Arch-Cardinal Ignato

Titles: Emperor Blessed, Luminous Vex Calyx
Seat of Power: Scintilla (Hive Tarsus)
Arch-Diocese: Golgenna Reach
For well over a century, Ignato has directed the interests of the
Ministorum within the Calixis Sector. He rose from the ranks
of the Tarsine Synod and took over from a weak and largely
ineffective predecessor; many within the church credit the
strength and power of the Scintillian Ministorum to his steady
hand and careful judgements. For all of his great power and
influence, however, Ignato is seldom seen outside the walls of
the Cathedral of Illumination on Scintilla. Every decade or so
he may travel to the Lucid Court should a pressing matter arise
where he feels he must meet with Sector Lord Hax personally,
but for much of the daily running of the Calixian Ministorum,
Ignato remains out of sight. For this reason there are few, even
among the faithful, who know exactly what the Arch-Cardinal
looks like, having only a vague impression of an imposing figure
in Arch-Cardinal’s regalia based on generic-looking portraits,
statues or holo-pics. This of course is all part of Ignato’s power
and mystery, allowing him to use doubles, agents and lesser
Ministorum servants to carry out his will quietly and without
drawing undue attention. It is also a prudent security measure
as Ignato has many enemies both within the Ministorum and
without, for as the highest ranking member of the Ecclesiarchy
in the Calixis Sector he is a natural target for any foes of the
Imperial Creed (and of these there are more than a few).
Ignato has made his presence very strongly felt in his time
in the office of the Arch-Cardinal and has done much to both
expand the influence and domain of the church as well as to
consolidate its holdings. First and foremost has been his campaign
to raise and support vast numbers of independent preachers,
confessors and missionaries so that the church might have a
stake on every world within the sector, and even some worlds
only nominally under Imperial control. This pushing back of
the Ministorum’s boundaries, while costly in lives, has had some
successes and added greatly to the church’s coffers through new
tithes, as well as burnishing Ignato’s reputation with the greater
Ecclesiarchy and the distant Segmentum Synods. In his role as
the Arch-Cardinal Ignato has also done much to cement the
bonds between Sector Synod members and forge closer ties
between the Diocese Cardinals, the worlds they control, and the
myriad of sects and cults on each of those worlds. Though far
from unified, for the first time in millennia the Sector Synod has
the ability to create Ministorum policy across the entire sector (if
of course they could ever agree on what that policy might be),
which in itself is a massive achievement.
Of course Ignato is also in a constant battle with the problems
facing the church, and as Arch-Cardinal the responsibility of
dealing with such issues falls on his shoulders. Perhaps the
most dire of these is the existence of the Temple Tendency and
its extensive infiltration of the Ministorum. Ignato knows full
well that the Temple Tendency exists and is a significant threat
within the church, subverting its power to complete its own
goals. Like most staunch followers of the Imperial Creed Ignato
finds the Temple Tendency repulsive to his sense of faith, and
works when and where he can to burn it out. Unfortunately
after years of fighting its spread he has come to the realization
(a realization he would never share) that to destroy the Temple
Tendency might only be possible by destroying much of the
Calixian Ministorum and crippling the church on dozens of
worlds. Worse yet, is that it has come to Ignato’s attention that
one of the Synod Cardinals may be a member of the Temple
Tendency. However even the Arch-Cardinal must be careful
when pointing an accusing finger at one of his own, and should
he make such an accusation without proof it could shatter the
Sector Synod and undo all his hard earned work thus far.
Though he knows the cult has infiltrated the Ministorum within the Calixis Sector, he knows not truly how high it reaches. Deacon Priam, Arch Deacon Procurator of the Golgenna Reach and manager of its physical holdings, has the ear of Ignato. None but Priam's innermost circle know that he is actually a hidden Pontifex of the Temple of the Saviour Emperor and its leader in the Calixis Sector. His machinations have ensured that the Temple Tendency reaches far and is one of the most dangerous public heretics in all of Calixis.
In addition, the Imperial Creed he promulgates is threatened
by the Maccabeus Schism and his lack of influence over the
world of Maccabeus Quintus. For decades the residences of
this shrine world have seen themselves as set apart from the
rest of the Calixian Ministorum and somehow blessed by the
miracle of Saint Drusus’ resurrection. While Ignato tolerates
this variance of the Imperial Creed he also watches it closely
lest it stray too far from Ecclesiarchy orthodoxy. The situation is
exacerbated by the machinations of Kregory Hestor, Cardinal
of the Drusian Diocese in which Maccabeus lies. In his ongoing
efforts to wrest power from Ignato, Kregory is using the schism
to try and drive a wedge between the faithful of his diocese
and the rest of the sector. Ignato must play a dangerous game
as he makes moves to thwart Kregory’s separatist efforts while
maintaining the stability of the Sector Synod. Ignato has no
illusions that if he were to declare the Maccabian Cult heretical
it could well escalate into a sector wide war of faith, not to
mention irreparably damaging the reputation of Saint Drusus.
Perhaps the greatest burden Ignato bears is not the daily effort
of guiding and unifying a sector-wide organization but rather the
burden of knowledge. Arch-Cardinal Ignato is the holder of the
Kapocian Key, an ancient device of dark age technology which
he wears at all times around his neck. The key opens the great
void seals in the vaults below the Cathedral of Illumination and
allows access to the Diabolus Formentum, or Devil’s Dungeon
where the most heretical and dangerous texts, devices and relics
captured by the church are stored for safe keeping. From his
rare visits to the vaults, Ignato has become privy to terrible and
powerful secrets about the Calixis Sector. The worst of these is
perhaps the Atrum Asectica, which Ignato has only dared lay
eyes upon a handful of times. Rumoured to be the precursor
work to the Propheticum Hereticus Tenebrae, this tome deals
with such secrets as the truth behind the resurrection of Saint
Drusus and the appearance of the Tyrant Star. It also contains
many of the forbidden pieces of lore. More than anything else,
this knowledge, as well as access to this tome, probably make
Ignato one of the most powerful men within the sector, even
greater than Sector Lord Hax should he ever choose to use this
knowledge for his own ends, or become corrupted by it.