Confessor

"There are many who have transgressions against the God-Emperor they need to confess. This simple act of admitting ones own heresy is the first step towards redemption. It is the duty of my Confessors to hear the sins of those in greatest need...the unwilling."

- Arch-Cardinal Ignato

A Confessor are free-roaming zealots who use their evangelical platform to agitate the crowds of Imperial citizenry that turn up to hear them. Under the spell of an Arch-Confessor, swathes of citizens will rush forwards to confess their personal heresies, reveal their hideous mutations and betray their comrades as psykers or other untrustworthy deviants. A Confessor might have responsibility for a Hive City or if it is less populated, an entire world, or in frontier regions a system or even sub-sector. Just as not every Cardinal heads a diocese, many Confessors are not responsible for a specific area. Many act autonomously, their duties taking them far and wide. Some find themselves attached to other Imperial institutions. Often, an Imperial Guard general or Imperial Navy admiral might have as his most trusted confidant a senior Confessor, who advises him on spiritual matters and bolsters his resolve to enact the God-Emperor's will.

History
With the ever present threat of heresy hiding in the souls of the weak-willed, the Ecclesiarchy can take no chances that an apostate is able to fool those who seek to bring their transgressions to light. Arch-Cardinals establish many training shrines within their sectors to prepare their clergy for service as Confessors. It is from these holy sites and institutions that many of the most talented interrogators hail. As hardened veterans of the Ecclesiarchy, Confessors know how to obtain the information they want in a timely manner. Many Inquisitors will often recruit a Confessor to serve in an Acolyte Cell. Their zeal for uncovering heresy is such, that many Confessors who survive their tasks with any semblance of sanity become Inquisitors in their own right.

Filled with the power and fury of faith, legends in the Shrine Worlds tell of Confessors who have turned back armies with a word or incited entire cities to rebel against an apostate dictator. These individuals can be found on almost every world, commanding loyal servants of the God-Emperor to seek out foul heretics and purge them. Imperial Guard and PDF commanders often retain a Confessor among their advisors, bringing their rhetoric and oratory to the soldiers on the eve of battle. Occasionally Cardinals will dispatch groups of fiery Confessors to lead Frateris Militia on war of faith against the enemies of the Imperium of Man.

Every Confessor has his ow her own unique brand of oratory and interrogation. The two are not vastly dissimilar practices in the mind of a Confessor. While many use finely honed speeches that have been practiced to perfection others might call out to the crowd for responses to questions, correcting and praising them. In the confession chamber these fearsome individuals would ask questions of the shriven, demanding that they incriminate themselves to gain absolution. Others whisper the correct words in the ears of commanders so that they might deliver their own sermons and in the Confession chamber a whisper in the ear and a hot brand can be very persuasive, guiding the pliant subject to a clear conscious.

Becoming a Confessor
The majority of Confessors are trained at one of the Adeptus Ministorums special shrines. The process is not dissimilar to the training of an Arbitrator or a Cleric, in that the Confessor is drilled with the Imperial Creed and the price of straying from it. Along with physical training, the Confessors ply their new found trade upon each other in an attempt to cleanse the weakness and sin from the group. Some keep the scars of his experience for life as a reminder of the pain they must deliver to others as an opportunity to be pure and whole. While many clergy are selected to join the ranks of the Confessors directly from the Schola Progenium or other Ecclesiarchal recruiting grounds, there are many more who attend the training facilities at the behest of Judges or Inquisitors. Those who are not educated at one of the approved Adeptus Ministorum sacred places are trained in private by experienced Confessors, often for a specific duty.

Notable Confessors

 * Confessor Dolan Chirosius - During the Plague of Unbelief which is considered part of the Age of Apostasy of the 36th Millennium, many false prophets appeared throughout this anarchic age. Some were little more than madmen leading rebel armies, others spiritual demagogues who commanded worlds and armies. The most powerful of these was the Apostate Cardinal of Gathalamor, Bucharis, whose heresies reached such proportions they became known as the Plague of Unbelief. Despite controlling a vast swathe of worlds in an miniature empire ruled by an iron fist, some planets began to revolt against Bucharis' heavy-handed rule. Multiple worlds successfully rebelled against the Apostate Cardinal's forces, as entire planetary populations rose up against their cruel overlords. A score of worlds began to free themselves from Bucharis' oppressive regime. Soon, Bucharis' coffers began to empty more rapidly than could be filled. The Apostate Cardinal soon found out the driving force behind these unexplained uprisings when he received a defiant messenger proclaiming that he was the envoy of Confessor Dolan Chirosius. The messenger then told Bucharis that he was ordered to resign his position and throw himself on the mercy of the God-Emperor. Most importantly, he was to remove his heresies and apostate idea of self-deliverance. When the Confessor arrived on Gathalamor, Dolan was chained and driven through the streets. Soldiers from Bucharis' army whipped the Confessor with flails and hurled stones at him. They stuck hooks into his flesh and hung them with weights, driving him onwards with kicks and punches. The crowds, however, were not so impressed. There were no cheers of approval, but there were no cries of condemnation either. Dolan was dragged across the entire continent in this manner for over six months. All the while, however, his fiery stare would not diminish and he never bowed to Bucharis. Bucharis then ordered a public trial, but it was a complete sham and would only find Dolan guilty. After five months, the prosecution had finished and a thousand worlds waited for the results. Dolan represented himself and freely admitted to stirring up the people of all of the rebellious worlds to fight against Bucharis' rule. He used the time to appeal to the masses, although Bucharis didn't see this. It was Dolan's appeals to the masses that Bucharis allowed during the show trial that eventually led to his downfall. Bucharis had Dolan tortured for eight months. When at last the Confessor died, his maimed body was flung from the walls of the Cardinal Palace of Gathalamor for the scavenging dogs and birds to feast upon. Despite the horrendous torments inflicted upon his body, Dolan's face exuded a calm serenity and peace lay like an aura across his corpse. Those who saw it wept openly, even though any who exhibited such grief were themselves accused of heresy and put to death. The scavengers never had their meal: Dolan's body disappeared shortly after and was never found. Cardinal Bucharis' plan to shame the Confessor backfired horribly. By allowing Dolan to speak he had given him the ability to rally the masses on all of the worlds ruled by Bucharis. When Dolan's death was announced, the entire Apostate empire erupted in rebellion. The populations of a thousand worlds overthrew their cruel overseers, almost at the same time. The men, women and children were inspired by the will of the Confessor and faced their enemies' guns with bare hands. Bucharis' Cardinal Palace was stormed as traitors from within his own ranks opened the gates. Bucharis fled the palace as a small handful of loyal warriors held back the tide of doom coming his way. He used tunnels to escape the palace and ran to the spaceport, giving up all he had worked for to save his own life. Just as he was boarding a shuttle, the inhabitants overran the electric fences by piling on them to make them short-circuit. He was captured in a wave of screaming mobsters and his body was torn to pieces.
 * Redemptor Kyrinov, Arch-Confessor - Arch-Confessor Redemptor Kyrinov has been the scourge of blasphemers and heretics across a hundred worlds. He purged the Chaotic legions of the Demagogue Lord of Valaan, accompanied the Valhallan Ice Warriors on the Crusade of Repentance and crushed the Jihad of Duke Selda. Kyrinov is known for unflinching adherance to his duties and his harsh treatment of those who deviate from his strict interpretations of Ecclesiarchal doctrine. Kyrinov often quotes from the scriptures of Confessor Dolan and strongly agrees with the Great Confessor's belief that no sacrifice is too great.