The dominant religious and political institution of Lyra's world, exercising authority over science, education, and public life across multiple continents. A parallel evolution of the Catholic Church in a world where the Reformation never occurred, the Magisterium comprises numerous competing councils and authorities united by their determination to control the flow of knowledge and suppress anything that threatens their theological authority. Their particular obsession with Dust - elementary particles they associate with original sin - drives the central conflict of His Dark Materials.