Kai The kai was the religious leader of the Bajoran s , elected from among and by the Vedek Assembly to a life term . A symbol of strength and unity to the Bajorans for centuries , the kai ' s religious authority was rivaled only by that of the Emissary of the Prophets . Besides religious power , the kai also had a great deal of political influence in the Bajoran government . Disputes between the kai and the first minister of the government , while rare , could be extremely divisive . While it was not forbidden for the kai to serve as first minister , such involvement in political matters was discouraged . The kai was properly addressed as " Eminence " . ( ) When the Cardassian Union began its occupation of the planet , the Bajoran religion was outlawed . Power passed from then - kai Meressa to Opaka , who protected her people as best she could and became revered . However , she went into isolation during the last years of the occupation . With the conclusion of the Cardassian Withdrawal in 2369 , it was expected that Opaka was the only one who could unite the Bajorans , yet she remained isolated . The arrival of Benjamin Sisko , the Emissary , and Opaka ' s disappearance that same year significantly decreased the influence of the Kai on Bajoran life . ( ) Bajor was spiritually and politically leaderless as the Bajoran Provisional Government struggled to maintain order , and the Vedek Assembly did not elect a new Kai until 2370 . The election was largely a choice between Vedek s Bareil Antos and Winn Adami . As common knowledge held that Bareil was Opaka ' s hand - picked successor , his election seemed inevitable , but the threat of a scandal involving the Kendra Valley Massacre led him to drop out of the race in order to keep the certain secrets about Kai Opaka ' s involvement from coming to light . Winn was thus assured victory and easily won the election . ( ) Winn served as kai for over five years , during which time Bajor saw significant changes . Relations with the United Federation of Planets were tentative , yet despite Winn ' s opposition to the Federation ' s presence the authority of the Kai was superseded by that of the Emissary . She eventually made amends with Captain Sisko but was never satisfied with his status as Emissary . The signing of the Bajoran - Cardassian Treaty took place in 2371 , and as kai , Winn took credit for the move even though Vedek Bareil was largely responsible for the negotiations , sacrificing his health ( to the point of giving his life ) to ensure the treaty would work out so Bajor could begin healing . ( ) Popularity from the signing of the treaty with the Cardassians allowed Winn to briefly ascend to the position of first minister , essentially giving her complete control of Bajor . Although she was defeated in a formal election by Shakaar Edon , she remained popular on Bajor despite her opportunistic nature . The position of kai suffered a tremendous blow when Winn betrayed the Prophets and aided Dukat in his attempt to release the Pah - wraith s from the Fire Caves , however . When Winn was killed in 2375 , Quark , who was taking bets on who the next kai would be , told Colonel Kira Nerys that " the smart money was on Vedek Ungtae . " ( ) Background information . According to the script for " Battle Lines " , this title ' s name was pronounced as " KYE " . The term " kai " was likely derived by the writers from the Welsh name which means " keeper of the keys " or " kai " , the Persian title for kings in the Shanameh following the reign of Kai Kavus . The position of kai ( at least Kai Winn ' s interpretation of it ) can be likened to that of the pope in Catholicism . Winn actress Louise Fletcher herself made the analogy , remarking , " " I think therefore that when you ' re elected kai , whatever you say is the law . . . the religious law . " " ( ) Also , the kai was explicitly compared with the pope in the script of ( though the Emissary was also once compared to the pope , in the script of ) . As with the kai , the pope was elected from among the senior ranks of the clergy , and the members of both the Bajoran religion and Catholicism were supposed to follow the leader ' s spiritual guidance . However , Winn ' s brief term as first minister of Bajor and her active role in Bajoran political affairs thereafter was akin to the papacy of Medieval Europe ; see . Innocent ascended to the papacy shortly before a vacancy in rule of the Holy Roman Empire , which was headquartered in Germany , and he used the opening as a chance to gain both spiritual and political control over much of what was now Italy . Any direct similarities are probably coincidental , however . It should be noted that the true nature of the role of kai was somewhat uncertain . The only characters to have the title were Opaka and Winn , and while the former went into isolation during the Cardassian Occupation , the latter ( as mentioned above ) took the opposite direction and used her role to gain an increasing level of power . We therefore have no experience with a " normal " kai and any assumptions about the nature of the role may be based on skewed information . Unlike Catholicism , which can only elevate men to hold the position of pope , selection of the kai ( and Bajoran clergy in general ) appeared to be gender - neutral . Also , it appeared that the kai could be married and have children – Kai Opaka had at least one son . It is interesting to note that the clothes of the kai were very similar to the traditional garments of the Doge of Venice ; Kai Winn ' s cap was the same as the traditional cap of the Doge and her garments were almost identical to that of Doge Lenardo Loredan .