The editors of Time may say it’s only sour grapes, but the Pope’s spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi calls it good news that the magazine’s list of the world’s 100 “most influential people” does not include Benedict XVI.

“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,” Lombardi said, according to the Italian wire service ANSA. “It’s difficult to draw comparisons and establish rankings with very different characteristics: there are actors, tennis players and so on. For that reason I think it’s positive not to confuse the Pope’s kind of authority and service with other criteria of a worldly nature.”

Lombardi acknowledged that the Dalai Lama’s presence at the top of Time‘s list was “another matter.”