Depends to whom. It is not meaningless to me because I believe in the historical facts described in the Gospel and so I trust the Church because I learned these life-saving facts from her.
If I had no faith, then, of course, that would be meaningless authority, -- it would be over something that does not concern me.
So there you have it.
Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.