Warhammer 40K: The Imperial Ecclesiarchy
Today, we delve into those who carry the inexhaustible faith of mankind – the Imperial Ecclesiarchy.
The Ecclesiarchy (officially the Adeptus Ministorum ) is the official state church of the Imperium. It maintains and spreads the Imperial Cult throughout the Imperium. Although the interpretation of particular Imperial Cult dogmas varies throughout the Imperium, any serious deviance from its strictures is considered heresy. These are dealt with with extreme severity. The Ecclesiarchy is based on Terra, its urban palace covering nearly all of the southernmost continent.
Organization
The Ecclesiarchy is not part of the Adeptus Terra but a wholly separate organization. At its head is the Ecclesiarch, who, by tradition, is always one of the High Lords of Terra. Below him are the Cardinals, of whom there are several thousand. Below the Cardinals are the Ministorum Priests: Deacons, Pontifices, Confessors, Missionaries, and Preachers. Other specialist ranks and duties include Cenobites, Relic-Keepers, and Chapel-Masters.
The Ministorum’s ruling body is the Holy Synod, comprised of the organization’s Cardinals. The Ministorum, in turn, divides the Imperium into thousands of dioceses. Each generally encompasses an entire Imperial world – an exception being Terra, which has several dioceses. A diocese is further divided into parishes centered around a shrine. Each diocese is headed by a Cardinal, while each parish is headed by a Preacher. Ranking among these individuals are Pontifices, whose authority extends over several parishes and preachers within a single diocese.
The Ministorum also includes an administrative bureaucracy. The Creed Temporal is headed by Arch-Deacons, who control all secular business. Arch-Deacons are the administrative counterparts to Cardinals, responsible for the temporal affairs of an entire diocese. Their servants deal with the money entering and leaving a specific diocese or parish. They regulate the construction of new shrines and temples and deal with the other physical requirements of the organization.
The Ecclesiarchy directly rules several types of worlds of the Imperium, most notably Shrine Worlds and Cardinal Worlds.
Other Bodies
Adepta Sororitas
As the Ministorum’s power has grown, a number of sub-organisations have developed within its compass. An interesting example of this is the Adepta Sororitas, a penitent order of women. The Sisterhood, as it is generally known, is expected to maintain a close watch on all servants and departments of the Imperium. Its Militant Orders, the Sisters of Battle, act as the military arm of the Ecclesiarchy.
Missions
Missionary work is an important institution of the Ecclesiarchy. Its purpose is to bring rediscovered human worlds into the fold of the Imperial cult. For this purpose, Missionaries always accompany Imperial exploratory vessels in case human worlds are rediscovered.
Missionaries also run charitable Missions, which are schools or hospitals on newly discovered or primitive worlds. When human worlds are rediscovered, Missions are usually immediately established. Part of the purpose of these Missions is to further the worship of the Emperor and Imperial ideals. They are also vital in evaluating populations for signs of psychic and genetic mutation.
Schola Progenium
Schola Progenia are the orphanages run by the Ministorum specifically to raise and train the sons and daughters of Imperial servants who have given their lives in service. The orphans receive a strict orthodox Imperial cult education and soon come to regard the Emperor as their spiritual father. Their upbringings will have made them loyal and devoted adherents to the Imperial cause. It instills in them a selfless ambition to serve the Imperium and humanity. These qualities make them well-suited to service in many of the organizations of the Imperium. The schools of the Schola Progenium provide a good portion of Imperial Guard and Navy officials, Commissars, Assassins, Arbitrators, and Inquisitors. Female progena often enter the Adepta Sororitas. Other progena become members of the Ministorum clergy.
Armed Forces
Sisters of Battle
The Sisters of Battle act as the armed wing of the Adepta Sororitas and the current standing army of the Ecclesiarchy.
Frateris Templar
The Frateris Templar were the original, all-male army of Goge Vandire. They were destroyed by a Warp storm while en route to Dimmamar to pacify the rebellious Confederation of Light. The storm became known as the Storm of the Emperor’s Wrath. They have since been disbanded, and their roles have been assumed by the Sisters of Battle.
Frateris Militia
The unofficial armies of the Ministorum, the religiously motivated Frateris, fight wars of faith against the enemies of the Imperium.
Ecclesiarchal History
Early Stirrings
During the Great Crusade, many different cults appeared throughout the Imperium, worshiping the Emperor as a god, each with its own subtle variations and differences. These forms of worship appeared first in those primitive planets that had strongly regressed during the Age of Strife. This culminated in the worship of the Emperor as a god by the Word Bearers, resulting in the authoring of the Lectitio Divinitatus by Lorgar.
Despite the Emperor’s ban on worship, the cults continued on in secret by such figures as Euphrati Keeler. The number of these cults multiplied immensely with the Emperor’s ultimate sacrifice to mankind and subsequent incarceration upon the Golden Throne. Most of these cults would gradually fade away. But others prospered, eventually absorbing the weaker ones. The more successful ones spread their forms of worship to other planets.
Organization & Schisms
The strongest of all of them was the Temple of the Saviour Emperor. This cult had the advantages that it was based on Terra and that its leader had been a successful and respected officer of the Imperial Guard who had fought at the Battle of Terra, defending the Imperial Palace. This leader had re-named himself as Fatidicus and had begun to preach his teachings to anyone who would listen. This faith spread among the members of the Imperial Guard and Navy, but also to lowly scribes and minor adepts of the Adeptus Terra. The faith was spread by these individuals to other planets. When Fatidicus died at the age of 120, the Temple had more than a billion followers on Terra and untold numbers of the faithful throughout the Segmentum Solar.
In the wake of the chaos and anarchy of the Horus Heresy, the Temple of the Saviour Emperor provided a message of reunification through a common faith. Cults who rejected being absorbed or who couldn’t be absorbed saw themselves being persecuted by fanatical mobs. Officially, the Temple rejected this violence performed in its name. This development culminated in M32, as almost two-thirds of the Imperium followed the teachings of the Temple. Exceptions were the Space Marines and the Adeptus Mechanicus, who had their own form of worship. The Temple’s importance, influence, and power rapidly outmatched any other Imperial cult.
The Adeptus Ministorum
In the early 32nd millennium, the Temple became the state religion of the Imperium. It also became an official organization of the Imperium as the Adeptus Ministorum. A few centuries later, Ecclesiarch Veneris II received a seat amongst the High Lords of Terra, and after 300 years, this seat was made permanent. The power of the Ecclesiarchy continued to grow, increasing its hold over the Imperial citizenry.
Those who did not follow its teachings were declared unbelievers, ostracised, and, on occasion, even executed. The vast territories of the Imperium were organized in dioceses led by Cardinals. These powerful figures were responsible for Missionaries and Preachers on hundreds of worlds. Lavish shrines, impressive temples, and majestic cathedrals were built throughout the Imperium.
All hail the God Emperor of Mankind!
