Pope Francis has been named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2013, the magazine revealed Wednesday.

Pope Francis stood out 'as someone who has changed the tone and perception and focus of one of the world's largest institutions in an extraordinary way,' Time managing editor Nancy Gibbs said Wednesday.

'But 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. People weary of the endless parsing of sexual ethics, the buck-passing infighting over lines of authority when all the while (to borrow from Milton),' the hungry Sheep look up, and are not fed,'' Time reports.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told Today.com 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.'

Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope and the first non-European pope in 1 200 years. He came from a humble background, having to work briefly as a chemical technician and nightclub bouncer before entering seminary.

Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Administration contractor who leaked thousands of top-secret documents, ranked second in Time's list. Snowden is followed by Edith Windsor, gay rights activist and Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria.

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