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Religion,
Wealth, War and the Human Condition in 2026
There is something deeply disturbing about the world
in which we live.
Humanity has never possessed so much knowledge.
Never so much technology.
Never so much accumulated wealth.
Never had such extraordinary means of communication.
And yet millions remain poor, wars continue, children
die, young people demonstrate in the streets, governments spend enormous sums
on weapons, and religious identities remain deeply connected to some of the
most sensitive political conflicts on Earth.
We can communicate instantly with somebody on the
other side of the planet.
But we still cannot communicate well enough to stop
killing one another.
Perhaps this is the great paradox of the twenty-first
century.
We have developed our technology faster than we have developed
our humanity.
Three religions, three histories, three relationships with wealth
Christianity, Islam and Judaism are often grouped
together as the three great Abrahamic religions.
They are not the world's only important religions —
Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and many other traditions are followed by hundreds
of millions of people — but Christianity, Islam and Judaism have played an
extraordinary role in the political and cultural history of Europe, the Middle
East and much of the world.
According to Pew Research Center's global analysis
published in 2025, Christianity had approximately 2.3 billion followers
in 2020, Islam approximately 2.0 billion, while Judaism had
approximately 14.8 million. Christians represented 28.8% of the world's
population, Muslims 25.6%, and Jews approximately 0.2%.
Those numbers alone tell us something important.
Judaism is numerically tiny compared with Christianity
and Islam.
Yet its historical and geopolitical influence has been
enormous.
And therefore, if we want to discuss religious wealth,
we must be extremely careful.
We cannot simply ask:
“Which religion is richer?”
The real questions are:
Who owns the assets?
Who controls them?
How are they financed?
Where does the money come from?
Where does it go?
And perhaps most importantly:
How much political influence can wealth create?
THE VATICAN: A RELIGIOUS INSTITUTION WITH A FINANCIAL EMPIRE
The Catholic Church is unique.
It is not simply a religion.
It possesses a worldwide institutional structure,
diplomatic relations, schools, hospitals, universities, charitable organisations,
cultural institutions, museums, churches and enormous quantities of historical
property.
At its centre is the Holy See and the Vatican City
State.
The Vatican's financial structure is therefore
extremely complicated.
There is no single figure that can honestly be called “the
Vatican's wealth.”
There are different institutions managing different
assets.
One of the most important is the Administration of
the Patrimony of the Apostolic See — APSA.
The Vatican itself describes APSA as the institution
responsible for administering the Holy See's movable and immovable patrimony
and providing resources for the activities of the Roman Curia.
And the numbers are remarkable.
In its 2025 financial statements, APSA reported
net assets of approximately:
€2.686 billion
That represented an increase of approximately €89
million compared with 2024.
APSA also reported approximately 4,281 real-estate
units in Italy, plus approximately 1,200 abroad, including properties
in London, Paris, Geneva and Lausanne.
That is not the entire wealth of the Catholic Church.
It is the net asset figure of one major Holy See
institution.
And this distinction is essential.
The Vatican owns thousands of properties
In 2024, APSA reported a profit of approximately €62.2
million.
Its property portfolio alone included more than 5,400
units, counting approximately 4,234 in Italy and about 1,200 abroad.
But here comes another interesting contradiction.
A very large proportion of these properties do not
generate ordinary commercial-market income.
According to reporting based on the APSA accounts,
around 70% were being used for Vatican or Church offices, while only about
one-fifth were rented at market rates.
So the picture is not:
“The Vatican owns enormous property holdings and
simply collects enormous rent.”
The reality is more complicated.
The Church possesses a huge patrimony, but much of it
exists for institutional, religious, cultural or charitable purposes.
That distinction matters.
And then there is the Vatican bank
The Institute for the Works of Religion — commonly
known as the IOR — is another part of the story.
Its 2024 annual results showed:
- €32.8 million net profit
- €5.7 billion in total funds under management
- €731.9 million in net equity
The €5.7 billion figure is particularly important.
But again, it does not mean that the Vatican
owns €5.7 billion as its personal wealth.
The IOR manages deposits, current accounts, managed
assets and securities held in custody for its clients.
This is precisely why sensational claims about a
single “Vatican fortune” can be misleading.
The truth is already impressive enough.
But what about Islam?
Here the comparison becomes fascinating.
There is no institution equivalent to the Vatican
representing all Muslims.
There is no global “Islamic treasury”.
There is no Muslim Pope.
Islam is divided among states, institutions, mosques,
charities, foundations, wealthy individuals, sovereign wealth funds, businesses
and financial institutions.
