Pope Francis has made it to Forbes No.4 of the world’s most powerful people this year. First goes Russian President Vladimir Putin taking the place of now No.2 Barack Obama. Third is China’s Xi Jinping and the fifth “power broker” as the magazine says is German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The American magazine considers four reasons to rank 72 people and top them as the “most powerful” among the 7.2 billions world inhabitants. Does the candidate have power over lots of people? What is the scope of the financial information controlled by each person? Are nominees powerful in different spheres? And finally, do candidates actively use their power?
According to Forbes being «the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion Catholics or about 1/6th of the world’s population» has turned ex Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio into the world’s fourth most powerful person; a recognition someone struggling for a “humble vision of life” might rather find a stigma.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald