Pope Francis has been named 2013 Person of the Year by Time magazine

Pope Francis has been named 2013 Person of the Year by Time magazine

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Pope Francis beats out Edward Snowden and twerking Miley Cyrus to be named Time's 2013 Person of the Year

By James Nye

Pope Francis has been named 2013 Person of the Year by Time magazine - edging out NSA whistleblower and fugitive Edward Snowden into second place.

Pope Francis, 76, who was elected in March to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, was announced as the winner this morning by Time magazine editor Nancy Gibbs on the Today show ..............

 

 

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Describing Francis' transformative role in his short time as pontiff, Time magazine said that 'Rarely has a new player on the world stage captured so much attention so quickly.'

'In his nine months in office, he has placed himself at the very center of the central conversations of our time: about wealth and poverty, fairness and justice, transparency, modernity, globalization, the role of women, the nature of marriage, the temptations of power.'


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'It was a very interesting choice this year,' said managing editor Nancy Gibbs on Wednesday.

 

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told Today in a statement that 'the Holy Father is not looking to become famous or to receive honors.

'But if the choice of Person of Year helps spread the message of the gospel — a message of God's love for everyone — he will certainly be happy about that.'

 

In one particular photograph which captured the humility and grace of the new pope, Francis bent down to kiss a man whose entire body has been ravaged by disfiguring growths.

 

 

 

Vinicio Riva, 53, was embraced by Francis in November and the image captured outside the Vatican shot round the world.

 

The severely disabled man, who is shunned in the street, and has induced horror even in his doctors, described the encounter, saying that being caressed by Francis was like ‘being in Paradise’.

 

He told Italian news magazine Panorama he was left speechless when the Pope did not hesitate to touch him.

He said: ‘His hands were so soft. And his smile was so clear and open. But the thing that struck me most is that there has not been thinking about whether or not to hug me. I'm not contagious, but he did not know. But he just did it: he caressed me all over my face, and as he did I felt only love.'

 

Born Jorge Bergoglio in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, the man who became Pope Francis after 86-year-old Pope Benedict's sudden abdication in February is the first non-European Bishop of Rome of the modern era and the first Jesuit to be head of the Catholic Church.

 

A man of many firsts, the new pope broke with tradition when in his first public act he asked the 150,000 people gathered in St Peter's Square to celebrate his election by praying for him rather than for him to bless them.

The son of an Italian immigrant, Francis was ordained by the Jesuits in 1969 and become archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998.

He was made a cardinal in 2001 and in that role he clashed with the Argentine President Cristina Kirchner over his opposition to gay marriage and the governments distribution of free condoms.

 

Since his election as pope, Francis has helped to change the view of the Catholic church as an inflexible institution to one where he as leader now shows openness to homosexuality and women's leadership in the church.

Earlier this year in July he declared, 'Who am I to judge?' in response to reports of gay clergy members.

He has also placed huge emphasis on reforming the Vatican's corrupt finances at the same time as drawing attention to those stricken by poverty across the globe.

Indeed, this pope who was runner-up in the 2005 papal conclave is being increasingly viewed as a rockstar - with the charisma to change the Catholic church.

After years of decline, cathedrals across the United States have seen a 20 per cent rise in congregations since the Argentinian pope was elected as head of the Catholic Church nine months ago.

And the 'Pope Francis Effect' is being felt across the world, with new and lapsed Catholics surging back to the confession box 'by the hundreds or thousands', according to the Italian Centre for Studies of New Religions.

In Italy half of priests have noted a marked rise in support for the church

Catholic leaders in France, the USA and Latin America have also reported growth in the numbers of churchgoing Catholics.

And Latin America - already the biggest single source of Catholic pilgrims to Italy - saw numbers of pilgrims to the center of the faith rise by 20 per cent from the same period last year.
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