Time magazine names Pope Francis 'Person of the Year'

GlobalPost

In just nine months Pope Francis has single-handedly reshaped the perception of the Catholic Church and for that impressive achievement Time magazine has named the 76-year-old pontiff its Person of the Year.

The former Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio beat National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, gay rights activist Edith Windsor, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and US Senator Ted Cruz for the award, which the magazine has been handing out every year since 1927.

Other finalists included pop singer Miley Cyrus and Iran President Hassan Rouhani. 

As the list of finalists suggests, the Person of the Year isn’t necessarily the best person in the world, but rather the most influential newsmaker of the past 12 months.

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“What makes this Pope so important is the speed with which he has captured the imaginations of millions who had given up on hoping for the church at all,” Time magazine wrote in their profile of the pope.

“People weary of the endless parsing of sexual ethics, the buck-passing infighting over lines of authority when all the while (to borrow from Milton), “the hungry Sheep look up, and are not fed.”

“In a matter of months, Francis has elevated the healing mission of the church -- the church as servant and comforter of hurting people in an often harsh world -- above the doctrinal police work so important to his recent predecessors.

“John Paul II and Benedict XVI were professors of theology. Francis is a former janitor, nightclub bouncer, chemical technician and literature teacher.”

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The announcement was welcomed in Rome – although Pope Francis is, characteristically, wasting no time gloating over the award.

“With regard to the pope, for his part, he does not seek fame and success, since he carries out his service for the proclamation of the Gospel and the love of God for all,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi was quoted as saying.

“If this attracts men and women and gives them hope, the pope is content. If this nomination as "Person of the Year" means that many have understood this message, at least implicitly, he will certainly be glad.”

It is the third time the magazine has awarded the distinction to a pope. Previous papal winners were Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII.

In many ways, Pope Francis was the obvious choice for Person of the Year. 

Since taking over the Vatican in March, Pope Francis has won the hearts and minds of millions of Catholics and non-Catholics around the world with his frugal tastes, embrace of social media, outspoken criticism of extravagance and corruption within the Catholic Church and views on homosexuality and the role of women. 

More from GlobalPost: Pope Francis drives himself around the Vatican in a used Renault 4

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