I'm not Catholic, but Pope Benedict is hardly authoritarian in the same way the Ayatollah is. Vatican City is a couple of blocks, it doesn't block facebook, google, outside news channels, etc., and last I checked it isn't looking to build nukes to intimidate its neighbors. Nor does the pope summarily execute people for violating Catholic law.

Authoritarian regimes are bad. Period. They strip people of their humanity by denying them their right to think for themselves.