Yup, they and at least a few other holy orders (mainly of the militant sort) made so much money that they expanded and evolved into substantial businesses and banking consortiums, more or less.

In many respects it's not too dissimilar to the occasional modern case of some veterans going into business for themselves as private military contractors and setting up companies that feed off of the military industrial complex gravytrain.

Yup, they and at least a few other holy orders (mainly of the militant sort) made so much money that they expanded and evolved into substantial businesses and banking consortiums, more or less.