Does the Catholic Church own the most property in the world?

Answer 1

The Catholic Church probably not the most land area.

But it might own the most separate pieces of property.

In 2004, there were 219,655 parishes in the world. Almost every one will own the land on which it sits.

And that does not count convents, monasteries, and other non-parish properties.

Who actually owns each property is also a bit muddled. Is it owned by the parish or the diocese? To the best of my knowledge the Vatican does not own any parish land outside of Vatican City.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Queen of England by far owns the most land in the worlds followed by Saudi Arabia King Abdullah

Answer 3

For 1400 years without dispute (until 1820), the Catholic Church was the single largest economic entity in the world.

Then from the time the jesuits won the battle with the Popes and restored the order to the beginning of the 20th century, the wealth of the church disappeared behind private banks, trusts and complicated financial structures.

The conservative estimate of asset wealth of the Catholic Church is around $3,000 Billion making it still te single largest, wealthiest entity in the world.

The Vatican is by far the largest holder of land titles for any organisation or government in the world with visible title to around US $316 Billion of property (churches, schools, hospitals etc) and around US $2,623 Billion of investment property hidden in an extremely complex networks of hundreds of thousands of trusts and front companies.

The current market property value of Vatican City, in the heart of Rome alone is worth between US $1 Billion and $3 Billion. This excludes the value of the priceless artworks and valuables stored within its walls.

The most valuable property holdings of the Catholic Church by nation is the United States with around $50 Billion in visible property holdings and around $507 Billion in hidden property holdings through a massively complex network of front companies and trusts.

The next most valuable property holdings are Germany (US $297 Billion of which only $29 Billion is visible property), France (US $282 Billion of which only $28 Billion is visible), Italy (US $230 Billion of which around $23 Billion is visible), Brazil (US $194 Billion of which around $26 Billion is visible) and Spain (US $158 Billion of which around $15 Billion is visible).

Answer 4

no. The Saudi Royal Family beats out the Vatican.

Answer 5

Nobody really owns anything. Think about it; we're fleas arguing over which one of us owns the dog we live on.

Answer 6

I would guess the Canadian Government would be a contender, lot of land up there no one wants...

Answer 7

Silly question.

Answer 8

No.