But there is something extraordinary:
Islamic
finance.
According to the 2025 Islamic Finance Development
Report from LSEG and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private
Sector, global Islamic finance assets reached approximately:
US$5.98 trillion in 2024
That represented approximately 21% growth in one
year.
This includes Islamic banking, sukuk, Islamic funds,
takaful and other Sharia-compliant financial activities.
Therefore, we must not say:
“Islam owns six trillion dollars.”
That would be false.
The correct statement is:
The global Islamic finance industry had approximately
US$5.98 trillion in assets in 2024.
That is an enormous financial ecosystem associated
with Islamic principles.
And unlike the Vatican, it is not controlled by a
single institution.
Zakat: another enormous dimension of Islamic wealth
Islam also possesses something that makes the
relationship between faith and money particularly interesting:
Zakat.
Zakat is a religious obligation involving charitable
giving for eligible Muslims who meet the relevant conditions.
It is not simply voluntary philanthropy.
It is part of Islamic religious practice.
And its potential economic significance is enormous.
For example, UNHCR's Refugee Zakat Fund mobilised US$39.4
million in Zakat and Sadaqah during 2025, reaching more than 1 million
refugees and internally displaced people across 25 countries.
That is only one humanitarian channel.
It is obviously not a measure of total global Zakat.
But it demonstrates something important:
Islamic philanthropy can mobilise substantial
financial resources across national borders.
And Judaism?
Here we encounter another danger.
It would be completely wrong to speak about “Jewish
wealth” as though Jews collectively possess a single fortune.
Jews are individuals, families, businesses,
foundations and communities.
There is no global Jewish treasury.
There is no Jewish equivalent of the Vatican.
And the vast majority of Jewish wealth belongs to
individuals and private organisations rather than to Judaism as a central
institution.
Nevertheless, Jewish philanthropy has created
extremely powerful institutional structures, particularly in the United States.
One striking example is the Jewish Foundation of
Los Angeles.
In 2024, it reported:
US$1.5 billion
in charitable assets under stewardship
and distributed a record:
US$207 million
in grants
to 3,320 organisations in Los Angeles, Israel and
elsewhere.
But again:
this is one foundation, not “the wealth of Judaism”.
That distinction is fundamental.
The Jewish paradox
The worldwide Jewish population is approximately 14.8
million, according to Pew.
That is roughly 0.2% of humanity.
Yet Jewish communities have created extraordinarily
influential networks in philanthropy, education, medicine, science, culture,
business and political life.
There is extensive academic research showing an
association between religious affiliation and wealth patterns in the United
States, including historically higher average wealth among some Jewish
households.
But this does not mean that Jewish people
collectively control wealth.
Nor does it justify the old and dangerous conspiracy
theory that “Jews control the world's money”.
There is no credible evidence for such a claim.
The reality is far more interesting:
a very small population can have an enormous cultural,
intellectual, philanthropic and institutional impact without collectively
controlling the world's wealth.
So can we compare the three?
Yes.
But not by saying:
Catholic wealth = X
Muslim wealth = Y
Jewish wealth = Z
That comparison does not exist in any reliable global
statistical form.
A more honest comparison looks like this:
|
Religious tradition |
Approx. global population |
Major financial/institutional structure |
|
Christianity |
2.3 billion |
Vatican/Holy See institutions, churches, foundations, schools, hospitals
and enormous global property |
|
Islam |
~2.0 billion |
Islamic banking, sukuk, funds, takaful, Zakat and charitable institutions |
|
Judaism |
~14.8 million |
Synagogues, foundations, charities, universities, community institutions
and private philanthropy |
The Vatican is therefore unusual because a single
religious institution possesses a clearly identifiable institutional patrimony.
Islam has a much larger financial ecosystem but no
single owner.
Judaism has a much smaller global population but significant
philanthropic and institutional networks, particularly in North America and
Israel.
THE GREAT QUESTION: WHEN DOES WEALTH BECOME POWER?
This is where the article becomes more uncomfortable.
Money does not automatically create evil.
Money can build hospitals.
Money can educate children.
Money can feed refugees.
Money can preserve historical monuments.
Money can finance scientific research.
Money can help people escape poverty.
But money can also purchase influence.
And political influence can change history.
This is not unique to religion.
It applies equally to governments, corporations,
billionaires, banks, military industries and political parties.
The question therefore should not be:
“Is religion rich?”
It should be:
“What happens when religious authority, financial
resources and political power become concentrated in the same hands?”
FROM THE CRUSADES TO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
In 1095, Pope Urban II called the First
Crusade.
