Stigmata aka Ana Shwartz is the supporting character of the Venom comics. She's a Vatican guard who was assigned to protect an ex-dictator named Franco Santera.
Born a mutant in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as a child Ana Maria Magdalena Shwartz exhibited mutant superpowers and wounds reminiscing of Jesus Christ's crucifixion ones. Taking those as a stigmata and a signal, Ana's grandmother sold the girl to a Catholic orphanage. The Catholic Church understood the girl's powers and their potential, as she could obtain superhuman abilities by invoking out loud the names of different saints, and they recruited her for the Holy Guard, which protected the Vatican and their rich patrons. Shwartz later left the Holy Guard to join a more altruistic Jesuit sect, the Holy Fire, while still being a super-agent of the Catholic church under the alias Stigmata.
When Franco Santera, tyrannical dictator and President of small South American country San Gregorio, claimed to have suffered a crisis of faith and had turned to God in repentance, the Vatican Secret Guard assigned Stigmata to determine if the Santera's conversion was genuine,in which case the Vatican would support him. She was to accompany Santera and his family as their bodyguard. Santera had not seen the light, but was faking his religious enlightenment to improve his international image in search of money (In fact, his supposed family were hired actors), and he had planned an elaborate hoax in which terrorists, secretly hired by him, would attack him in public during a visit to the United States, and then Santera would convince the attackers to abandon their methods in a reconciliation. The attackers included the cyborg Teraknid, who was prepared to take on Stigmata's superpowers.
Santera decided to visit St. Jude Church, in the Bronx, New York City, without an official invitation from the United States government (which did not want to be closely associated with the dictator). The U.S.'s NSA infiltrated its superhuman agent Venom into the public to protect the foreign dignitary, but he was only supposed to act if he received a signal. Following the plan, when Santera was giving his speech, he was attacked by at least eight terrorists with semi-automatic weapons hidden in the audience. Stigmata, whom they called "mutant garbage", fought them, enraged at the desecration of a sacred place; but, at the urging of Santera, who offered to reason with them, she piously offered to let them go if they forgot her plan. When they didn't, Stigmata defeated several, but Teraknid paralyzed her with his poisonous sting, and then she was bound and gagged, preventing her from using her powers. The terrorists continued with their plan, taking all the attendees hostage, while outside the authorities discussed the jurisdiction to enter the church. The situation escalated when the NSA authorized the brutal Venom to attack, the St. Jude priest was injured and one of the attendees, Daniel Ketch, activated his own powers as Ghost Rider. Venom and the Rider fought each other and at the same time several terrorists were defeated, with Santera losing control of the situation. A nun knocked out Teraknid, and another nun ungagged Stigmata. The Vatican agent invoked the power of the angel Saint Gabriel and, charged with energy, accused Santera of having sinned and deserving a sentence. That gave Ghost Rider the chance to use his Penance Stare on Santera, so that the Santera mind would only remember his immoral acts. The doors of the church opened and, as the terrorists were arrested and the priest receiving medical attention, Stigmata took Santera into her custody, delivering him to a secret Vatican prison in the Italian Alps. Only after the mission was the NSA informed of Stigmata's Vatican affiliation.
Stigmata is still active as a Vatican agent today.
Personality
A devout Catholic, Stigmata respectfully addresses the saints in prayer when asking for their power, and was particularly incensed when criminals decided to attack in the holy ground of a church, as it was desecration. Being also pious, she offered to stop fighting her enemies if they renounced to their plans and simply left. When using the greatest power of St. Gabriel and adopting her angel-like form, she passed judgement on Santera, condemning her "by the power vested on" Stigmata; it is unclear which power specifically allows her to judge sinners.
Attributes
Powers
Stigmata can activate her several mutant powers, if she orally invokes the saints in the Church, specifically:
Saint Barbara (Santa Barbara) gives her superhuman strength, enough to lift one ton.
Saint Joseph (San José) gives her the ability to fly.
Saint Gabriel (San Gabriel, also Angel Gabriel, soldado puro del Padre Santo) provides her with a fire-based-power, allows her to charge a hand-held item with energy. When she speaks the words "¡Angel Gabriel, soldado puro del Padre Santo, ayudame!" (Spanish for "Angel Gabriel, pure soldier of the Holy Father, help me", with omitted diacritics), she transforms into a glowing blue form resembling a winged angel-likebeing that hovers in the air, is immune to most common attacks, and can pass judgement on sinners.
Abilities
Stigmata is probably fluent in Spanish, as she uttered not only her prayers in Spanish, but also one insult in that language during the St. Jude skirmish (with two exclamation marks).
Weaknesses
Stigmata needs to speak out loud, apparently in Spanish, to use her powers.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
She wears both a crucifix and an ankh hanging from her neck.
Weapons
Stigmata carries a walking stick she uses as a melee weapon. If she invokes the power of Saint Gabriel, she can charge the stick with energy, to increase the damage.
