Arch-Dioceses

Central to the Ministorum’s power in the Calixis Sector are the
Arch-Dioceses, or holy domains of the faith, each under
the command of one of the eight Cardinals of the Sector Synod. This division allows the Ministorum detailed control
over the regions within the Calixis Sector as well as giving
individual worlds or problems direct attention. A side effect
of this micro-management, however, is that religious laws or
scriptural interpretation differ between Arch-Dioceses, creating
extra political friction within the Ministorum and between
the Ministorum and other Imperial organizations. Some have
speculated (though not too loudly) that this kind of division is
deliberate and the Ministorum fosters such minor variances in
the Imperial Creed so that it might both recruit followers from
a broader base of citizens and also that those citizens might
strive harder in their worship in order to prove that their own
interpretation of the God-Emperor’s will is the true one.
The Arch-Dioceses were created at much the same time that
the Calixis Sector took shape, and as a sub-sector or region of
space falls under Imperial dominion, the Ministorum is quick
to put boundaries around it on their maps. Within the Calixis
Sector each Arch-Diocese mirrors the standard Imperial political
divisions and so the Sector consists of the Adrantian Diocese,
Drusian Diocese, Malfian Diocese and Golgenna Diocese.
Balanced against these four powerful and influential dioceses are
the Josian Diocese, Hazeroth Diocese and Markayn Diocese---of
lesser importance, but not without influence. Finally, the eighth
Arch-Diocese covers the Periphery and the ‘Halo Stars’ region
(and the Koronus Expanse, at least on paper). This last diocese is a
catch-all division for the Ministorum and ensures they have some
influence and presence beyond the established borders of the
Imperium; in time, as new systems are rediscovered or settled, then
this eighth diocese may well become more formally structured or
even divided into several smaller dioceses.
==The Power of the Dioceses==
Although the Arch-Dioceses are the highest level of
Ministorum control within the sector, as with the
Synods, each world or group of worlds is itself a
diocese, overseen by either a Cardinal or other high
ranking member of the church. Also like the Synods,
the real power of the church resides within its power
structure on each world and the Arch-Dioceses are
seen by many of these ‘local’ Ministorum leaders as
mere paper distinctions, dividing them from worlds
light years away with which they have little interest or
connection. For the most part this is true and in the day
to day running of a planetary church, the Cardinals and
their politics play only a small role. However, should a
situation arise where the Sector Synod takes an interest
in a world, the presence of the Arch-Dioceses becomes
of vital importance and the standing and concerns of
its ruling Cardinal can determine its future.