The Crusades were presented through religious
language, but they also involved territory, dynastic interests, political power
and economic interests.
Then came the European Wars of Religion.
The Thirty Years' War, 1618–1648, is perhaps
one of history's clearest warnings.
It began within the context of Catholic-Protestant
conflict but became a much wider struggle involving European powers and their
political interests.
Religion could mobilise people.
Power could direct them.
Territory could motivate governments.
And ordinary human beings paid the price.
HAS ANYTHING REALLY CHANGED?
Look at Ukraine.
On 24 February 2022, Russia launched its
full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In October 2026, the war is still continuing.
Recent Russian attacks have again targeted Ukrainian
cities and energy infrastructure, while Ukraine has announced further attacks
against Russian oil refineries.
More than four years after the invasion, Europe is
still dealing with the consequences.
Energy.
Weapons.
Refugees.
Military expenditure.
Sanctions.
Inflation.
Geopolitical confrontation.
And human lives.
The vocabulary has changed since the Crusades.
The weapons have changed.
The technology has changed.
But one thing has not changed:
ordinary people still pay the price for decisions made
by powerful institutions.
THE MIDDLE EAST: RELIGION IS NOT THE WHOLE STORY
The Israel-Palestinian conflict cannot simply be
described as a religious war.
That would erase history.
There are questions of territory, nationalism,
statehood, security, occupation, displacement, international law, regional
power and competing national projects.
Religion is profoundly important.
But religion alone does not explain the conflict.
And today the Middle East has become even more
complicated.
By October 2026, the regional crisis involves not only
Israel and Palestinians but also Iran, Yemen, the Gulf states, the United
States and other international actors.
Recent reporting describes continued fighting and
major tensions involving Iran and the wider region.
Again we encounter the same question:
Where does religion end and geopolitics begin?
Perhaps there is no simple line.
FRANCE: THE POPE AND THE 80,000 YOUNG PEOPLE
Then we come home to France.
On 25 September 2026, Pope Leo XIV stood before
almost 80,000 young people at the Stade de France.
The scene was extraordinary.
A country often described as secular.
A generation often described as increasingly detached
from organised religion.
And yet tens of thousands came to hear the Pope.
For one evening, faith, music, youth and hope occupied
the same stadium.
It would be easy to interpret this as a religious
revival.
But perhaps something deeper was happening.
Young people may not necessarily be asking only:
“Do I believe in God?”
They may also be asking:
“Does my life have meaning?”
“Do I have a future?”
“Why does everything cost so much?”
“Why are governments constantly talking about war?”
“Why does the world appear so rich and yet ordinary
people feel increasingly poor?”
AND THEN THE POPE LEFT
This is where we must again distinguish coincidence
from causation.
After Pope Leo's visit, France continued experiencing
major social tensions and student mobilisation.
We cannot honestly say:
“The Pope left and the students revolted because of
his departure.”
There is no evidence of such a causal relationship.
But the contrast is remarkable.
On one side:
80,000 young people listening to a message of faith
and fraternity.
On the other:
young people protesting about their material future.
Perhaps these are not contradictory events at all.
Perhaps they are two expressions of the same anxiety.
THE PRICE OF LIFE
Between 2021 and 2025, French consumer prices
increased substantially.
The cumulative increase was approximately 13–14%,
according to INSEE's consumer-price indices.
That does not mean every household experienced a
13–14% increase in its personal cost of living.
Housing, food, fuel and energy affect households
differently.
But the perception of declining purchasing power is
real.
And energy prices have been particularly important.
This creates fertile ground for distrust.
When people see governments spending billions on
weapons while they struggle to pay their electricity bill or fill their car,
they naturally ask:
Where are our priorities?
That question is legitimate.
The answer, however, should be based on evidence
rather than conspiracy.
“IT IS ALL A CONSPIRACY.”
The phrase has become increasingly common.
COVID.
Vaccines.
Fuel prices.
Banks.
Wars.
Migration.
Governments.
Billionaires.
International organisations.
Some people believe that everything is deliberately
organised to control humanity.
We should neither ridicule people for asking questions
nor accept extraordinary claims without evidence.
There is a fundamental difference between:
“Who benefits?”
and
“Who secretly organised everything?”
The first is a legitimate investigative question.
The second requires evidence.
Without evidence, suspicion becomes conspiracy theory.
And conspiracy theories can become dangerous because
they often need an enemy.
Sometimes that enemy becomes a government.
Sometimes immigrants.
Sometimes Muslims.
Sometimes Jews.
Sometimes Christians.
