On this Wendesday, Pope Francis was named as the 2013 Person of the Year on Time magazine,crediting him with shifting the message of the Catholic Church while capturing the imagination of millions of people
who had become disillusioned with the Vatican.
This is the third time the magazine has chosen a pope as its Person of the Year. Time gave that honor to Pope John Paul II in 1994 and to Pope John XXIII in 1963.
The iconic title goes each year to the one chosen by prominent US magazine Time as the individual who had the most influence on the world and news over the year.
"For pulling the papacy out of the palace and into the streets, for committing the world’s largest church to confronting its deepest needs and for balancing judgment with mercy, Pope Francis is TIME’s 2013 Person of the Year," as managing editor, Nancy Gibbs, explained the magazine’s choice.
“He took the name of a humble saint and then called for a church of healing.”
“The first non-European pope in 1,200 years is poised to transform a place that measures change by the century,” Time wrote about the Argentinian, who outran former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden, who took second place.
