ROME -- The Vatican on Friday dismissed the US newsweekly Time's annual list of the world's 100 most influential people as "bizarre and arbitrary," saying the Holy See was pleased that the pope was not included.

"I am happy about this absence (of Pope Benedict XVI) from the list, whose composition is kind of bizarre and arbitrary," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told Agence France-Presse.

Lombardi said he doubted whether the magazine took fully into account the pope's spiritual and moral authority.

This year's list does include the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama as well as the patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, Bartholomew I of Constantinople.

The diverse list includes Democratic White House hopefuls Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain, in that order, as well as cinema power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, former tennis ace Andre Agassi and "The Kite Runner" author Khaled Hosseini.

However, Benedict, who became pope in 2005, was on the list for the past three years.

Others left off the list this year include Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.