THE BEAST RECEIVED A DEADLY WOUND; BUT HIS DEADLY WOUND WAS HEALED (CONTINUED)

Today, the Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination in the world. It rejoices under many names: “Roman”, “Holy”, and “Apostolic Catholic Church”, “Roman Catholic Church”, and “Holy Roman Catholic Church” – continue to appear in various books and other publications. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catholic ecclesiology professes the Catholic Church to be the “sole Church of Christ”—i.e., the one true church defined as “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic” in the Four Marks of the Church in the Nicene Creed. According to the CIA Factbook and the Pew Research Center, the five countries with the most prominent Catholic populations are, in decreasing order of Catholic population: Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, the United States, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is only one country on earth in which there is no Catholic Church, and that is Saudi Arabia. There are no parishes in Saudi Arabia, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia. Saudi Arabia allows Catholics and Christians of other denominations to enter the country as foreign workers for temporary work, but does not allow them to practise their faith openly.

Presidents and prime ministers are often the first to come to mind when thinking about who shapes foreign policy. But there is another resonating voice at the center of international relations: the pope. Unlike other religious leaders, the head of the Roman Catholic Church exercises a unique influence over global affairs. In recent years, popes have helped shape the outcomes of critical inflection points in history. The Second Vatican Council’s 1964 dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium (LG) declared that the “pope’s power of primacy” is by “virtue of his office, that is as Vicar of Christ and pastor of the whole Church”, and is “full, supreme and universal power over the Church” which he “is always free to exercise”. The pope does not necessarily possess a great deal of “hard power,” but he certainly serves as a moral authority for followers and leaders across the globe. The Vatican is also an observer to the United Nations, which lends the Pope some authority on international issues as well. While popes traditionally receive a salary, reports indicate that the current wage for the position is $32,000 per month. However, Pope Francis has opted to either donate this money to the church, use it for a foundation, place it in trust, or pass it to a family member.

The Church has no armies, no air force, no navy, no missiles or artillery. She has no tax inspectors or lawcourts to levy taxes on her faithful, unlike secular states, which can freeze your bank accounts or send in bailiffs for failure to pay your taxes. She cannot prosecute or imprison anyone for refusing to attend Sunday Mass. Her power is simply the power of God’s word and the power of persuasion. Catholics are free to walk away from the Church, and they will incur no fatwa, no death sentence for apostasy. The Catholic Church is the largest voluntary organization on the planet and also the largest charitable organization. She has existed for 1990 years because the Holy Spirit supports her with His divine grace and power. The Catholic Church has a lot of influence, because of its 1.3 billion members, but it has no power in the hard sense of power to compel, which all secular governments have. QUORA: How Powerful Is The Catholic Church by Francis Marsden.

LIST OF WEALTHIEST RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS

Organization	Worth (billion USD)	Country	Religion/Belief	Notes
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints	293	United States	Mormonism	Includes everything from investments, operating assets (ecclesiastical buildings) and real estate, mostly from USA.[1]
Setad (Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order)	95 to 135	Iran	Shiite Islam	[2][3][4][5]
Muhammadiyah	167.74	Indonesia	Sunni Islam	Roughly converted from 400 trillion rupiah as of 2023; mostly in the form of land and buildings (Hospitals, Mosques, Schools, & Universities).[6]
Catholic Church in Germany	47.24 to 265.62	Germany	Catholicism	Some sources suggest a value as high as $265.62 billion, while others put it closer to $47.24 billion due to limited public data on the Church’s finances. Former totals the value of land, real estate, investments and holdings of the Catholic Church and its institutions.[7][8]
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD)	31.11	India	Hinduism	Holdings reportedly includes 10.25 tonnes of gold deposits in banks, 2.5 tonnes of gold jewelry, $1.9 billion in various banks and 960 properties across India.[9]
Catholic Church in France	23.0	France	Catholicism
Catholic Church in Australia	23.25	Australia	Catholicism	Extrapolated figure from calculating assets and investments in the state of Victoria.[10]
Seventh-day Adventist Church	15.6	United States	Adventism	As of 1998.[11]
Church of England	13.84	United Kingdom	Anglican	Endowment funds.[12]
Church of Sweden	11.41	Sweden	Lutheran	FY2012. Largely of assets that are in forests, buildings and securities. Another 3.07 billion as annual income.[13]
Trinity Church	6.0	United States	Anglican	[14][15][16]
Opus Dei (part of the Catholic Church)	3.0	Italy	Catholicism	[17]
Church of Scientology	2.0	United States	Scientology	[18][19]
Holy See (Vatican)	Incalculable[20]	Vatican City	Catholicism	Not available due to widespread properties globally.[21][22][23]