Time magazine named Pope
Francis its Person of the Year on Wednesday,
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 Argentine pontiff - who, as archbishop
of Buenos Aires was known as the slum
cardinal for his visits to the poor and
penchant for subway travel - beat former
U.S. National Security Agency contractor
Edward Snowden and gay rights activist
Edith Windsor for the award.
Other finalists included Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz
from Texas.
"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 said in
its cover story.
"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."
Time said the final selection was made by its
editors, who had considered suggestions
from the magazine's more than 2 million
Twitter followers.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico
Lombardi said Pope Francis, the first non-
European pope in 1,300 years, the first from
Latin America and the first Jesuit, was not
seeking fame.
"It is a positive sign that one of the most
prestigious recognitions by the international
media has been given to a person who
proclaims to the world spiritual, religious
and moral values and speaks out forcefully
in favor of peace and greater justice,"
Lombardi said in a statement.
"If this attracts men and women and gives
them hope, the Pope is happy. If this choice
of 'Person of the Year' means that many
have understood this message, even
implicitly, he is certainly glad."
In September, Francis gave a
groundbreaking and frank interview, in
which he said the Vatican must shake off an
obsession with teachings on abortion,
contraception and homosexuality, and
become more merciful.
And in July, Francis told reporters he was
not in a position to judge homosexuals who
are of good will and in search of God,
marking a break from his predecessor,
Benedict, who said homosexuality was an
intrinsic disorder.
Francis replaced Benedict in March after he
abdicated.
The new pope's style is characterized by
frugality. He shunned the spacious papal
apartment in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace
to live in a small suite in a Vatican guest
house, and he prefers a Ford Focus to the
traditional pope's Mercedes.
A champion of the downtrodden, he visited
the island of Lampedusa in southern Italy in
July to pay tribute to hundreds of migrants
who had died crossing the sea from North
Africa.
With the Catholic Church marred in recent
years by sex abuse scandals, Francis formed
a team of experts Thursday to consider
ways to improve the screening of priests, to
protect minors to help victims.
Still, Barbara Blaine, president of the
Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests (SNAP), a victim advocacy group, said
in a statement Wednesday that more action
was needed.
"After nine months of essentially ignoring
the church's most severe crisis, (Pope
Francis) hastily announced last week that
he'll appoint an abuse study panel," Blaine
said. "He has not, however, made a single
child safer."
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