The Most Powerful Man in The World

As Pope Benedict visited America this past week, I started thinking about the number of people that look to him for spiritual leadership, influence, and inspiration.  The Catholic Church represents about 1/2 of the world’s Christian population and about 1/6th of the world’s entire population.  In total, the Pope has indirect influence over 1.1 billion people! 

Presidents and nations come and go but the Pope’s reign continues over decades.  Care and deliberation is taken when choosing a successor–most assuming this role at the end of their lives.  Pope Benedict is 78.

I find it interesting that the most powerful man in the world is so gentle and unassuming.  He looks like someone’s grandfather!  It’s hard to believe that he is leading a spiritual army of over 1.1 billion saints.  Amazing.

The Catholic Church has huge presence throughout the world.  Imagine being the head of an organization that influences such a great number of governments and people. 

Listed below are the top ten nations with the most Catholics in terms of population percentage.  

 

Nation	Percent	Number of baptized Catholics
Brazil	86.50%	134,818,000
Mexico	95.30	86,305,000
USA	26.00	~61,000,000
Philippines	83.60	58,735,000
Italy	97.20%	55,599,000
France	82.10	47,773,000
Spain	94.20	36,956,000
Poland	95.40	36,835,000
Colombia	91.90	32,260,000
Argentina	90.70	31,546,000
Germany	34.80	28,403,000

Statistics from http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_romcath.html

 

Also, I’ve always been impressed by the ability of the Catholic Church to remain unified throughout the centuries.  By comparison, Protestants are divided and have fractured into hundreds of denominations while Catholics remain united and strong.  It think we all could learn a few lessons from the Catholic Church about unity and longevity.

Here is some interesting deomgraphic information about Catholics from the source listed above.

• More science fiction and fantasy writers belong to the Catholic Church than to any other religious body. Notable among these are G.K. Chesterton, Andrew Greeley, J.R.R. Tolkien, R.A. Lafferty, Anthony Boucher, Clifford Simak, Walter M. Miller, Jr. and Gene Wolfe. On a per capita basis, there are more practicing Catholics than practicing Protestants among mainstream sf/f writers. However, there are some specific religious bodies other than the Catholic Church which are better represented on a per capita basis. In the introduction to Sacred Visions, Andrew Greeley (the famed priest-sociologist-novelist) suggests Catholicism fits better with science fiction than Protestantism. The Jesuit priest/scientist is one of the most common types of religious characters in science fiction literature.
  [Source: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Various Faiths.]
• Catholic countries have lower suicide rates than Protestant ones and “even within Protestant countries those areas with Catholic populations [have] lower rates.” It is worth noting that “the reduced suicide rate of Catholics relative to Protestants is independent of their minority status.”
  [Sources: Study by Emile Durkheim, cited in Robert Alun Jones. Emile Durkheim: An Introduction to Four Major Works. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1986. Pg. 82-114.; John Hood-Williams (Department of Social Science, University of Greenwich, London, UK). "Studying Suicide" in Health & Place (Vol. 2. No. 3; 1996), pg. 167-177.]
• A national survey conducted by the Barna Research Group (Ventura, California), determined that in the U.S., Catholics and Lutherans have the lowest divorce rate among major Christian denominations. (Baptists had the highest divorce rate).
  [Sources: Barna report online; Greg Garrison. "Survey: Baptists lead in divorces" in The Birmingham News, 30 Dec. 1999.]
• “Catholic countries consume significantly more alcohol than Protestant (or neither religion dominant) countries.”
  [Source: Stanton Peele (Fellow, The Lindesmith Center, New York). "Utilizing Culture and Behaviour in Epidemiological Models of Alcohol Consumption and Consequences for Western Nations" in Alcohol & Alcoholism (vol. 32; 1997), pg. 51-64.]

The President of the US may have control over the most powerful military in the world but think about the power of the Pope as he opens his mouth and speaks.  His words alone have the power to change history.