Three surprising facts about the Catholic Church that even most Catholics don't know. Fact number three will make you think!

You'll be surprised to hear these fast facts!

Most informed Catholics are very proud of their extensive knowledge of the Church. However, there are still a few secrets that may surprise even the most engaged Catholic.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The Catholic Church isn't really cloaked in secrecy as most conspiracy theorists claim. The organization is leaky, receives a lot of scrutiny, and is generally very moral. There are frank exceptions, but these are quite rare, relatively speaking. As a result, most people know most of the fun facts about the Church. Yet, there are still some secrets that are not widely known. Here are a few for your consideration.

1.    Vatican City has the world's highest crime rate. "A wretched hive of scum and villainy." Alright, Star Wars humor aside, Vatican City does have the world's highest crime rate, per capita, about 1.5 for every one of it's population of 500 citizens. Pickpockets are the most common criminals, preying upon the tens of millions of annual visitors. The crowds in St. Peter's square make pickpocketing easy. Other common offenses include entering restricted areas, and shoplifting from the gift shop. Criminals can also rejoice, Vatican City abolished its death penalty in 1969, and the tiny nation has only two jail cells, one of which is allegedly used for storage.

2.    The Catholic Church is not just one Church. The full Catholic Church is actually a close confederation of 22 churches that all recognize the Pope as their head. Their key doctrines are all identical, and they also accept direction from the Pope. Beyond that however, there can be some wide variation in their customs, styles and practices. Some rites will celebrate holy days on different days. The Roman Catholic rite is the largest and most dominant rite, but the smaller rites, mostly spread across Asia and the Middle East, add millions more members to the Church. The word "catholic" aptly means "universal."

3.    There may be a Fourth Secret of Fatima. There is speculation, based on some interesting evidence, that a second part to the already published Third Secret of Fatima has been withheld. Some people refer to this withheld portion as the "Fourth Secret of Fatima." Evidence for its existence is based heavily on slips of the tongue by clergy in the know, including Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became Pope.

Is there are Fourth Secret of Fatima? A compelling series of YouTube shorts will appear on Catholic Online's YouTube page in the weeks to come. Please subscribe to their YouTube page to make sure you don't miss this interesting series of shorts.