Megalos church structure

On the shard of Megalos, the primary religion is a form of Catholicism. All other religions are barely tolerated at best.

The Religion was transplanted via banestorm about 700 AD. When the pope was still in Constantinople, and many of the saints had yet to be canonized. It has developed mostly out of touch with the original religion ever since... with many beliefs and practices completely unlike the original version. The biggest and most obvious differences are the Megalos fact of magic, other races, and the shattered world itself.

Structure:
The highest rank in the Church hierarchy is that of Pope. He is always male, and human. He resides in a very small but well guarded town near the center of the Megalos empire known as Remula. The only citizens in Remula are church officials... even the street sweepers are monks. The pope has absolute power in religious affairs... His word is doctrine.



The next rank is that of Archbishops, Patriarchs, or Cardinals (Each has about the same status, names are mostly colloquial versions, meaning roughly the same thing) . Each of these individuals leads a different order, as well as being the supreme religious guidance of a large city. In Megalos, for instance, the Archbishop is also the head of the Order of St Thomas.

After Archbishops (etc.) follow bishops, each Archbishop has several Bishops as delegated authorities.. They run the affairs of the church in general.  Also each Cathedral has a resident Bishop in charge of it.

Then comes parish priests, who run their own individual churches, as well as Arch deacons and Mother superiors who run the monasteries.

The lowest orders are Monks, Friars, and Deacons. Monks work within monasteries, Friars are wandering monks, and deacons are connected to individual churches, acting as helpers for the priest.


Orders:

Order of St Thomas
This is the magical branch of the church. Members tend to be magically active, and involved in the research of magic. Their primary focus is the gathering of knowledge and the research of suspected miracles. Also, Thomasites wage war on demons and necromantic magic. It is a high sin to resurrect a body, or even to tamper with the dead. 

Thomasites are very unpopular with many mages, as a big part of their work is to remove all "sinful" magic and technology from the land.... Especially whatever heretical items a stranger or banestormer might possess. These are sequestured in their Cathedral, and studied. 

Every now and then an innovation is deemed acceptable ("rock and roll" music was decreed tolerable, after a 1980's era banestormer  from earth argued his case in front of the Pope. He was not, however, allowed to keep the "booming box")

Thomasites have the vows of chastity, temperance, poverty, and piety, but do not have the vows of silence or of raiment.


Merciful Sisters of ST. Karroll
This female order is also magically active... trained primarily in healing magic. They also act as the teachers of Megalos. If you learned how to read, or had any formal schooling, chances are you learned it from a Karrollite nun. These nuns are also perhaps the least corruptible branch of the church. It's a standard stereotype to picture a Karrollite nun as tough as nails. Even hardened mercenaries think twice before back-talking a nun. 

No woman or non-human can attain a rank higher than Bishop.

The Order of St Karroll has the vows of chastity, raiment, poverty, piety, and temperance. The vow of silence is common among cloistered nuns.

Order of St Michael
The enforcers of the Law. This order was founded many years ago to catch criminals who commited religious crimes and then fled from justice. At one time it was purely a church organization, but in the last eighty years, The Emporer of Megalos has had all Michaelites serving the empire directly. The order was released from most of its vows, and has turned secular.

A Michaelite was given the power to pursue a criminal anywhere in Megalos lands, and administer justice as he saw fit. Over time the order has grown more powerful, and now a Michaelite has the power to apprehend, sentence, and try an commoner right there on the spot. The only appeal to a Michaelites sentence is another Michaelite, or the high court (reserved for nobility). Michaelites stick with their own unless given absolute proof otherwise. They have the privilege of being the only warriors in Megalos permitted to use the foil, as a weapon. They also possess a powerful magic item, known as the Michaelite signet, which among other things allows them to communicate with others of their order.

This order has the vows of Piety, but none of the other oaths apply. As a reminder of their roots, They take the oath of piety seriously.


The Order of St Gabriel. 

