Hi John and Doves,
I know we are all very well aware of the sins of the Roman Catholic church but I wanted to post this link (short YT clip - just over 10 minutes) to remind everyone of what we are dealing with. Scripture defines the woman who rides the beast, as a whore. She is making money out of blasphemy - false religion. Therefore - she, herself, must be a purveyor of false religion. These are the wares that she is peddling. The Beast simply must be a political system. That's not to say that the beast is not, itself, a religion (Islam, perhaps?) but I suspect that the beast consists of the One World Government people. The people who want to rule the world. The beast uses Islam as part of it's army. To promote chaos and confusion. Babylon denotes false religion. Hence the confusion - is the whore Islam or the Vatican?
The beginnings of the RC church began with Constantine in the 4th century. 313 AD was when the Edict of Milan came into being. Mohammed only began spreading Islam in the 7th century. Therefore, the RC church is the oldest form of Babylon since our LORD Jesus walked the earth. The RC church began slaughtering Jews and protestants way before Islam did. The RC church claims to be "Christian" whereas Islam makes no such claims. It's tricky trying to figure out just who the greater Babylon is.
I figure that the Vatican is whoring herself out to Islam - just by looking at current events. The Vatican is whoring herself out to ALL religions - attempting to bring all faiths and creeds under one umbrella. Therefore, I think it's obvious that that the woman riding the beast is none other than the RC church. The Vatican, to be precise. Obviously, this is all my own opinion...but, it makes sense.
Maranatha, LORD Jesus. Always praying for the peace of Jerusalem.