Sometimes billionaires.
Sometimes scientists.
And once a society begins dividing human beings into
enemies, violence becomes easier.
COVID-19: THE BRIEF MOMENT WHEN HUMANITY REMEMBERED ITSELF
COVID-19 was one of the greatest global shocks of our
generation.
But something beautiful happened during the darkest
period.
People helped neighbours.
Volunteers delivered food.
Doctors and nurses worked under extraordinary
conditions.
People applauded healthcare workers.
Families rediscovered the importance of physical
presence precisely because physical presence had been taken away.
For a moment, humanity seemed to remember:
we are vulnerable together.
And perhaps that is why the return to normality was so
disappointing.
The old divisions returned.
Political hatred returned.
Nationalism returned.
Social hostility returned.
And the world once again began to feel like a
battlefield.
AFRICA: THE CONTINENT THAT CANNOT BE FORGOTTEN
And now we arrive at Africa.
This is where the European discussion about wealth and
poverty becomes particularly uncomfortable.
Because Africa possesses enormous natural resources.
Oil.
Gas.
Gold.
Copper.
Cobalt.
Uranium.
Lithium.
Rare minerals.
Agricultural land.
Forests.
Hydropower.
And enormous human potential.
Yet poverty remains widespread.
Why?
MOZAMBIQUE: A COUNTRY BORN WITH HOPE AND BURDENED BY WEALTH
Mozambique became independent from Portugal on:
25 June 1975.
But independence did not bring an easy future.
A devastating civil war followed, ending with the Rome
General Peace Accords on 4 October 1992.
Then came another crisis.
In 2016, the hidden-debt scandal became public,
revealing approximately US$2 billion in previously undisclosed
government-backed borrowing.
And since 2017, northern Mozambique —
particularly Cabo Delgado — has suffered an Islamist insurgency.
At exactly the same time, Mozambique possesses
enormous offshore natural-gas resources.
The contradiction is extraordinary.
The World Bank reports that Mozambique has vast
natural assets, including offshore gas reserves, mineral resources and
hydropower potential.
Yet its national poverty rate increased from 48.4%
in 2014/15 to 62.9% in 2022, leaving approximately 20.4 million people
below the national poverty line.
This is not simply a religious problem.
It is not simply a political problem.
It is not simply an African problem.
It is a global economic problem.
GAS, FOREIGN INVESTMENT AND THE QUESTION OF WHO BENEFITS
Mozambique LNG involves international companies,
banks, export-credit agencies and enormous financial commitments.
The project financing agreed in 2020 amounted to
approximately:
US$15.4 billion
according to TotalEnergies.
Imagine that number.
US$15.4 billion.
And then imagine a Mozambican family living without
adequate access to electricity, healthcare, clean water or secure employment.
This is where the discussion becomes uncomfortable.
Natural resources can transform a country.
But they can also create a resource curse if
institutions are weak, corruption is widespread, conflict persists and the
benefits do not reach ordinary citizens.
The question is therefore not:
“Does Mozambique possess wealth?”
It clearly does.
The question is:
“Who ultimately
benefits from that wealth?”
THE SAME QUESTION APPLIES TO RELIGION
And now we can return to our three Abrahamic
traditions.
The Vatican possesses billions in institutional
assets.
Islamic finance manages nearly US$6 trillion
globally.
Jewish philanthropic institutions manage billions of
dollars.
But none of these numbers tells us whether ordinary
Christians, Muslims or Jews are rich.
They are not.
Within every religious community there are:
the extremely wealthy,
the comfortable,
the poor,
and people living in extreme poverty.
Religion does not eliminate economic inequality.
Sometimes religious institutions fight inequality.
Sometimes they preserve institutions and wealth.
Sometimes they do both simultaneously.
And this is precisely why religious finances deserve
transparency and scrutiny.
THE MOST DANGEROUS MISTAKE
The most dangerous conclusion would be:
“Christians are rich.”
Or:
“Muslims control money.”
Or:
“Jews control finance.”
All three statements are simplistic and can feed
prejudice.
The real story is much more complicated.
Institutions have money.
Governments have money.
Corporations have money.
Families have money.
Foundations have money.
Religious organisations have money.
And sometimes these structures overlap.
That is where journalists, historians and citizens
should look.
Not at someone's religion.
At institutions, documents, ownership, contracts,
financial accounts and political decisions.
THE QUESTION OF ARMS
And then there is the final piece of the puzzle:
War.
Weapons do not appear from nowhere.
Missiles have manufacturers.
Drones have manufacturers.
