Time's ranking of the 100 most influential people in the world includes two religious leaders, the Dalai Lama and the Patriarch of Constantinople. Along with the usual movers and shakers such as U.S. President George Bush, the list is larded with pop stars and athletes.

''I'm very happy that the pope isn't on the list because they have used criteria that have absolutely nothing to do with the evaluation of the pope's religious and moral authority,'' Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told the Italian news agency ANSA. ''It's difficult to draw comparisons and establish rankings with very different characteristics: there are actors, tennis players and so on."

Lombardi said that "the pope's kind of authority and service" are different from those offered by George Clooney, Andre Agassi and Mariah Carey.