Forbes names world’s most powerful people—and the pope is near the top

He’s #4.

As the magazine puts it:

The spiritual leader to one-sixth of the world’s population — 1.2 billion souls. Pope Francis has made it his mission to transform the longstanding conservative image of the Catholic Church. In October, the pontiff said the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are true, adding that God is not “a magician with a magic wand.” He also shocked the world last year when he said “Who am I to judge?” when discussing homosexuality. The first Jesuit and Latin American Bishop of Rome preaches compassion for the poor and a greater role for women while signaling the church to quiet its focus on “only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptives.”

The background: 

Our annual ranking of the World’s 72 Most Powerful People (one for every 100 million people on the planet) is based on voting by a panel of FORBES editors, who consider things like financial resources, scope and use of power, and the number of people they impact.

This is not a lineup of the most influential or an anointing of the new establishment. It is an evaluation of hard power. We insist the people on our list wield the kind of power that shapes and bends the world, and moves people, markets, armies and minds. All of this, of course, is open to debate, and we welcome it. 

This year’s list features 17 heads of state who run nations with a combined GDP of some $48 trillion. The 39 CEOs and chairs here control over $3.6 trillion in annual revenues. Among them are 14 founders, including the newcomer billionaires to the list, Alibaba’s Jack Ma and  Tencent’s Ma Huateng. Speaking of, this year’s class has 29 billionaires with a cumulative personal net worth valued in excess of $790 billion.

Check out more.