Nice ceiling. Who's your decorator? 
Hellblazer #243 is an issue of the series Hellblazer (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 2008.
Synopsis for "The Mortification of the Flesh (part one)"
In the Vatican, Father Luigi Grimaldi stands guard over a door with something unholy inside. He knows that he cannot hold up the charade for much longer and contemplates suicide, but knows doing so will damn him to Hell. Falling asleep, he is met with a female angel who tells him God has sent an agent to help with his plight.
Waking up, Grimaldi is met with John Constantine, who creates a seal on the door. Constantine takes Grimaldi to a bar, where the priest explains that the room is sealed off from God's eyes and permits any form of sin to happen without damnation. In Grimaldi's case, he had been taking prostitutes to the room to have sex with them. One of these prostitutes, however, threatened to reveal what he had been doing, prompting him to kill her. However, she was actually a succubus in disguise. Grimaldi explains that the room is meant to better understand human sin so to be better faithful, but Constantine sets the record straight that it was started by Pope Alexander VI to satiate his pedophilia. Constantine then tells Grimaldi that he will help the priest with the demonic problem, in exchange for a forbidden tome in the Vatican's secret library.
Appearing in "The Mortification of the Flesh (part one)"
Featured Characters:
- John Constantine (Narrator)
- Father Luigi Grimaldi (First appearance) (Flashback and main story) (Also in a dream sequence)
Supporting Characters:
- The Angelic Messenger (Unnamed) (In dream sequence only)
Antagonists:
- Chantinelle the Succubus (Flashback and main story)
Other Characters:
- Swiss Guard (Cameo)
- Pope Alexander VI (Roderic Borgia) (Mentioned only)
- The Black Librarians (Mentioned only)
- Cesare Borgia (Unnamed) (Mentioned only)
- God (Mentioned only)
- Oscar Wilde (Mentioned only)
- Sherlock Holmes (Mentioned only)
Locations:
- Heaven (In dream sequence only)
- Dreamtime
- Vertigo Universe (Unnamed)
- Italy
- Rome
- Osteria Il Mozzicone (Single appearance)
- Rome
- Vatican City
- Apostolic Palace
- The Room Apart from the World (First appearance) (Flashback and main story)
- Sistine Chapel
- The Black Library (Mentioned only)
- St. Peter's Basilica (Cameo)
- Apostolic Palace
- Italy
Items:
- Alcohol
- Constantine's Lighter (Cameo)
- Pagine Gialle (Cameo)
- Silk Cut
Concepts:
Notes
- This story follows on the epilogue of The Laughing Magician.
- This issue is reprinted in Hellblazer: The Roots of Coincidence.
Trivia
- While talking about the "room apart from the world", Constantine says "Nothing is forbidden, everything is permitted" which is the iconic Assassin Brotherhood's maxim from Assassin's Creed.
- Curiously, the room was created by Pope Alexander VI, more commonly known as Rodrigo Borgia, who is the main antagonist of Assassin's Creed II and minor antagonist of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.
See Also