My final announcement about commercial enterprises I am involved with this year is about the tobacco company I am helping to launch in Malawi.

Malawi is consistently listed as one of the poorest countries in the world, and it has been described as “advanced Africa” – as opposed to “beginner Africa,” which would be a place like Ghana. (It is, however, remarkably peaceful, relative to other places nearby on the list – Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen, etc.) The tobacco industry is enormous in the country, though it has taken a bit of a dive in recent years. This has caused many farmers to switch to growing a more lucrative crop – which is also smoked, but is green… so that they can feed their families. Malawi still remains for now among the top-10 exporters of tobacco in the world.

If you are interested in helping to build a Catholic tobacco brand, we are open to investors as low as $2,000 – which buys about five acres of rich land with product already growing on it.

I know it’s not everyone’s “thing.” But it is a good thing anyway. Hey… The last public building opened in the Papal States was Pius IX’s personal tobacco factory, in Trastevere… So, there.