Why this word is great
HIEROCRACY — [Noun] Government by priests or ecclesiastics. From the Greek hiero- ("sacred" or "priestly") and -cracy ("rule" or "government"), it is the formalization of divine authority into human hands. Unlike "theocracy" (which suggests the direct governance of a god) or "secularism" (which insists on the division of church and state), hierocracy is the earthly administration of the sacred—less a revelation than a bureaucracy. It is the rustle of vestments in the halls of power, the slow accretion of canon law into civil code, the bishop’s ledger balancing tithes against taxes. Power justified by heaven is still power, and even the most devout rulers must sweep the temple floors.