Exactly what does the Pope do?

[j7wild]

The Vatican City is a very small city: they don't import or export anything in great quantity, they don't grow anything.

The Vatican City is supported financially mostly by tourist dollars.

The Pope is supposed to be the head of the Catholic Church.

Okay. I am not Catholic and I am sure if one is Catholic, one wants someone to follow and look up to as a role model.

But are there any true Catholics in this world nowadays whatever being Catholic means and it's required of them to do?

Aside from the Religious aspect of the Pope, the Vatican City, what else does he do?

He goes around the world, gives a few speeches, wave his hands at the crowd; some of the Catholics in the crowd may go wild and start crying, much like people at a rock concert in awe of their favorite musician.

Sometimes when there is an international crisis somewhere or a war or a terrorist act; the Pope may say something, asking people to get along and not fight and kill each other.

Do people fighting a war in another country say: the Pope just said we should stop fighting so lay down our arms and get along?

I doubt it they do.

Does anyone ever listen to him anyway?

I found this:

http://www.livescience.com/27623-wha...e-pope-do.html

Sounds like a very boring job!

[jacques1400]

I thought you were Italian??

Yes, the Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church, and is revered as such simply because of what he represents, but this also overshadows something greater that most people overlook.

Leaving the religious aspect aside for a moment, here are some facts:

The Vatican is a city-state, in other words a country within a country (Italy). It has it's own independent Diplomatic Corps, Economy, Flag, Police and Citizenship. To put it in context it's similar to DC, but DC is not fully independent from the United States, as opposed to the Vatican who is totally independent from Italy. It even had it's own currency (Vatican Lira) prior to the Euro.

Being a country, the Pope is it's head of state, it's actually a monarchical-sacerdotal state, which is to say that it operates as a monarchy in which the Pope is the "king" (monarchical), with senior members of the church hierarchy, appointed by the Pope (Cardinals?), as the governing body (sacerdotal).

Again, for context, it's similar to England, with the major difference being that the Queen of England is largely removed from the day to day decisions affecting England and the Commonwealth countries, as opposed to the Pope who actually runs the Vatican.

As you mentioned, the Vatican is small, total population is about 1,000 people, the greatest majority being ecclesiastical, but because of this, it's GDP makes it about the 18th. wealthiest country in the world.
Since it's economy is not based on tangible assets, but relies strictly on donations and investments (tourism income is nothing), normal accounting practices really can't apply, but are simply estimated as feasibly and accurately as possible.

One area which nobody will debate, is that not even the Vatican itself knows its worth. The amount of wealth held by the Vatican in art, priceless artifacts and historical structures is endless.
Since none of these "holdings" are reflected in a country's GDP, everyone will also agree that the Vatican IS by far the richest country in the world.

And yes, he is also the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

So...... Your question was "What does the pope do?"

Like most head of states, his job is to run around the world making appearances (waving his hand), meeting and greeting with other world leaders to see how or if he can help.
Meeting his constituency in order to promote his views and beliefs, and look for investment opportunities that will benefit his country.

In short, does whatever other leaders do, as long as it's peaceful.

The main differences between the Pope and any other political head of state, is that his constituents are scattered across the world (Catholics), voices his opinion on world crisis to promote peace for all (regardless of religion) without any hidden political agenda.

And I nearly forgot, all this is done without the political hypocrisy of most world leaders, simply because he doesn't need to get elected by the people, so there's no need to buy votes.

So, if you still think his job is boring, think again.