The Holy Corporation

Russell Derrickson

1. December. 2015

There has never been a financial operation in the history of the world a absolutely successful as the Catholic Church. The scope and breadth of the power employed by “The Church”, would be so extensive as to be unbelievable, if it were not still so very true even to this day. Groups like the East India Trading Company and WalMart could only dream of such extensive control over the lives of the societies they feed upon. Yes the E.I.C. Conquered Asia, and WalMart conquered Main Street, but both no other organization has ever brought itself to a point of openly controlling who is named the ruler of a nation, and they did it for the majority of Western Civilization, for the majority of a millenia.

The business plan started fairly simple, not much more than an early carney show, “Come see the dead toenail of Jesus! Step right up!”. And step right up they did. All of the dirty, poor, uneducated folk from all over the land came to see the wonders. So many, that it became more cost effective to just stay in one spot. Let the people come to the “relic”, no need to go out to the people.

In some cases there were already churches to set the relic at for safe-keeping, others a new church needed to be built. When the originals began to be too old, a new church needed to be built. Instead of funding this themselves, The Church decided to tell the people that they would receive a better chance of getting into Heaven or, at least less of a wait in Purgatory, the more of the old bones and toenail clippings (that had little to any chance of any relation at all to any biblical figure, canonical or other) had been seen by a person.

The churches that had been springing up all around Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire had the advantage of not existing in one nation, but within the borders of all nations. They were most often the largest building in a town in fact. The interconnectedness, combined with the extent in which the dominated the societies they acted within allowed for complete control of all of the communities. Some of the pilgrims traveling the roads were French, others German; Scots and Irish, Russian and English, all were on the road together. They did not represent a single nation, but they were all Catholic. While each had a different leader of the land they came from; the only person to lead them all was the Pope.

Like a proper CEO, the leader of the Holy Roman Church in the Vatican commanded all. What king could stand against a leader who commanded the peoples of all nations? In a power move that came more akin to Donald Trump than the Holy Messiah, it was decreed that the Pope's word was final, even if contradictory to the word of Jesus himself.

Just like the lingo, jargon and legalese used to hide corporate misconduct; language was used as a barrier to the congregation. The sermon was only spoken in Latin, a language only known by elites such as clergy and some nobility. Access to books and literature were closely guarded, and even if a commoner was capable of reading, it was unlikely they knew Latin. All they had to go on was the word of their “immediate supervisor”; otherwise known as the local priest.

At it's peak, the Vatican commanded the entire might of the European Kingdoms. It convinced Europe's armies to march for years to fight a war in a desert for centuries in the name of the Church. This was done as an attempt to expand and gain (or re-gain) more wealth then was already being produced.

Things were so far out of hand that they were actually selling souls, or at least selling souls time off their sentence. If a commoner were to be declared a sinner by the priest, that person's soul was condemned, but you could buy back the transgression for a price. If you could not afford the price you could always go fight in the wars, as killing a non-catholic would earn you a place in Heaven. In the end you had an economic entity creating an artificial market that fabricated enough guilt in an individual to force the condemned to purchase appeasement.

What makes this industry so amazing is that despite the fact they have been in a slump for the past century; they are still one of the largest economic factors and motivators in the world. They still possess one of the largest accumulations of wealth, knowledge and land consolidation to still be consolidated under one ownership. The Church has a presence in every major metropolis on the planet, and most of the smaller towns and villages as well. In most areas they are the most centrally localized and prominent features of the location. Throughout Europe, the church is often the largest building anywhere around; until you reach the next church. Even in the few global locations where they do not operate at all; they are still a household name.

By means micro and macro-management, the use of propaganda, application of political leverage and information deprivation the Church has made itself a lasting political and economic entity. They have permeated the varied cultures of society everywhere in a fashion that must fill Starbucks with envy.