The woman is far older than the RCC. The RCC is just the present form.
The tower of Babel is where the human souls fell away from Jehovah worship after the cleansing flood. Creation worship had many harlots after that.
She is the incarnation of the mother of harlots. The persecution of Israel is the center of the vision.
But Rome does! Not only the Roman Empire itself but to this present day.
1st, remember that the iron legs of the statue in Dan 2 are the Roman Empire and it's remains until this present time. It shows the nations that rule over the people of Israel until they are restored to Jerusalem, Not the planet, the people of Israel.
2nd, don't forget about the dark ages, middle ages, and more recent times when the RCC murdered the people of Israel. The power over Israel was sustained from the invasion of Israel in 63 bc, until 1967 when Jerusalem was restored to Israel, then the iron toes ended.
In this present time there are 1,285,000,000 RCC catholic world wide, roughly 17% of the worlds population (2015). So the power of the Roman Vatican nation is still significant. Do not underestimate the power of the Antichrist to deceive people so that they cannot find the truth and salvation.
If the beast is Rome (iron legs), then the woman is the city of Rome that she sits on Rev 17:18.
What's a BTG?.......