Aircraft have manufacturers.
Tanks have manufacturers.
Ammunition has manufacturers.
Governments sign contracts.
Banks finance companies.
States impose sanctions.
Investors own shares.
And taxpayers ultimately finance governments.
Therefore, every war has an economic dimension.
This does not mean that wars are created simply to
make money.
That would again be an unjustified conspiracy claim.
But it does mean that war creates enormous economic
activity.
And wherever enormous amounts of money circulate,
there will be interests.
WHAT SHOULD HUMANITY LEARN?
Perhaps the answer is not to destroy religion.
Nor to destroy capitalism.
Nor to abolish governments.
Nor to assume that every politician is corrupt.
Nor to believe that every war is secretly
manufactured.
Perhaps the answer is much more difficult:
TRANSPARENCY.
Religious institutions should be transparent.
Governments should be transparent.
Companies should be transparent.
Military contracts should be scrutinised.
Political donations should be transparent.
Charitable organisations should be accountable.
Natural-resource contracts should be examined.
And citizens should have the right to ask:
Where does the money come from?
Where does it go?
Who benefits?
Who pays?
AND WHAT ABOUT GOD?
Perhaps this is the most uncomfortable question.
Christianity teaches love of one's neighbour.
Judaism contains an immense tradition of justice,
charity and responsibility.
Islam places great importance on charity, community
and social responsibility.
Yet human beings have repeatedly used religious
identity to separate themselves from other human beings.
Perhaps God is not the problem.
Perhaps the problem is what human beings do in
God's name.
The Crusader.
The extremist.
The nationalist.
The politician.
The billionaire.
The revolutionary.
The dictator.
All can invoke something greater than themselves.
But the fact that somebody invokes God does not make
his actions divine.
2026: THE HUMANITY OF WAR
In 2026, Ukraine continues to burn.
The Middle East remains dangerously unstable.
Africa continues to face conflicts and enormous
economic inequalities.
Young people in Europe question their future.
Families struggle with the cost of living.
Religious communities continue to grow, shrink, divide
and transform.
The Vatican continues to manage billions in assets.
Islamic finance continues to expand.
Jewish philanthropic institutions continue to
distribute enormous sums.
And ordinary people continue asking the same ancient
question:
“Why is there
so much wealth in the world, and why is there still so much poverty?”
Perhaps that is the question that connects all three
religions.
And perhaps it connects all humanity.
THE FINAL CONTRADICTION
We have enough food to feed humanity.
We have enough technology to connect humanity.
We have enough wealth to reduce extreme poverty
dramatically.
We have enough scientific knowledge to prevent many
diseases.
We have enough diplomatic experience to understand the
consequences of war.
And yet we continue fighting.
Perhaps humanity's greatest poverty is no longer
material.
Perhaps it is moral and political imagination.
We know how to build weapons.
We know how to accumulate wealth.
We know how to construct magnificent religious
buildings.
We know how to put satellites into space.
But we still have not learned how to distribute power
without creating domination.
We still have not learned how to possess wealth
without creating extreme inequality.
We still have not learned how to practise religion
without turning faith into a weapon.
And we still have not learned how to disagree without
becoming enemies.
ONE LAST QUESTION
Perhaps the question of our time is not:
“Which religion
is right?”
Perhaps it is:
“What are we
doing with the world we have been given?”
If Christianity possesses enormous institutions, let
them serve humanity.
If Islamic finance possesses trillions of dollars of
assets, let finance serve human dignity.
If Jewish philanthropy possesses billions in
charitable resources, let that generosity continue to serve communities and
human beings.
If governments possess trillions in public money, let
them remember the people who provide it through their work and taxes.
If corporations possess extraordinary wealth, let them
remember that profit exists within a society.
And if religious leaders possess moral authority, let
them use it to oppose hatred rather than amplify it.
Because ultimately, whether a person enters a church,
a mosque, a synagogue — or none of them — we all live on the same planet.
We breathe the same air.
We drink the same water.
We suffer the same pain.
We lose the same loved ones.
And we all eventually die.
So perhaps the greatest religious question is also the
simplest human question:
Can we learn to
value human life more than money, power, territory and hatred?
If the answer is yes, perhaps humanity still has a
future.
If the answer is no, then no amount of religious
wealth, political power or military technology will save us from ourselves.
And perhaps
that is the greatest lesson of history:
Humanity has
never lacked wealth.
It has never
lacked religions.
It has never
lacked powerful leaders.
It has never
lacked weapons.
What humanity
has repeatedly lacked is the wisdom to know what to do with them.
SAISI
