As the most powerful man in the Catholic faith faced the modern landscape through Twitter indulgences and bank restructuring, Pope Francis still cannot hide the giant shadow of the 'church industry.'
The Pope leads an estimated 1.2 billion members of the Catholic faith all around the world. With that comes another responsibility which he may or may not acknowledge; he is also the leader of the world's most expansive business.
Despite analysts and sources revealing financial data on the Vatican, the Catholic church has not released any figure regarding the 'industry.' Last year, however, The Economist divulged information that the spending of the Vatican, including bodies owned by the church, amounted to US$170 billion in 2010 in the United States alone.
Looking at the figure on a general scale, the Catholic church ranked among the top 20 earners in the world that year. The Vatican was the 17th most profitable company.
The Pope's interest in shaking up the Vatican Bank might reveal hard facts about the businesses and the industry hidden behind the cloth.
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