Pope Francis wins Time’s Person of the Year

c. 2013 Religion News Service

ROME (RNS) Pope Francis was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year on Wednesday (Dec. 11), adding yet another high-profile accolade to what has been an unprecedented nine-month reign for the shepherd of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.

Time called Francis “The People’s Pope” and said it honored him 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.”