This order was also introduced by The emperor, with the popes blessings, some eighty years ago. They act as messengers, couriers, singers, and bards. Their symbol is a trumpet. They act as the bearer of news and history, as well as religions entertainers. Many of the order have learned spells from the college of illusion or sound to aid in their duty. The order trains their members to be observant, and to improve their memory. 

By Papal and Imperial decree it is illegal to refuse food and shelter to a Gabrialite, the traditional offering is cheese, bread, and a blanket on the floor of the kitchen.   

They have the oaths of piety, poverty, pacifism, and raiment. but they are well known in many bawdy tales for not having the oath of chastity or temperance.

Followers of St Francis
 This is the largest order, yet least politically active. The Franciscans are dedicated to serving god through manual labor. They tend to create monasteries in the least habitable portions of the shard. They can be found almost anywhere. Friar Tuck was a Franciscan. 

They have the vows or raiment, poverty, chastity, piety, pacifism, and many have vows of silence, they do not have the vow of temperance.

The Society of Jesus
Jesuit priests are the most politically active of the orders, serving as representatives in the various courts and kingdoms. This order is also responsible for most of the missionaries of the shard. Their mission being to spread the word of god. A wandering friar is most likely a Jesuit. Soapbox sermons are common among this order. 

They have the vows of poverty, raiment, chastity, piety, and temperance.   A big part of the society is the vow of Proselytation, unique to the Jesuits.

The Huguenots
This is a very small force within the church... basically the beginnings of the protestant movement. It is not a separate order but rather individuals aghast at the corruption they see, and trying to reduce it secretly... all branched have a few huguenots among them.

The Inquisition
A branch devoted to "housecleaning"... that is, ferrying out unbelievers and heretics in their midst. This is the least tolerant of the sects, and no non-humans are among their members. Huguenots are a common target of their wrath, as are anyone who defies their order. The Inquisition and the knights Azrael often scratch each others back.

The Order of St Olybrious
This is the patron saint of goblins, and as such, leads the non-human orders of the church. Goblins, Halflings, and gargoyles are the most common members. "Civilized" Orcs, ogres and hobgoblins also prefer this order. The Elves and Dwarves have their own orders, much the same... but devoted strictly to their own races. Olybrious is popular among the rebellious and liberal… Active in attempting political reformation. Think of them as the medieval version of the ACLU 

They have the vows of  poverty, raiment, chastity, piety, and temperance

The Order of Azrael 

An order devoted to enlarging the coffers of the church, this is the shards version of a tax collector. They also investigate and punish charges of heresy, and blaspheme. This order is also heavily involved in the combat arts, and have recruited the largest and strongest of the faithful. It also tends to be the most corrupt of the branches. They recruit many mages into their fold. Non-humans are welcome in the order... especially the biggest and best in the warrior arts. Slavery is also administered and managed primarily by the Azraelites. Their heraldic emblem is a cross of blades. 

They have the vow of Piety only, (and are known not to be particularly pious) 

There are many lesser orders, that swear allegiance to one of these larger groups.

example:

The Order of Lazarus 

This is an (Ahem) dead order. A subset of the Order of St. Thomas. During the time of the Mindtwister's rule. The Megalos brothers were desperately trying to find a way to stop the Illithids. They begged the church to allow research into the forbidden magics, and the Order of Lazarus was the result. deeply Pious Necromancers who created many golems, undead warriors, and spirit soldiers in an attempt to create an army uncontrollable by mind magic. 

It almost worked, but the Illithids had forcefully created a human-elf race of highly magical beings called the Bales, and having captured a learned Lazarite, they pulled every necromantic scrap of knowledge from his mind, and trained these Bales in necromancy. The Lazarite army was decimated as the bales began forcefully to take over all of their undead and golem creations.

Most Lazarites were destroyed, but necromancy being what it is, there are many rumors that a chapter still resides in the cemetry of the great city of megalos. and the Lazarites there, while dead, are not remaining so.
The Order of St Thomas works diligently to find all necromancer's and necromancy magic, and either destroy it, or sequestrate the practitioner as a Lazarite,  if he is shown to be otherwise pious and good.