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Item #: SCP-C666
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: Existing provisions for other anomalies entail tracking unusual holy water usage or distribution. Information about SCP-C666 that is made public must be suppressed. Agents embedded in the Vatican are to scan all material sent there by Catholic clergy members for information about SCP-C666.
Two liters of SCP-C666, as well as instructions for its creation, are available from the Site-84 archives for testing.
Foundation personnel who are also Catholic priests may not be given any information about SCP-C666.
Description: SCP-C666 is a non-volatile, non-toxic aqueous substance that can be created from widely available materials in conjunction with holy water sanctified by a Catholic priest. The substance appears and behaves as would be expected from its composition.
SCP-C666 is an infohazard that exclusively affects Catholic priests. Information that uniquely identifies SCP-C666 (such as a list of SCP-C666's components, SCP-C666's scent, or the term "SCP-C666") will convince susceptible individuals that any activity conducted in relation to SCP-C666 is not sinful or immoral. Subjects describe this conviction as sudden, intense, and deeply understood; typically, they will believe that they received the knowledge from God.
SCP-C666's infohazardous properties do not impart any compulsion on affected priests, who have reacted in a variety of ways to the information they receive. Most, unwilling to risk their position in the church1 and their community, will only use SCP-C666 to 'cover' sins in private, or incorporate it into their existing sinful activities. They will typically attempt to contact other church officials about SCP-C666.
Others will, instead, choose to bring SCP-C666's existence to public attention and encourage its use. These subjects will use whatever means are available to them — such as public spaces, social media, and their own churches — to detail their knowledge of SCP-C666 and share their revelation about its use. Oftentimes, they will create large quantities of SCP-C666 to give away freely to the public.
Individuals who are not mentally affected by SCP-C666 retain their existing moral and religious sensibilities, and will only use SCP-C666 if they firmly believe in the veracity of a priest's "prophecy" or if they desire an excuse to engage in otherwise sinful behavior. Public adoption of SCP-C666 varies between communities, dependent on their overall religiosity, trust of and loyalty towards the clergy in question, and the number of different Catholic priests that serve the community.
Depending on these factors, between 0.05% and 3% of the affected community will form a new congregation, led by a priest that provides SCP-C666 to worshipers and incorporates it into ceremonies. These congregations will adopt practices that contradict social norms and mores, sometimes resulting in their expulsion from polite society and/or the development of cult-like characteristics.
Congregations that form around SCP-C666 typically last between two weeks and five months before their dissolution due to violence and infighting. However, several persisted for over fifty years, typically by recruiting aggressively and focusing antisocial tendencies externally.
Historical records indicate that SCP-C666 was created by Transylvanian alchemists at the behest of Prince Gabriel Bethlen in 1619 or 1620; its intended purpose was to undermine Catholicism in the Holy Roman Empire, with which the principality was at war.2 Transylvanian spies would travel to strategically important cities and teach their priests how to create SCP-C666, causing unrest and division within the Empire.
It is unclear to what extent the spread of SCP-C666 affected the war; however, use of SCP-C666 among Catholic congregations in Europe persisted until the mid-19th century.