Adeptus Ministorum

The Adeptus Ministorum, more commonly known as the Ecclesiarchy, is the sole official state church of the Imperium of Man. It maintains and spreads the Imperial Cult throughout the Imperium. Although the interpretation of particular Imperial Cult dogmas varies across the many worlds of the Imperium, any extreme deviance from its strictures and theology is considered heresy and dealt with with great severity by the Ecclesiarchy or, in extreme cases, the Ordo Hereticus of the Imperial Inquisition. The Ecclesiarchy is based on Terra, its urban palace covering nearly all of the southernmost continent of Antarctica.

Organization
The Ecclesiarchy is not part of the Adeptus Terra, but is organized as a wholly separate Imperial organization. At its head is the Ecclesiarch, who, by tradition, is always one of the Imperium's ruling High Lords of Terra. Below him are the Cardinals, of which there are several thousand. Below the Cardinals are the Pontifices, Confessors, Missionaries and Preachers, in that order, respectively.

The Adeptus Ministorum's ruling body is the Holy Synod, which is a council composed of the Ecclesiarchy's Cardinals. The Ministorum divides the Imperium's territory across the galaxy into thousands of dioceses, each generally encompassing an entire Imperial world - the exception being Terra, the heart of the Imperium, which possesses several dioceses because of its sheer population size and political improtance. A diocese is further divided into parishes centered around a shrine. Each diocese is headed by a Cardinal, while each parish is headed by an Imperial priest with the title of Preacher. Ranking between these individuals are Pontifices whose authority extends over several parishes and Missionaries who have no administrative duties within a single diocese but can be deployed to spread the faith of the Imperial Cult to newly rediscovered human-settled worlds.

The Adeptus Ministorum also includes an administrative bureaucracy, headed by Arch-Deacons, who control all secular business within the Ecclesiarchy. Arch-Deacons are the administrative counterparts to Cardinals, responsible for the temporal affairs of an entire diocese. The Arch-Deacon's servants deal with the money entering and leaving a specific diocese or parish, regulate the construction of new shrines and temples and deal with the other secular requirements of running a galaxy-spanning religion.

Adepta Sororitas
The military arm of the Ecclesiarchy is the Adepta Sororitas (see Sisters of Battle), who are dedicated to eradicating heresy across the Imperium. The Ecclesiarchy also often works with the Inquisition, especially the Ordo Hereticus, to achieve its goals. The priests of the Ecclesiarchy will, however, often see Radical Inquisitors as little more than heretics themselves and actively oppose their missions. The Sisterhood, as it is generally known, is expected to maintain a close watch on all servants and departments of the Imperium for heresy, but especially the Ecclesiarchy itself.2 The Adepta Sororitas' Militant Orders act as the military arm of the Ecclesiarchy defending shrine and Cardinal worlds from attacks by xenos like the Orks or the forces of Chaos, but are also tasked to serve as the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Hereticus of the Imperial Inquisition when so order by an Inquisitor.

Frateris Templar
Main article: Frateris TemplarThe Frateris Templar were the original, all-male army of High Lord Goge Vandire during the Age of Apostasy in the 36th Millennium. 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 role has instead been assumed by the Sisters of Battle since the Ecclesiarch who ended the Age of Apostasy and Goge Vandire's tyrannical rule of the Imperium, Sebastian Thor, declared that no man would ever again bear arms for the Adeptus Ministorum.

Frateris Militia
Main article: Frateris MilitiaThe Frateris Militia are the unofficial armies of the Ministorum made up of religious zealots who will fight for their faith. The religiously-motivated Frateris fight wars of faith against the enemies of the Imperium, though these forces are rarely well-trained or equipped.

Missions
Missionary work is an important activity of the Ecclesiarchy, and its purpose is to bring rediscovered human-settled worlds into the full fold of the Imperial Cult and the worship of the God-Emperor of Mankind. For this purpose, Missionaries always accompany Imperial exploratory vessels or even Rogue Traders in case human worlds are rediscovered.1 Missionaries also run charitable Missions, which are schools or hospitals on newly discovered feral or feudal worlds that lack advanced technology. When human worlds are rediscovered, Imperial Missions are usually immediately established. Part of the purpose of these Missions is to further the worship of the Emperor and spread the ideals and culture of Imperial civilization. They are also vital in evaluating newly-discovered planetary populations for signs of psychic and genetic mutation or the corruption of Chaos.3

Schola Progenium
Main article: Schola ProgeniumThe Schola Progenium 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 the service of the Emperor. The orphans receive a strict orthodox Imperial Cult education, and soon come to regard the Emperor as their spiritual father. Their upbringing will have made them absolutely loyal and devoted servants of the Imperial cause and will have instilled in them a selfless ambition to serve the Imperium and humanity as a whole. These qualities make them well-suited to service in many of the governmental and military branches of the Imperium - the schools of the Schola Progenium provide a large portion of the officers of the Imperial Guard and Navy, Imperial Guard Commissars, Assassins, the Judges and Arbitrators of the Adeptus Arbites and even, eventually, new Inquisitors. Female Progena often enter the Adepta Sororitas. Other Progena become members of the Adeptus Ministorum's clergy, which is open to men and woman alike.1, 3

The Beginning
During the Great Crusade, many different religious cults appeared throughout the Imperium worshiping the Emperor of Mankind as a god, each with their own subtle variations and differences. These forms of worship appeared first in those primitive planets that had regressed technologically during the Age of Strife. The numbers of these cults multiplied immensely with the Emperor's ultimate sacrifice to save mankind from the Warmaster Horus during the Horus Heresy and his subsequent incarceration upon the Golden Throne, which was hailed as the Emperor's "ascension" back to full divinity. Most of these cults would gradually fade away, while others prospered, eventually absorbing the weaker ones. The more successful Emperor-worship cults spread their forms of worship to other planets.

