This is a joke. In fact, the Vatican's very existence has been threatened in the past two centuries by Italian nationalism. The Vatican only became a separate city in 1929 when the Holy See and Italy signed the Lateran Treaty. Hunt again founders by confusing Vatican City and Rome. And he must get this passage to be talking about Vatican City since the modern city of Rome is a minor player on the stage of contemporary geopolitics.
Many national capitols are far more important than it.
Since the collapse of the two-superpower system, the most important capitol is Washington, DC, but it does not meet the other criteria for who the Whore is. Hunt neglects the other candidates we have for the Whore. If the reign is a literal, political one then pagan Rome fulfills the requirement far better than Christian Rome ever did. Pagan Rome did rule over almost the entire known world, but Christian Rome never did. Inc. This text may be downloaded or printed out for private reading, but it may not be uploaded to another Internet site or published, electronically or otherwise, without express written permission from the copyright holder.