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.