Originally Posted by Politicon

I would agree with you that the Catholic Church in particular still has a huge influence, largely because of the great number of Catholics worldwide, but I think that this power is largely limited, to use a Catholic term, to the faithful. Before the Enlightenist Movement the church definitely wielded a large amount of power in the Papal States (and vast amounts of church lands in other countries), the ability to remove and appoint the Holy Roman Empire, and the right to absolve people of their loyalty to the state. This definitely had a large impact on secular matters and this was made possible because, for the most part, the majority of Europe was Catholic and the West was without significant political leadership after the fall of the Roman Empire (in contrast to the East which remained under Byzantine control for centuries to come). While the RCC is still very rich and is able to influence a vast number of people they no longer have much of a temporal influence as far as politics go (they would never be able to launch another crusade or bring wield the power of the likes of Pope Innocent III).

Religion still has a great impact on people and the power of the Pope, Dr. Dobson, Billy Graham, ect. should not be underestimated but I think that power is mainly confined to those within the church. Of course this can affect the position of the state but in a world were society is becoming more and more secular the impact of these religious leaders is becoming less and less.