The strongest of all the early Imperial cults was the Temple of the Savior Emperor. This cult had the advantage over the others in 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 Siege of the Imperial Palace, defending the heart of the Imperium. This leader had re-named himself Fatidicus and had begun to preach his teachings concerning the divinity of the Emperor to anyone who would listen. This faith spread among the members of the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Navy, but also to lowly scribes and minor adepts of the Adeptus Terra (the Administratum). The faith was then spread by these individuals to other planets. When Fatidicus died at the age of 120 standard Terran years, the Temple had more than a billion of followers on Terra and untold faithful throughout the Imperium's Segmentum Solar.

In the wake of the chaos and anarchy of the Horus Heresy, the Temple of the Savior Emperor provided a message of hope and reunification through a common faith. Cults who rejected being absorbed, or who couldn't be absorbed, saw themselves being persecuted by fanatical mobs who preferred the Savior Emperor theology. Officially, the Temple rejected this violence performed in its name. This development culminated in the 32nd Millennium by which time almost two-thirds of the Imperium's population followed the teachings of the Temple of the Savior Emperor, the exceptions being the Space Marines, who never formally acknowledged the divinity of the Emperor and the Adeptus Mechanicus, who had their own form of worship in the Cult of the Machine. The Temple's importance, influence, and power rapidly outmatched any other Imperial cult dedicated to Emperor-worship.

The Adeptus Ministorum
In the early 32nd Millennium, the Temple of the Savior Emperor was oficially recognized by the High Lords of Terra as the state religion of the Imperium of Man. It also became an official organization of the Imperium's government 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 minds and beliefs of the Imperial citizenry. Those who wouldn't follow its teachings were declared unbelievers, ostracized, and on occasion even executed. The vast territories of the Imperium were organized into dioceses led by the Ecclesiarchy's Cardinals. These powerful religious and political figures were responsible for Missionaries and Preachers on hundreds of worlds. Lavish shrines, impressive temples, and majestic cathedrals dedicated to the God-Emperor of Mankind were built throughout the Imperium. Millions of religious pilgrims soon began making their way across the galaxy to visit particularly important religious locations, such as the world where a particular Imperial Saint had performed their most famous miracle. In time, the sheer number of pilgrims who arrived on certain worlds became an economic activity in itself and entire planets were dedicated to worship and directly ruled by the Adeptus Ministorum as shrine worlds. Particularly important shrine worlds might become the religious seat of an entire diocese and so a Cardinal would take up residence there. These planets became known as Cardinal worlds.

The Confederation of Light
The only threat to the Ecclesiarchy was the Confederation of Light. Based upon the planet Dimmamar, this penitent faith's ideals of poverty and humble living clearly contradicted the teachings of the Ecclesiarchy, whose view was that sacrifices of wealth and money to the Adeptus Ministorum in taxes, tithes and other gifts were necessary to enhance the citizens of the Imperium's access to salvation and ensure that the Emperor's light reached every corner of the galaxy through his Missions. The Confederation proved too difficult for Ministorum agents to infiltrate, and the Ecclesiarchy turned to violence, supported in this effort by the unanimous vote of the Senate of the High Lords of Terra, who declared the onset of the first War of Faith, largely to ensure that Imperial stability was not damaged by the emergence of religious plurality. The entire Confederation was declared heretical and the forces of the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Navy, and thousand of fanatical zealots from the Frateris Militia were unleashed upon it, bent on its destruction. Only a few cells and hidden shrines of the Confederation managed to survive and the power of the Ecclesiarchy over the minds of men, for better or worse, was made unassailable.

By the end of the 33rd Millennium every Imperial world was furnished with its own cathedral and the coffers of the Ecclesiarchy were filled with the offerings and tithes from the teeming billions of the Emperor's faithful. This wealth was squandered in building more and more larger and lavish temples and to fund more Wars of Faith not to save the souls of humanity but to secure the Ecclesiarchy's political power and wealth.

Age of Apostasy
Main article: Age of ApostasyThe Apostasy was one of the most destabilizing events in Imperial history after the Heresy, beginning during the long struggle between the Ecclesiarchy and the Administratum for power over the Imperium. High Lord Goge Vandire, the 361st Master of the Administratum, was a power-hungry tyrant who eventually gained direct control over the Ecclesiarchy as well as the Administratum by usurping the position of the Ecclesiarch. This made him the most powerful individual in the Imperium, and allowed him to place his own rule above that of the Emperor. His time in power became known as the Reign of Blood, consisting of massive purges of the Ecclesiarchy, and the killings and assassinations of countless perceived traitors and conspirators. This period was eventually ended by the Ecclesiarch Sebastian Thor's Confederation of Light. The Apostasy resulted in a major reformation of the Ecclesiarchy, the creation of the Imperial Inquisition's Ordo Hereticus to police those enemies of the Imperium who lay within its own structures and the creation of the Adepta Sororitas to serve as both the Eccelsiarchy's new military forces and the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Hereticus.

The Plague of Unbelief
See main article: Plague of Unbelief

The Plague of Unbelief is considered to be a part of the Age of Apostasy by Imperial historians, although it occurred several decades after Sebastian Thor's ascension to the position of Ecclesiarch. The main perpetrator of the Plague of Unbelief was the Cardinal Bucharis.