The scripted line is "considered by many to be the central figure of the human race."
People like Steven Curtis Chapman and Jodi Benson liked to change it to "is the central figure of the human race." Jim Cavaziel decided to plug his movie instead of reading the scripted narration. On the other end of the spectrum, Maureen McGovern routinely changed "mankind" to "human kind". Simply put, Disney has always been incredibly with performers about changing any scripted dialogue. There is a very clear point in the show where the narrator is allowed to go off script. Actually, in the current show it happens twice- once att he beginning and once at the end. To my knowledge, those comments are never censored. If a narrator has something to say, that is the time to do it, not during the scripted parts of the show.
I'm not suggesting this was the sole reason for the change, either. However, I do question the necessity of a couple of the later passages in a Christmas pageant, but another poster already adeptly explained why those segments don't belong.
I'm not the least bit religious, but the later segments never offended me. Did I think they were too preachy? Absolutely. Did it offend me? Not in the least. I couldn't care less about the baby Jesus, but I still enjoy the pageantry of the show. It's about the orchestra and the live singing.
