Board Thread:Warhammer 40k General Discussion/@comment-2253300-20130211000751/@comment-6078851-20130211192356

do the average people even belive that the primarchs truly existed? guilliman and dorn are the only ones i know of that are displayed for people to see, but astartes are generally considered by citizens as godlike, so from this would they not think that the primarchs were maybe mythical?

as for the ecclesiarchy my interpretation follows the model laid down by our real world religious institutions - regardless of what their belief in the emperor is, they use their power/position to spread their own interpretation of the emperors will and to control the masses.