You know you've made it to the highest level of prestige when you get to meet the Pope.

Actors, artists, athletes, and politicians,

they all clamor for a handshake with his holiness.

But aside from his star power, the Pope also has a lot of actual power.

He runs a massive organization that serves over 1.3 billion Catholics

worldwide, nearly a fifth of the global population. On any given issue, you may find the church's position agreeable or egregious.

What you may not realize, though, is that for some 2,000 years the Pope has been

at the center of global affairs. He has a seat at the table alongside

heads of state and is sought after for his distinct form of influence and diplomacy.

I'm Gabriel Sierra and this is why it matters.

Today the Pope's one-of-a-kind role in international relations. If men and women hope to transform society, they must begin by changing their own hearts first.

As a nation faces increasingly complex political and ethical issues of our time,

I am confident that the American people will find in their religious beliefs a precious

source of inside to build a more human and free society.

Peace is not simply the absence of war, but the work of justice.

Let's sort of dive right into it.

When you look at lists of the most powerful people in the world that come out every year,

you often find the Pope in, you know, top 10, and he's next to people like Joe Biden or Vladimir Putin or you know probably

a Kardashian and it occurs to me that I don't really understand why the Pope is powerful. So is the Pope powerful and

what kind of power does he wield? The question of whether he's powerful is a

difficult question. I think he is. I think there are three reasons. First is as we know he

leads this huge global institution of the Catholic Church. Over a billion Catholics.

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