Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: Invest in the Pope and Earn Big Returns

This is a post, part of  a series, to commemorate the Pope’s visit to the Philippines on January 15-19, 2015.

 

Since this website is about investments, don’t you know that you can invest in the Pope and earn big returns. When I say returns, I am not talking about those of the spiritual nature (that would be too obvious), but financial ones. Do you know someone who had done it?

I did. Here’s how I earned by investing in the Pope. Continue reading Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: Invest in the Pope and Earn Big Returns

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Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: Economies of Catholic Countries

This is a post, part of a series, to commemorate the Papal visit to the Philippines on January 15-19 2015.

 

Which among the predominantly Catholic countries have the largest economies?

Nationmaster defines a Catholic country as one with at least 60% Catholic population.

Catholicism by Population Percentage. Original image by Starfunker226

 

How does your country stack up?

As a Filipino, I would like to know how the Philippines stacks up.  Continue reading Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: Economies of Catholic Countries

Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: How much is the Catholic Church worth?

This post is part of a series that commemorates the Pope’s visit in the Philippines on January 15-19 2015.

How much are the assets of the Catholic Church worth? The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., University of Santo Tomas in Manila, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, are just a few of the prime real estate assets of the Catholic Church. The Church also has a vast collection of expensive artworks. The Catholic Church is also the largest non-government provider of health care services in the world.

It is safe to say that the Catholic Church is one of the most asset-rich entities in the world. So how much is the Catholic Church worth? Continue reading Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: How much is the Catholic Church worth?

Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: Justified or Overboard? Smart and Globe Disrupt Mobile Services During the Pope’s Visit

This is a post, part of a series, to commemorate the Pope’s visit to the Philippines on January 15-19 2015.

 

Smart Communications (TEL:PM latest stock quote) and Globe Telecom (GLO:PM latest stock quote), the two largest telecommunications company in the Philippines, plan to disrupt mobile services during the Pope’s stay in the Philippines from January 15-19 2015.

On the morning of January 16, I personally experienced disruption of my Smart Bro mobile internet. People I know also experienced disruptions with their Smart (and Sun) mobile signals. I didn’t experience any disruptions with my Globe cellular signal during the same time period. By the way, I was located far away from the Papal activities.

According to news reports, the two companies plan to disrupt services based on the directive of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC). The NTC, as its name suggests, is the government agency that oversees telecom companies in the Philippines. The reason given is to secure the Pope, as mobile signals may be used to detonate bombs.

Do you actually think that this action is justified or is the government going overboard? Continue reading Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: Justified or Overboard? Smart and Globe Disrupt Mobile Services During the Pope’s Visit

Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: Catholic Based Investing, Anyone?

This is a post, part of a series, to commemorate the Pope’s visit to the Philippines on January 15-19 2015.

 

Faith based investing, anyone?

Religion and religious leaders can influence their followers which businesses and investments to support, and which investments to avoid. Many often associate religious based investing with Shariah investments for Muslims. There are even Shariah-based stock market indices for Shariah compliant companies.

There are also many Catholics who try to abide by the teachings of the Catholic Church in their investment decisions. This is the reason for the existence of Catholicism compliant investment funds. These funds usually implement negative screens in order to avoid companies that have activities that go against the Church’s teachings. These funds may also choose to invest in companies that promotes or has a long track record of compliance with Catholic teachings. Continue reading Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: Catholic Based Investing, Anyone?

Papal Visit Philippines 2015 Special: The ATM with Latin Instructions

 

This is a post, part of a series, to commemorate the Pope’s visit to the Philippines on January 15-19 2015.

 

Latin may be a dead language, but it is still the official language of the Holy See. This is probably why an ATM in the Vatican City has Latin instructions.

Vatican Bank’s ATM instructions in Latin. Google Translate may come in handy at this point. Image by Seth Schoen

Insertio scidulam quaeso ut faciundam cognoscas rationem. Google translates it as “I ask you to do so by way of insertion of a card”. What it really means is “Insert your card for the account to be recognized.”