In an Age of Unholy Evil, there arose a Holy Madness to cleanse the world.
The Mad Monsignor is a pulp horror-adventure character along the lines of Solomon Kane. He operates in the Nineteenth Century, under the authority of the man he calls the Thirteenth Lion, Pope XIII. His tales deal with monsters and demons, plus humans who act like both. Most of his stories are set in the Americas, usually the American Southwest or Mexico and Central and South America–though a few happen in the Old World. In some of the tales he is associated with the Thirteen, a group assembled by the Pope to fight major supernatural threats.
The Mad Monsignor wears black robes and a black mask, to protect his identity and to frighten enemies. He wears a broad-brimmed black “planter” hat–typically a flat-topped galero. His robes are tied with a long braided rope belt with beaded tassels, which are also weapons–as are his prayer beads. The belt and beads are steel threaded, to make them choking/cutting tools and also good for binding since they are almost impossible to break.
The “Mad” Monsignor is a Vatican appointed specialist, supposedly under the authority of Pope Leo XIII himself. He is a specialist who deals with paranormal threats, and or normal threats to parishioners that fall outside the official role or capabilities of protection of the local church or state authorities. He is called in to solve problems in his unique way, which is to remove the problem permanently. His identity is unknown. He is rumored to be a priest, a bishop, a damned soul, and a resurrected person, among other things. Monsignor is an honorific title given by the Pope that refers to someone who has performed very valuable services for the Church, but it is unknown if he is an actual clergyman. His enemies and sometimes friends call him “Mad” or “Masked” Monsignor, though he does not refer to himself this way.
The Mad Monsignor is not afraid of using any means at his disposal to succeed in battle. He is adept at physical violence, is a master swordsman, and in the course of the adventures uses everything from his fists to swords, guns, whips, stakes, blessed objects like bibles, holy water, or other church artifacts, and his signature razor-edged prayer beads.