The Pope being the 5th Most Powerful Man? No Way says an Iglesia ni Cristo member

A comment from Mr. plaridel, member of the Iglesia ni Cristo cult founded by Felix Manalo, an ex-Catholic, at my earlier post Leader of a "dying mythological system" and an "anti-Christ" is 5th Most Powerful Man on this planet! How can this be?:

plaridel said... I just have to comment on this. remember CD2000 that the INC is not as large as the ICAR thus this would make you even more powerful or known. I have to agree that the pope can do many things like silence sexual abuse cases, deport priest who are suspected of those things and even create new doctrines. You do have to agree to that right? come on CD2000 you do see how much bigger you are compared to the INC. right? December 1, 2010 4:00 PM

Of course, I understand why you are so bitter with this declaration. It's UNFAIR to compare your 96 years old  INC to the 2,010 years old Catholic Church. But this isn't a declaration from the Catholic Church Mr. plaridel. It's Forbes' for God's sakes! In fact the Pope was even said to be the world's highest authority:

The pope was named the "highest earthly authority for 1.1 billion souls," which represents one-sixth of the world's population.

In case you haven't realized that BIG IMPOSSIBILITY of comparing your CULT to the Catholic Church of Christ is because OUR Pope is a humble giant; YOUR present little pope is a voiceless tiny dwarf leader who cannot even stir a drop of water.

OUR Pope is leading a flock of 1.6 billion souls from different countries, cultures, language; YOURS is leading just a few millions (???) of purely breded Filipinos speaking mainly Tagalog.

OUR Pope is a leader of a Church which survived numerous attacks, wars, schisms, persecutions, humiliations; YOURS leads only few bunch of ignorant bigots, fanatic, rebellious, hate monger nominal Catholics.

OUR Pope is a direct successor of St. Peter, the Apostle; YOURS is a direct grandson of your founder.

OUR Pope is not a son or a relative of any of the Apostles, a citizen of Bavaria, Germany, not Italian but he's the President of this tiniest country on earth; YOURS is a purely Filipino-- a direct bloodline of your founder, leading a tiny sect in the Philippines.

OUR Pope is elected by a body of Cardinals from all over the world; YOURS is not elected.  He inherited his position from his grandfather who is a founder.

OUR Pope is an intelligent experienced theologian; YOURS hardly understands Philosophy.

OUR Pope is an author of many books read by millions; YOURS hardly wrote any pamphlet book, some few articles read only by few thousands mostly Filipinos.

OUR Pope is respected by all religious and political leaders; YOURS is respected by corrupt politicians to earn a favor during elections only.

When OUR Pope speaks, the world listens; YOURS, even his own members hardly abide during elections.

The Pope's greatness is not about controlling people just as your leader is controlling yours. The Pope is giving everyone the moral space to exercise his/her freedom with responsibility. Yours, he controls everyone. Even a choir member residing in other countries needs to to be approved by your Central Office in Quezon City, Philippines.

That's the reason why I understand your great opposition to this declaration!

Our Pope's Papal authority came from Jesus Christ, the founder of the Church: "tend my sheep... feed my sheep." (John 21:1-9).  Yours has a very limited authority over his flock alone. If the world listens to the Pope, therefore he's madate to lead the world as Jesus' chosen leader of his people, who is the Iglesia ni Cristo in the Philippines to challenge that!