John Chancellor did it again last night. On NBC's “Nightly News” he referred to the presidency of the United States as “the most powerful political office in the world.” The key word there is ”political.” I recall that until a couple of years ago secular commentators routinely referred to the presidency as the most power ful office in the world, period. Until John Paul II came along. If with Hannah Arendt we distinguish power from force, asserting that power is force combined with moral authority, then it seems reasonable to view John Paul II as the most powerful person in the world today. Reagan and, presumably, Brezhnev can unleash more lethal force. But no leader can compare with the pope's power to direct the loyalties of hundreds of millions of people around the globe.