Defeating other influential leaders, Pope Francis was chosen as TIME's "Person of the Year."

Known as the Poor's Pope, the first non-European Pope has made headlines because of his unconventional ways like preferring to commute instead of using private Vatican and even refusing to sleep in the Pope's private residence.

"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."