodian	Invulnerability; nature magic
The Watcher	1555	Unknown	Omniscience; immortality
Ignatius of Loyola	1673	Spanish	Divine light; healing factor; immortality
Julius II	1702	Italian	Reality-warping; master of the seven secret hand gestures; flaming sword of justice; invulnerability
Nightcrawler	1978	German	Teleportation
Dr. Strange	1999	American	Reality-warping; master of the mystical arts
John Paul II	2005	Polish	Reality-warping; diving light; mind-control
Imelda Marcos	2005	Filipina	Immortality; wail of the hundred-footed banshee; mind-control